What Diesel to use in your vehicle   

Many people are not aware of the huge difference between the different types of Diesel you get in South Africa. Generally the quality of diesel in South Africa is not as good as some international countries. That is why you will see the performance figures and fuel consumption claimed on Britain and US vehicles are always about 8% better than similar vehicles in South Africa.

Diesel has a much shorter "shelf life" than petrol. The carbon chains of diesel decompose after time. This leads to a depreciation the the quality of the diesel. In severe cases the diesel also forms a jelly like deposit in the tank. It is normally this deposit that blocks diesel filters and not dust or dirt.

Your basic diesel are all almost the same. The different manufacturers then ads different additives or chemical compounds to obtain certain characteristics from the diesel. In many cases it is not advisable to mix different brands of diesel in your tank. The chemical compounds some times forms harmful compounds which could damage your injector tips or the newly formed compounds could speed up the aging effect of the diesel.

You can fit a conditioner to your vehicle to overcome the aging problem. The conditioner is a device that is fitted in the fuel line. It is like a mini refinery which will always keep the fuel in your tank fresh. It will not only enhance your fuel consumption but also increase the life of your injector tips.

Some tips on getting the most from your diesel:

My personal experience so far on the different brands:
As with my Nissan Terrano 2.7TDi - mixed town driving

BP - Good performance, engine not so noisy, little smoke, 9.8 km/litre
Total - best performance, engine noisy, more smoke, 8.4 km/litre
Sasol - worst performance, vehicle is dead below 1800rpm, no torque, almost no smoke, engine quiet, 7.4km/litre
Shell - Performance simular to BP, engine not noisy, little smoke, 9.5km/l
Total - This time 90% high way driving, 9.3km/l