South African motorists could do themselves, and their cars, a favour by becoming more fuel savvy, according to BP.

A survey conducted by BP Ultimate, found that most South Africans care very little about the fuel they put into their cars.

Over 2000 motorists across the country from various backgrounds, were polled on their knowledge of the fuel price, differences between fuel grades and what benefits particular fuels offered.

Government sets the price of fuel in South Africa and all service stations are obliged to charge the same price for petrol, while diesel trades in a band ? varying between 10c and 50c a litre ? depending on service station and different geographical locations.

However, most unleaded users polled thought they were paying more than the actual price per litre, and at least 20 percent of diesel users had no idea how much they were paying.

Unlike petrol, diesel is not regulated in South Africa. Diesel 50ppm is slightly more expensive than diesel 500ppm, because of the more complex desulphurisation process.

Nearly half of all the drivers polled could not tell the difference between unleaded 93 and 95 octane fuels or diesel 50ppm and 500ppm. They also weren?t certain what lead replacement petrol is.

Only 48 percent of the taxi drivers polled ? many of whom fill up several times a day ? know the difference between fuel grades. And less than 10 percent of all motorists have any idea when it comes to the benefits that can derived from various fuel grades.

The difference between diesel 50ppm and 500ppm is that it is ten times cleaner with only 50 parts per million (ppm) of sulphur compared to the maximum level of 500ppm allowed by the government. Even though one has to pay slightly more for the cleaner diesel, it saves money in the long run by extending a car?s engine life and service intervals.

While consumers at the coast currently pay R7.81 a litre for unleaded 95 ? motorists in Gauteng pay 23c more per litre because the product has to be transported inland from the coastal refineries. The levy is also dependent on inland demand, which is government controlled.

This higher octane fuel is targeted at mainly high performance vehicles which are designed to run exclusively on higher octane fuels, such as Volkswagen's Golf 5 and the BMW M-series.

Over 83 percent polled agreed that fuel quality is an important component in determining the overall performance and efficiency of a vehicle and 55 percent strongly believe that a particular brand of fuel plays an important part.

When using high quality performance fuels, which enable vehicles to run more efficiently, combustion is improved and fuel consumption and emissions are lowered.

BP says that independent tests show that the fuel economy benefit of BP Ultimate Unleaded can be up to 25 kilometres more per tank and up to 36 kilometres extra when using BP Ultimate Diesel, compared to ordinary fuels.

A fact of note is that in previous studies motorists tended to rate performance much higher in terms of importance than the environment, but in the recent BP Ultimate poll, it was just the opposite.

More than 79 percent now feel strongly about the role fuel quality plays in helping to protect the environment, which can be attributed to the increased awareness around global warming and other 'green' causes in the media worldwide.

Convenience and location are still the main drivers when it comes to selecting a service station with 31 percent of the votes, followed by 'type of fuel brand' at 21 percent and 'quality of service' coming in at third place.