My 2 cents

[FordFan86]

I went to 2 dealers today Hamilton Holden and Adrian Brian Ford, as part of the TAFE course I am currently doing (cert1. pre voc automotive mechanics) to see how the dealers work.

The first stop was Hamilton Holden, greeted by the service manager... took us from the start of the line right through to the end line and everything in between. Told us a great deal about a couple of their HSV technicians (they had 2, both in the top 10 australia wide, one in the top 5). The workshop had a great set up, areas specialising in 4x4, HSV, smaller vehicles, trans and engines. Completely away from that area $10k worth of equipment for cleaning and drying cars, lots of room for displays etc. Despite being a bit full of himself he was a pretty decent all round guy. Asked about the TT Torana, it is in the pipeline, said something about the diff in the concept car is the one taht will be used (a decent diff i take it? i haven't read much about the concept) the engine is already out there (Alfa Romeo 3.6l TT i think he said)

The next stop was Adrian Brian, had to ask to find where we needed to be (not well labelled or setup) the guy walked out, gave a brief introduction of himself, took us over, showed us their servicing area... very little about it (we could not even go in due to OH&S reasons :\) showed us the car wash area (nothing compared to the holden dealer), and the rest isn't really worth talking about... nothing about their range of cars... I think he was about to go to his lunch break, didn't make us feel to welcome, no time for questions. Spent about 1/3 less time if that at this place than at the holden dealers.

If I had to make a decision on which car i'd be buying from today's experience it would definately be a HSV of some sort.

Next rant. Reading thru the thread arguing about wether or not PULP>ULP. Since i have gotten my car (almost 6 months now i think) i have run it on nothing but PULP, with 2 bottles of techron 5000 cleaner in that period, after awhile the trip meter read over 500k per tank after filling up. Today i thought i'd try filling it with ULP instead.First thing i noticed was the trip meter read 511k, that's 1 k less than the highest it read on PULP, and about 10 more than the average reading for PULP. First thing out gave it a bootfull, noticed the revs climbed a little quicker, turn into 2nd last street to my house (this time with power button on) revs climbed noticably quicker. Most of my driving is 20-30klms in 60-100 zones and i average 400klms out of about 50 litres, i will run ULP in my car for the next few weeks (I do taht amount of driving in a weeK) and i will se what sort of affect running ULP has and will get back to you. note: the car is 100% stock 165kw V8 running in NC fairlane.

last rant: fill your cars up now or very early tommorow, i work in a petrol station. I was sitting in the bosses office having lunch last week and was flicking thru some faxes, came across one stating that due to maintenance and a couple of other things the pricing system would be down. It said the final price for fuel would come through on thursday and this would last till atleast monday when the system should be back online and the price changes working. Now i thought all this was just BS and didn't really happen, but i had the piece of paper in my hand, tho not really proving anything and it could be 100% legit, it did make me think. Would have been nice jsut to send it to a reporter or something like that just for the hell of it...

OK, thanks for reading, hope it's set out well enough for you, any questions just go for it. I will elaborate on any of the above things if need be.

[lv619]

Originally Posted by FordFan86

...
last rant: fill your cars up now or very early tommorow, i work in a petrol station. I was sitting in the bosses office having lunch last week and was flicking thru some faxes, came across one stating that due to maintenance and a couple of other things the pricing system would be down. It said the final price for fuel would come through on thursday and this would last till atleast monday when the system should be back online and the price changes working. Now i thought all this was just BS and didn't really happen, but i ahd the piece of paper in my hand, tho not really proving anything and it could be 100% legit, it did makke me think. Would have been nice jsut to send it to a reporter or something like that just for the hell of it...

OK, thanks for reading, hope it's set out well enough for you, any questions just go for it. I will elaborate on any of the above things if need be.

Tanks for the heads up mate, I think i'll fill up tonight before work... i think they mentioned it on the radio for the last day or two aswell.

[mcflux]

I noticed that I get a slight increase in rpm before the gears change when on ULP. Also more km to a tank. Also my car runs like a bag of shit if I attempt to put PULP in it now, and with the price difference I don't think there's a point to putting PULP in the car when it handles ULP without pinging.

500+km to a tank (600km if a couple of trips to melbourne) on ULP is good mmkay, and last week I averaged 8.0L/100km driving to melbourne (no aircon, mildly loaded car, 25*C day, light traffic except at pakenham & burke road turnoff)

-Dave-

PS I filled up yesterday... 111.9c/L for unleaded! Bah!!! And it's going to go up up up... doh!

[FASTXR]

I'm fed up with the bullshit fed to us by the servos; fuel can remain at a (reasonable) constant for days or weeks in a row, but then *miraculously* 1 or 2 days before a long weekend, the prices rise.

Is this a reflection of world oil prices? Like crap!!

Its because the fuel companies spy a captive market, a sizeable percentage of whom are going to be travelling this weekend, and see an easy way to make a quick buck. They make me sick...

[darkfang888]

I drive an EA2 and the fuel eco is crap as around town, but on the highway it's good. So the price of gas ain't bad if I'm going to ChCh or somewhere, but if I'm staying in town it sucks *** and the pricetag ****es me off.

[LG]

Yeah with easter comming up... I'd load up the car right to the top fellas. I've done a many runs with ULP & PULP, and done a fair few calculations, and for my car it is worth the extra money, for the amount of extra kms that i get.

At the moment, with my AU I get about 500 (min) - 600 (max) kms out of a tank, and thats running PULP, and always in power. And I give it to her sometimes, but i take it easy a fair bit. But I always manage to pull 550 kms out of my tank, with another 30-50 or so to go in the tank.

For those who don't know what fuel to use, do what i did & keep a record, and see if it's actually worth it. It's just a few simple calculations.

[Captain Stubing]

[QUOTE=FordFan86] i will run ULP in my car for the next few weeks (I do taht amount of driving in a weeK) and i will se what sort of affect running ULP has and will get back to you. note: the car is 100% stock 165kw V8 running in NC fairlane.

It will be interesting to see what results you get... I'd never used PULP till a couple of months ago, and found it gave better economy and (apparent) power. I'd have to work out if it was worth the more 'bang for bucks', though.

[bindi]

I have used Optimax for my rolla since it came out. I have found that it gives her a boost in power, she idles smoother, and I get better fuel economy.

When I run on normal ULP it's disgraceful So there is the odd occasion where I can't get to my local Shell (10 minutes' drive away) cos I'm down to my last drop and I'm going in the opposite direction, but nearly always my rolla loves me more when I fill her with Optimax. :

And yes, that last statement ("loves me more") is a very "chick" thing to say lol

[XA-Coupe]

if I run mine on ULP I drop about 50 Ks a tank around town and about 100 on the highway. I also notice how sluggish it gets too. For the extra 5 or so bucks a tank it's worth PULP.

[TheSneakiness]

Originally Posted by Ghia5L

PS I filled up yesterday... 111.9c/L for unleaded! Bah!!! And it's going to go up up up... doh!

You're kidding me right? I hope you are, cause that price right there is fuggin ridiculous.

I filled up yesterday, cause I hate the beeping sound it makes when my fuel gets low. 97.9cents/L. That's 14 cents a litre cheaper than you. Good thing I have gas too, I saw it yesterday for 39 cents a litre.

[bindi]

Originally Posted by AUII_XLS_Ute

I filled up yesterday, cause I hate the beeping sound it makes when my fuel gets low. 97.9cents/L. That's 14 cents a litre cheaper than you. Good thing I have gas too, I saw it yesterday for 39 cents a litre.

Yes down here in Sydney atm I have seen our local servo charge 114.9cpl. I too am grateful we have gas on the Ford, being 41.9cpl is so much nicer.

The thing with Optimax is that it's around 12cpl more than ULP, so in effect if I were to fill up my rolla today it would cost 126.9cpl.

Liquid gold.

[Yaw]

I find that amazing about the pricing system being down completely dead full stop.
I used to work at Caltex servos. Even over public hols there is a pricing manager that checks at least once a day, if compettion is a problem you call and he gets back to you. (I wonder if they are just stating the computerised system will be down and it would have to be a manual type system.)

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by FordFan86

Reading thru the thread arguing about wether or not PULP>ULP. Today i thought i'd try filling it with ULP instead.First thing i noticed was the trip meter read 511k, that's 1 k less than the highest it read on PULP, and about 10 more than the average reading for PULP. First thing out gave it a bootfull, noticed the revs climbed a little quicker, turn into 2nd last street to my house (this time with power button on) revs climbed noticably quicker. Most of my driving is 20-30klms in 60-100 zones and i average 400klms out of about 50 litres, i will run ULP in my car for the next few weeks (I do taht amount of driving in a weeK) and i will se what sort of affect running ULP has and will get back to you. note: the car is 100% stock 165kw V8 running in NC fairlane.

Your fuel map in your cars computer would be used to 98 RON by now - it will probably suck up quite a fair bit of fuel for for first couple of hundred km until your fuel map recalculates itself. I notice an increase in consumption when I switch from 96ron to 91, its probably cheaper for me to stay on the 96.

[MR_SIDO]

Easter – get prepared for the fuel plunder

According to VACC, Easter means chocolate bunnies, family gatherings, unusually large church congregations, and the annual Easter fuel plunder.

“This year, the annual Easter fuel plunder comes on the back of record world prices. From tonight, or tomorrow, when the plundering of motorists’ wallets begins, we can all expect extreme pain at the pump,” VACC Executive Director David Purchase said.

“So what is going on with pump prices? After the recent successful ACCC case for price fixing, and record fines, against a group fuel distributors, the public may quite rightly have serious concerns about the state of the industry and what goes on behind the veil of confusion, convoluted arrangements and artificial pricing structures propped in place by the oil companies.

“There are three things the public need to be aware of in the highly profitable mess that our fuel industry has become,” Mr Purchase said.

“First, we pay a price for world parity pricing, that is, tying our local oil price to world prices. Despite meeting approximately 75% of our liquid petroleum needs, we are ‘locked in’ to the world price.

“How can it be that there is no benefit for Australians from the raw product that is drawn from within this country and its continental boundaries? This wealth belongs to all Australians, not just to the oil exploration companies who happen to hold the license to exploit our oil reserves.

“The fact is, our pump prices are higher than many other oil producing countries, and even higher than the US which – like Australia - also relies on oil imports to make up the shortfall from its own production.

“Secondly, the oil companies effectively influence the price of petrol through a convoluted ‘price support’ mechanism. By providing this price support to service stations, and withdrawing it on a regular basis, pump prices go up and down.

While the oil companies benefit, service stations operating on paper-thin margins, do not.

With the market controlled by the oil companies, and real competition from independents all but vanquished, there will be little relief for motorists until the ACCC shows a real interest in these ‘price support’ practices,” Mr Purchase said.

“And thirdly, motorists feeling the pain this weekend might also wish to remember that around 40c in every litre we buy goes into Government coffers as a result of fuel excise.

“Of course, the Government is wont to remind us that fuel prices in this country are relatively low by world standards. We pay less at the pump than Europe and Japan, for instance. It is an argument we’ve heard numerous times.

…/2



“But it is a shallow exercise to compare pump prices in Australia (and the size of the tax grab) with countries such as Netherlands, the UK and Italy.

“We do pay less for our fuel here than in Europe. But you can ride a bike across the Netherlands in a day. In Australia, our transport system covers vast distances. Australian industry and motorists have a far greater sensitivity to pump prices than ‘postage stamp’ countries. A trip of 100 kilometres or more simply for grocery shopping, or to visit a doctor, is a common occurrence for a significant slice of our population. Fuel, for many Australians, is as essential as air and water.

“Other countries with which Australia competes and which also cover vast expanses, like America and Canada, have cheaper fuel and are taxed at lower rates.

“Fuel is taxed for GST, on top of the fuel excise tax. Rising oil prices in world markets are a bonanza for the Government. This Easter, when motorists fill-up, they might pause to remember what the Treasurer once promised: that the GST would “replace” taxes, not sit atop them,” Mr Purchase said.

“Every consumer knows that pump prices will go through the roof tonight or tomorrow. They will all go up at around the same time and to around the same levels… coincidence, competition, or what? And everything but the ‘traditional Easter plunder of motorists’ will be cited as the reason.

“Even the ACCC acknowledges that pump prices become ‘sticky’ over holiday periods.

“At least pirates had the good grace to run up the jolly-roger before relieving their unfortunate victims of their worldly goods,” Mr Purchase said.

“So, who wins under our current petrol priicing shenanigans and Government excise plundering of consumer wallets?

“The oil companies win. And the Government wins. Retailers make a measly few cents a litre, and motorists are plundered at the hip-pocket.

“When it comes to pump prices, price movements, and fuel excise, both the Government and the oil companies treat the community like bunnies.

“It is time for action on the way this industry works. It needs a mauling, top to bottom, by the ACCC. It needs a new approach and new thinking in Government about fuel as an essential commodity,” Mr Purchase said

[MR_SIDO]

this is a press release from VACC dated Today