Price of petrol

[Faire d'Income]

I worked for the last 20 years on a UK refinery, and I would imagine the situation in Spain would be no different...

Must have been some time ago that you worked in the petrochemical industry then Frank, given the recent problems caused by Tesco and Morrisons in the UK earlier this year. They were supplied by Greenergy and a couple of other cheaper fuel suppliers and ended up paying compensation to hundreds of motorists who suffered problems as a result of using the fuel - this was all sourced out of Coryton.

You've also forgotten to mention detergents and other additives that are added after the tanker has bunkered from the terminal, which in the case of Shell Formula, are unique additives that differentiate it from competitor fuels.

You don't get this with cheap supermarket fuels, so if you want to fill you car up there then you have to be willing to take the associated risks and personally I'm not willing to do so when a new engine is going to cost me the thick end of £15k to replace plus associated legal costs.

[Don]

... I'm not willing to do so when a new engine is going to cost me the thick end of £15k to replace plus associated legal costs.

15k GBP for an engine Faire d'Income ?
Would that be a V8 double supercharged something ?

I had forgotten the Coryton UK story and as they say .... you makes your choice and you pays your money.

[Campo Kenny]

Faire d'incomes right about some engines being 15k........although he's never had one ......not in his Micra anyway

He is right also about varying fuel quality...........I know that for a fact.

The engine in my last Caterham cost more than 15k and it was only a 4 cylinder rover K series block..................hence the usage of well sourced Optimax as it was at the time. Not worth taking the risk...........me old Vitara in Spain isn't fussy though, it'll drink anything

Kenny

[Faire d'Income]

Faire d'incomes right about some engines being 15k........although he's never had one ......not in his Micra anyway

He is right also about varying fuel quality...........I know that for a fact.

The engine in my last Caterham cost more than 15k and it was only a 4 cylinder rover K series block..................hence the usage of well sourced Optimax as it was at the time. Not worth taking the risk...........me old Vitara in Spain isn't fussy though, it'll drink anything

Kenny

Kenny, try sourcing something as sophisticated as a CSL S54 type and you'll see its significantly costlier than anything you put in one of your kit cars - VANOS alone comes to £4.5k and that's not even an engine out job.

As ever, Kenny needs to do his homework before commenting on car related stuff as this Micra proves my point...



Expensive engine to boot...

Kenny, not only do you suck at the internet, you suck at arguing too!



Keeping it vaguely on topic, the other issue that needs considering is the throughput of stock at each petrol station. There was a case recently where a guy had bought fuel (Optimax in this case as it was about a year ago) and having pulled out of the service station, immediately noticed some hesitancy followed by the car cutting out. To cut a long story short, there was relatively little turnover of Optimax so it had been sitting in the tank for some time and had been contaminated with moisture. After much legal work, Shell/forecourt operator finally admitted fault and paid for the repairs.

Caveat Emptor. That mean 'buyer beware' Kenny. Its Latin, innit.

[Campo Kenny]

Both the CSL you allude to and that micra thingy in your pic would not hold on to the Caterham R500 for 2 feet from a standing start and would be embarrassed on any circuit by the 7

The CSL motor is readily available at prices below that you mention from low mileage scrappers that have failed to go a round a corner through barge like handling characteristics and drivers like yourself . They would be cheaper than an R500 motor for sure to replace.

Youv've never had a race engine in your life so I fail to see why you'd wish to waffle about things and costings you know nowt about...........stick to repmobiles lad

Kenny

PS You suck at most things but I'm too polite to mention it

[Faire d'Income]

Kenny, why would I put a second hand engine in a car that's less than a year old? Might be how you do things up north but I prefer to know the provenance of my engines as I did many moons ago when I was dealing with Oselli buying BDA/Gs for my Escorts which I think you'll find are race engines - they were even used in some of those kit cars you're so fond of.

[Campo Kenny]

Don't tell me Oselli did the work on the BDA's/ BDG's too ............It must have been moons ago.

[Faire d'Income]

Late '80s, early '90s. That was the only way of keeping up with the pot hunting 6R4s that blokes in their mid-40s bought to stroke their egos on the tarmac bits where there weren't any corners. Also the main reason why I stopped rallying as I couldn't afford it any more - leastways, not without a decent sponsor.

[Campo Kenny]

In the late 80's early 90's the Vauxhall 16v became the engine for the clubman scene .
3k spent on one would see more power and reliability than most BD's.

Out of interest I'm just finishing working on a blast from the past now.
4k spent on this little lump to get a poxy 126bhp





Cheers,

Kenny

[Don]

... Out of interest I'm just finishing working on a blast from the past now.
4k spent on this little lump to get a poxy 126bhp


Kenny

Firstly Kenny, a Caterham is the only thing close to the bike on normal A roads so a bit jealous there but secondly your poxy 126 bhp is a whole 6 bhp more than the standard output of the detuned 955 Triumph 3 cyl motor which they discontinued in Daytona form of 150 bhp cos it was getting a tad hairy in 200 kgs of vehicle when even 120 bhp lifts the front wheel in 1st, 2nd or 3rd if your not careful.

[karandjon]

With regards to the Carrefour diesel i brought to attention yesterday, am i right in thinking there is a "cheapy" pump for "carrefour diesel" and a normal pump for normal diesel I must admit i´ve not really paid any attention, just opting for the normal stuff, one eye on the supermarket where i´ma headed next!!! yay!!! (talking of which, they´ve got MP4´s in at 39e)

[Campo Kenny]

Don, appreciate your knowledge and kind words for the 7. I must add though that 120bhp in a bike is a flippin' handful........respect, I wouldn't ride one..............Mrs. CK wouldn't let me, she makes me put stabilisers on every car I have

Kenny

[alaninspain]

Now comes the bad news about petrol. In the press today it was stated that due to the storm in the North Sea and the shut down of most rigs, especially the Norwegian ones, crude oil could rise by up to 10%. What that would do to petrol or diesel I don't know, but I expect to be ripped off by somebody.

[Don]

Indeed Kenny 120 bhp through one wheel is a handful but what about the OH on pillion. She keeps eggin me on when my right wrist thinks about going for it and when I thought 135 mph was enough to nip between a couple of tin boxes, all I got when we got home was .... awwww and I tucked in thinking we were going to burn rubber. I tell you man, sometimes we guys canna win so I stick to cruising at 125 to 135 these days and take the stick in the evening.

[frank]

[quote="Faire d'Income"]

Must have been some time ago that you worked in the petrochemical industry then Frank, given the recent problems caused by Tesco and Morrisons in the UK earlier this year.[/quote]

About 5 years ago, and certainly Tesco were regulars at the refinery then.
I was on the process side, and had nothing to do with the "secret ingredients" added to the tankers, that was another part of the refinery, so not really sure what went in what tankers. All the mixing and blending that went on within the tank farm was a mystery to me. All I know is that some years ago, it was not a nice place to work, they had to have regular urine checks to check for lead, that they used to add.

[Don]

With regards to the Carrefour diesel i brought to attention yesterday, am i right in thinking there is a "cheapy" pump for "carrefour diesel" and a normal pump for normal diesel I must admit i´ve not really paid any attention, just opting for the normal stuff, one eye on the supermarket where i´ma headed next!!! yay!!! (talking of which, they´ve got MP4´s in at 39e)

I am afraid karandjon Carrefour, as do others, have their own cheap and super diesels. Not all cheap diesels are equal and not all super diesels are equal in terms of performance, mileage etc. On one point Frank is right because if the tanker is filling up in Portugal or Huelva it is filling from the same basic source. Even Carrefour super diesel does not give anything like the same mileage for me - and over the last 18 months I have tried just about every outlet and option. After such research I do rate Cepsa ordinary diesel as the best and Shell V-power as the best super. Its your choice and different engines do give different results.

[Faire d'Income]

Now comes the bad news about petrol. In the press today it was stated that due to the storm in the North Sea and the shut down of most rigs, especially the Norwegian ones, crude oil could rise by up to 10%. What that would do to petrol or diesel I don't know, but I expect to be ripped off by somebody.

Do you want the bad news, or the bad news? Simply put oil prices will increase over the winter period due to any number of issues, not least of which is speculative activity by hedge funds and the like so current Platt's pricing is showing an increase so don't be surprised if it gets to $110 a barrel. Similarly, LPG prices have gone through the roof over the last month with ANSI currently at $840 and rising with wholesale mains gas prices showing a sharp upward trend.

All of which means that inflation will rise once these commodity prices get factored in and we're in for a rough winter - cost wise.