[oak1971]

I'm assuming it has a higher octane rating, but damed if I can find it or even what octane of regular ULSD is.

Thoughts?

 

[Burgess159]

Diesel goes by cetane numbers. I believe 40 is the minimum number allowed in the US. Around here near STL, Shell seems to have the best rating at 45 I believe.

I think the premium fuel has a higher cetane number, or has additives like cetane booster, injector cleaner and lubrications added to it.

 

[oak1971]

Thanks! I just topped off at a bit under half a tank with some today. It was only 5 cents more and some jackass was blocking the other pump.

 

[craps]

I'm assuming it has a higher octane rating, but damed if I can find it or even what octane of regular ULSD is.

Thoughts?

Burgess 159 is correct. Diesel 'octane' is rated as 'cetane'. The standard cetane number in the US is 44. This is the standard that is established by the ASTM. Refiners produce diesel that meets the minimum cetane standard for the entire country. To increase the cetane you can add a diesel conditioner like Power Service or Schaffer's which will increase the cetane to roughly 49 to 51. The diesel conditioner will improve fuel injector cleaning properties and increase lubricity which is lacking in the diesel produced in the US due to government(go figure) regulations. It's relatively easy to increase diesel cetane. Simply buy a bottle at a parts store or c-store and add it to the tank before you fill up. It's relatively cheap and easy to use. You can also locate a service station/c-store the sells premium diesel.

 

[El Guppy]

$3.50. Same as down town. Lol

 

[Coloradorob]

I been trying 3 different stations
The one with premium diesel being Shell.
I get less mileage with the Shell Premium diesel.
I don’t notice a quieter motor or any more power.

The other thing I read was there should be less foaming. And this I do notice......

 

[oak1971]

I just get what I can get now. Been using the same station for the last fill ups, Kwick Trip. Seems to run just fine.

 

[oak1971]

Ok , so I made the 14 mile ride to the magical fountain of Premium Diesel again, mostly out of curiosity. Pull up to the pump get out and find Cetane ratings nowhere in sight. One hose was "Premium" Diesel and marked "winterized" $3.05. The other hose was marked #2 ULSD and marked "non-winterized" $2.85. So I go inside and ask the best looking female employee I can find, cause hey why talk to some fat hairy guy? She doesn't know what the cetane rating is and mispronounces it. Then the manager tries-nope, he doesn't know and also mispronounces cetane. He finally calls somebody else. Finally-45! YES! Now, does it make sense to drive 28 miles round trip to get 45 Cetane?

 

[CaliforniaCanyon]

"Premium diesel" does not really exist in the way that premium gasoline does. Chevron, Shell, etc.. all have proprietary blends that they had to their gasoline, however it's different story with diesel. As diesel is mostly sourced from one or two suppliers for a given area. You'll even notice a little sticker on the side of Chevron pumps that say something like "this diesel fuel is not a certified Chevron product". I don't focus on finding the best name brand fuel and expect quality as I've purchased **** diesel from Shell more than once, focus on the stations that tend to have high volume of traffic. Where are all the other diesel owners filling up at? you have a much better chance of getting clean, fresh, uncontaminated fuel that way. Otherwise the only difference is diesel #1 (winter blend) which has less paraffin (less energy/ounce) that doesn't wax up in cold temps.

 

[Coloradorob]

Ok , so I made the 14 mile ride to the magical fountain of Premium Diesel again, mostly out of curiosity. Pull up to the pump get out and find Cetane ratings nowhere in sight. One hose was "Premium" Diesel and marked "winterized" $3.05. The other hose was marked #2 ULSD and marked "non-winterized" $2.85. So I go inside and ask the best looking female employee I can find, cause hey why talk to some fat hairy guy? She doesn't know what the cetane rating is and mispronounces it. Then the manager tries-nope, he doesn't know and also mispronounces cetane. He finally calls somebody else. Finally-45! YES! Now, does it make sense to drive 28 miles round trip to get 45 Cetane?

isnt 45 the minimum?
They say you can tell Primium diesel by the fact that it doesn’t foam as much.
what I noticed from purchasing premium diesel from shell is that it foams just as much as the regular diesel.
Considering they closed the only refinery we had here and all diesel and gasoline comes from the Irving refinery in NB . And Irving doesn’t sell premium diesel at there own stations.
What is Shell adding to the regular diesel that is coming from the Irving refiner, so they can call it Premium diesel ?

Just did a search and found out that 40 is the regular diesel cetane in Canada
45 is premium

 

[oak1971]

I read someplace is was 50 or something in Europe.

 

[SFLTruck]

In Florida it's like Big Foot, it may exist good luck finding it!