I have had great results with premium diesel. The car runs a lot smoother, gets better milage and has substantially more pep. To me that is worth the extra couple of $$. BTW, the Amoco premium diesel is at least 50 cetane (it is usually b/w 52 and 53).

My primary car has been a diesel from the day I started drivers ed in the early 80's and my family's primary cars have been diesels since the mid 70's. I do not drive diesels because they are cheaper, I drive them because in principle they are far superior. With the right fuel, the benefits of the diesel engine are only further enhanced.

just my $.02.

__________________
Jovan

'84 (11/83) 190D 2.2 5-Speed; Silver/Blue; Motor No. 00354, 402k mi (340+kmi mine)

'89 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe; Black/Black; 53kmi
'05 BMW 530i 6-Speed; 302kmi
'19 Range Rover; 30kmi

Jobah,

Are you sure it isn't the Placebo effect? One way would way to find out would be to have someone else fill you tank with Diesel fuel and not tell you what brand was put in and then you evaluate the fuel.

Do this a few times and see if you really tell which is better or even different.

P E H

Is there a noticable difference in smell with the premier or any other higher grade? I got some Sunoco "premium" or whatever they call it the other day, got it home, was doing some work on it, and unless my nose is playing tricks it smelled like gasoline. Thus, I guickly drained off as much as possible and threw tons of lube and good diesel in. But hey, is it possible that this "diesel" was just a different enough quality to smell differently?

I know. Wishful thinking. It was gas.

__________________
Paul
2004 E500 4matic; 72,000mi

Quality premium diesels help lead to a cleaner running engine, more well lubricated fuel injection system, less emissions, and higher mpg's. The trick is finding it. There are only a few premium diesels that are really worth anything .

Amoco Premier/BP Diesel Supreme - 50 cetane minimum, plus excellent additive package. Incredibly clean fuel as it's kept separate from regular diesel from conception to tank. It has extremely low sulfur - which produces soot , dirtying your engine and smoking out your tailpipe.

BE careful of mislabeling, you almost have to call bpdirect to verify whether the station does carry premier/supreme, as there are a ton of pumps out there that USED to etc... One way of telling is that supreme is clear as water, and premier is mostly clear with a green tinge. If you really want to check, get out a pickle jar and see for yourself. Both fuels are limited to a few midwestern states only.
http://tdipics.mmcorp.net/members/DavinATL/BP0nRoadDieselSupreme.pdf

Amoco Powerblend - standard #2 diesel with a strong additive package, minimum cetane 47, average 50.
http://www.bpdirect.com/pdfs/Amoco_PowerBlend.pdf

Everything else is a far step below, however in my opinion texaco premium(not regular texaco) diesel is the next best thing. Its the only other #2 that has a cetane improver. Also has a detergent, lubricity enhancer, thermal stability addtiives etc. 45 Cetane minimum.

The rest of the 'premium diesels' are standard #2 with detergents, lubricity additives, etc.

Regular #2 is just regular #2, garbage truck junk. Yes your car will run on it, no not as well or for as long. In my opinion, put additives in every tank unless you're getting premier or supreme. I've NEVER found supreme(i used to get in in Cleveland) to be more than 5 cents over the price of standard #2. I have seen sunoco premium(which sucks) for 20 cents over, so you have to hunt around for a station with reasonable prices, if you're in the diesel game to be cheap...

__________________
2004 Ram 2500 Cummins HO
2000 Jetta TDI
1999 E300 (sold)

I keep track of every fill-up, repair, adjustment etc of my vehicle in a little book (It is generally useless information, but three generations of drivers have done it before me, so I feel that I should). Most of the fuel information is then transferred to MS excel. Thus, I can quickly obtain averages of my vehicle over different periods of time.

Further, I have owned this particular vehicle since 1989 60kmi, I have put the next 270kmi as the only driver of the car, and I currently drive the car about 80-100 miles a day. Thus, I have a good feel as to the performance and driving characterists of the car.

With that being said, I can quickly tell an appreciable difference in the fuel. I agree that most premium fuels are not very good. However, AMOCO Premier 50 cetane is unbelievable. The car idles better, runs better, accelerates better, has less exhaust soot, etc. etc. etc. It is a far superior product.

I have found a place on my daily drive that carries the product. Thus, I have started to use it every fill. Over the next 4-6 weeks to find out what I average with this product, and I assure you that it will be a drastic improvement.

The bottom line is that while the car will run on french fry oil (and on reputation alone), with the right fuel, the engines truly shine.

__________________
Jovan

'84 (11/83) 190D 2.2 5-Speed; Silver/Blue; Motor No. 00354, 402k mi (340+kmi mine)

'89 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe; Black/Black; 53kmi
'05 BMW 530i 6-Speed; 302kmi
'19 Range Rover; 30kmi

It's my understanding that low-sulfur fuel results in more wear on the injection pump and injectors.

I use Power Service additive more for lubrication qualities and cold weather anti-gel properties than the cetane boost.

Guess I'm lucky because I haven't come across any bad diesel fuel yet. And for my part I wouldn't buy premium diesel to run in either my 617 or 603 engines - - -

Much more important to engine life just to change the oil regularly.

Ken300D

low sulfur content in fuel does NOT create problems. The process to remove sulfur from #2 however sometimes removes the lubricity qualities of the fuel, and therefore they need to be additized at the terminals, before they go to the truck. With regular #2, you never know, you could get an unadditized tank that COULD hurt your injection system.
This is why the recommendation is to run a premium fuel, even most of the basic premium diesels like texaco and citgo have a lubricity enhancing additive. Premier and BP supreme have incredible addtive packages, these two fuels are better for your engine in every way. I wish I could still get supreme, I could when I lived in cleveland. I recently moved to florida and the best thing available is Texaco Premium diesel. It's clearly a step down from the bp diesel supreme, and i've seen 2-3 less mpgs and a slight bit more smoke. I've gotten better results with a 20% blend of ASTM spec biodiesel and the texaco premium, so thats what i've been running for the past 4 months. I run 100% biodiesel in my jetta tdi with great results.

__________________
2004 Ram 2500 Cummins HO
2000 Jetta TDI
1999 E300 (sold)

While trying to find a list of stations on the web selling the fuel in question, I came across this posting from another firm making turbodiesels on the subjects of additives, cetane, premium fuel and diesel fuel "urban legends."

http://www.turbodieselregister.com/mixing_gasoline_and_diesel.htm

I live in the DC area, and the Amoco on Georgia Ave. just south of the beltway is selling the Amoco Premium for a pretty small (about 10 cents per gallon) premium over the standard diesels I've been buying. If I am not mistaken (and I'll verify over the next day or two), the pump lists it at 50 Cetane.

I noticed a difference in smoothness at idle, as well as diesel noise at idle. I have been having a problem with cold idle and will be testing this with the Amoco fuel.

I wish there were more stations in the area which carried it, but most of the Amoco stations in the area don't carry ANY diesel fuel.

- Ted

__________________
1987 300SDL 265,000 mi.
1982 300SD 325,000 mi. (and holding)
1956 Packard Clipper 150,000 mi.

Tstarr,

I loved the 56 Packards. I always wnted one but never could afford one, probably because I wanted a Carribean convertable.

That was the best looking car ever made. The current designers could learn a lot from that 40+ year old Packard, even the ones at MB.

P E H

Try Texaco, if you haven't already. They don't list the cetane on the pump, but I notice quite a diff from the other brands I've tried. Probably still isn't as good as the others these guys are talking about tho'.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

I get my diesel at the Texaco down the street from me, and it seems to be about the best stuff in my area.

Do they post the cetane level out your way, or have you ever heard what it's supposed to be? I don't have any way of comparing to this Amoco.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

P E H,

We would all want a Caribbean convertible if we could get it - even those who know nothing about cars. I'm still working on mine, and don't have the facilities to really do it right just now. But the mechanicals are up to snuff, which is important (to me more than my wife!). But it has push button automatic transmission, automatic load levelers that still work, and a big brute of a V-8 engine. An interesting factoid is the fact that Packard had exclusive Mercedes distribution rights in the states back in the 50s. Many old Packard dealers converted over to Mercedes when Packard went under. So, I feel that to some extent I'm continuing the Packard flame with my MB. Packard was really committed to engineering, but the Caribbean styling was oh, so cool...

- Ted

__________________
1987 300SDL 265,000 mi.
1982 300SD 325,000 mi. (and holding)
1956 Packard Clipper 150,000 mi.

I don't think they post the cetane levels in my area.