Do you use particular brand of gas? Top Tier?

[acey]

Chatted with a friend who is partial to certain gas types, and ALWAYS chooses Premium, even for the family lawn mower.

Referred me to top tier gas, where I see the brands in my area that meet certain standards for detergent additives throughout all octanes and all stations.

I guess that can make a difference, but am putting this out for thoughts, given the prices of gas.

Do you use a certain brand, or stick to premium regardless? Any relevant experience on why using premium or a certain brand prevented wear/tear/problems, etc?

 

[SterlingDave]

Do you use a certain brand, or stick to premium regardless? Any relevant experience on why using premium or a certain brand prevented wear/tear/problems, etc?

I only use premium in my Vespa (on the recommendation of the dealer/service tech). Our mowers and snowthrower get regular. All of our cars get regular; the brand is usually Sinclair (unless I find a lower priced brand). I haven't enough miles on my gennie to have bought her a sip yet (but my plan is to use regular).

 

[charlesleiss]

I've had my Gen for nine months and have always used what's available regular fuel. No problems whatsoever. Stilll have plenty of power when needed. I'm getting 22 mpg arond town and 27.5 mpg on the highway with the 4.6 V-8.

Not too bab?!

 

[ImInPA]

Today there are not many company owned gas stations left in the US. Anyone can buy a franchise and own a "name brand" station. They are under no obligation to buy gas from the corporation. I have seen a generic gas tanker stop at a Mobil station then proceed to a 7-11 convenience store. So, I would imagine that this particular 7-11 and Mobil actually have the same gas, even though there was a seven cent difference in price. I am not sure you can really tell if the gas is "good" simply buy looking at the brand name. For me, I always prefer to buy gas that does not contain ethanol as I seem to get better gas mileage from pure gas. I also look for stations that are relatively busy because they are probably getting fresh gasoline more regularly. I am not sure there is such a thing as "Top Tier" gasoline anymore unless you are visiting a corporate-owned station, and in my area, the only such stations are Hess and Citgo, neither of which is considered a "top-tier" brand. I think the best thing to do is to try the gas, if it burns well in your car, then stick with it. Brand loyalty does not really apply with gasoline anymore in this country. Just my opinion based on my own personal observations and research.

 

[scottdk]

I run premium in my V8 and get better MPG vs. if I run regular. I've tested this tank after tank, and Premium always delivers better mileage.

Also, I paid for 375 HP and want all available horses

Paying an extra $2.50-$4.00 a tank for premium vs. regular, is a given right?

 

[proffunk]

Hi Scottdk

I'm currently filling with regular. The car I had previously was an IS300 which i only filled with premium. Would you say you get better mileage out of premium vs. the cost of regular?

 

[moose66]

Love your thoughts ImInPa! I always use regular in all vehicles, and I purchase from whatever is nearest when it is time to fill up. Never have had an issue. Don't mind the loss of a few horses, as I rarely see an instance where all of those ponies are needed.

As ImInPa mentioned, watching those fuel trucks is interesting. I live relatively close to a distribution point which appears to be owned by Exxon/Mobil (they fly a flag that says Exxon/Mobil). I have seen a truck leave there and stop right down the street at a Texaco station and unload fuel. So who knows.

 

[ConceptVBS]

There are no differences between the different brands when it comes to gasoline. They are all supplied from the same refinery processing center. Matter of fact, I've seen the same truck going from one gas station to the next, both were different brands.

 

[SterlingDave]

There are no differences between the different brands when it comes to gasoline. They are all supplied from the same refinery processing center. Matter of fact, I've seen the same truck going from one gas station to the next, both were different brands.

Do you mean to tell me that you don't believe the commercials from the major gasoline companies about this additive and that additive, blah, blah, blah?

How un-American of you! LMAO

You're supposed to believe in Exxon, Texaco, Shell, and feel good about spending 7 to 10 cents more per gallon for those sacred names. <shakes his head> What is this country coming to?

 

[LLT]

Here is an interesting article. On the other hand -- I'm fairly particular about the fuel I put in my vehicles, not so much because the quality of the fuel varies, but because the quality of the station varies. Just because fuel from one truck goes to two stations does NOT mean the fuel dispensed into your vehicle is of the same quality between those stations.

I do not fill up at older stations that may have older tanks in the ground, filled with sediment, water in the fuel, poor filtration, etc.

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[scottdk]

Hi Scottdk

I'm currently filling with regular. The car I had previously was an IS300 which i only filled with premium. Would you say you get better mileage out of premium vs. the cost of regular?

Yes, that is exactly it I'll usually get 1 MPG better with premium, sometimes more. I was told by another member of the furum (I forget who) that this would happen, and he was right.

Premium is only about 10-25 cents more then regular and when I put in 19 gallons, it's only costing so little for for the 92 Octane. It's a matter of a couple dollars for an entire tank. Worth it IMO

 

[wallymn]

Top Tier is sold via kwik Trip in this part of the country, It has been a few years but I filled up on that with a 2 year old car and had engine trouble within 100 miles, (had to have the injectors replaced). didn't put it together at the time, but about a year later, same gas same problem.

I prefer BP Super (as it is a locally owned station in my town), generally I believe buy the grade for the engine (v-8 is designed to run on 92 but will run on less) and buy from a dealer you trust.

BP sells corn free gas which is hard to get here.

 

[ctrcbob]

There are no differences between the different brands when it comes to gasoline. They are all supplied from the same refinery processing center. Matter of fact, I've seen the same truck going from one gas station to the next, both were different brands.

When I'm up in NYS (Penfield) I normally buy Hess, only because their trucks say HESS on the sides, plus I know there is a Hess Terminal nearby. As for other brands, and also in Florida, the trucks have no names on them, and go from the local Texaco station to the Circle K, to the Sunoco. No difference.

I also do not like the E10 that is sold throughout the country. In my area of Florida, there are a couple stations that advertise they sell gas without Ethanol, but the cost is much higher. About 35 cents higher last time I looked. In my previous car, I got 10% less milage using E10 than Gasoline, however in my Genesis, I get the same milage. Don't know why. In addition, there is one good thing about E10. No need to use "injection cleaners" or to buy the cleaning that dealers and quick lubes always try to sell you, because the ethanol keeps those injectors and fuel lines clean. This is probably the only good thing about E10.

 

[Mark_888]

There is a lot of misinformation here about gas.

First, some engines are designed with variable timing to run on different octane levels to get a little better mileage and a little more horsepower with higher octane fuel. I don't think the V6 is designed to fully exploit premium fuel (although there may be some very minor improvement), but I believe that the V8 may be (since I don't have the V8 I have not researched this). Whether the difference is worth the extra cost just depends on the math.

Second, the stuff about all gas being the same is bunk. Each local area typically has only one or a few refineries. Not every brand of gas has their own refinery in that area, and it would be cost prohibitive to truck it everywhere from their own refinery in a different location. So what happens is that a few local refineries produce gasoline at a certain octane level and sell it to everyone else who put in their own additives which differentiates one brand from another.

Certainly there are brands who share the exact same base gasoline and the same additives, but the majors have their own additive packages. Some unbranded stations can purchase the additive package from some of the majors, but they can't advertise that they have it. The second-tier brands typically do not purchase the best additive packages from the majors because it is more expensive, but they are usually decent.

Chevron is considered by most to have the best additive package, and the one that most auto manufacturers use for their EPA tests to get the best performance numbers. Chevron also has Techron, which does a very good job of keeping your fuel injectors clean. However, if you put a bottle of Chevron's Techron additive (available at auto parts stores) in your tank twice a year or so, you may be just as well (or better) off in terms of cleaning your fuel injectors as you would by using Chevron gas on a regular basis.

 

[ctrcbob]

Just checked prices this morning and my local Race-Trac Station (with a tanker with painted with the Race-Trac logo) was selling for $2.48 a gallon.

The station just down the street that has gas with no ethanol was $2.77 a gallon.

Most stations in my area, like the one I normally buy from, are around $2.55 a gallon.

 

[dataguy]

As far as I'm concerned, additives to gasoline are more about tracking/marking gas than actual performance or cleaning power. It discourages owners from buying non-branded gas or for distributors selling branded gas to non-branded stations. Since this has been widely debated since the dawn of time with no clearly compelling evidence that any brand is superior to another, personally, I lump the topic in with herbal supplements. Take them if it makes you feel better...or not, if you don't believe.

On the topic of premium fuel, since I have a V6 and since there's a 20 cent/gal differential between reg and premium where I live, it doesn't make sense for me. If there is a 1 MPG increase, that might make up for about 10 cents, but without the extra performance on the V8, the rest is just wasted money. If I had a 4.6, sure

 

[Simonwpb]

I go with the regular gas at Costco, no problems and good MPG in my V6 after 15K miles.

I do have a concern with ethanol bio-fuels however, because there is evidence they cause corrosion in engines and fuel pumps. This is especially causing problems with 2-cycle lawn equipment etc. when the fuel sits a while (So much for saving the environment, it is all a big $$ subsidy to the corn industry but I digress...)

My understanding is that most premium gas does not contain ethanol to achieve the 91 octane while the regular octane fuels contain up to 10% ethanol. Amazing how they used to charge a 10 cent premium for high octane gas and now it is 20-cents per gallon. Where is the cost basis for that?

 

[TJPark01]

This debate can get lumped into the Synthetic Oil debate as well. Inconclusive at best. Dataguys' herbal supplements analogy is spot on. People who swear by synthetic oil and premium gas will list all the statistics and analysis (insert Pr. Frink voice). While I don't dispute the data, real world driving is vastly different than track or extreme conditions.
1. Is it necessary? No.
2. Can it hurt? No.
3. Will you draw some big improvement by using them? No.
4. Will I have peace of mind. Yes

very similar to the vitamin supplements comment.

 

[ImInPA]

My understanding is that most premium gas does not contain ethanol to achieve the 91 octane while the regular octane fuels contain up to 10% ethanol. Amazing how they used to charge a 10 cent premium for high octane gas and now it is 20-cents per gallon. Where is the cost basis for that?

Ethanol is not used to achieve and octane rating. Octane is a combustion retardant. Octane causes the gas to have LESS combustion. There is absolutely no "cost basis" for any prices at the pump. Due to de-regulation, they are allowed to set prices at the pump based on futures and not on the actual price being paid for a barrel of oil. It is all just a rip off. using "oil company logic", gasoline containing 10% ethanol should be cheaper than gasolines not containing the cheaper additive, but, I challenge you to find a station or company with that level of integrity.

 

[dond13]

I used to buy gas at the cheapest place I could find. I had a 93 Dodge Dakota and after about 30,000 miles wouldn't idle worth a darn. It would sputter and quit and then be hard to start. I took it to the dealer and naturally he claimed that he could clean the fuel system for about $250 and it would fix the problem.

I bought a container of Textron and used it and the problem went away. The dealer was right about the fuel system being dirty but I didn't need to pay him $250. Since then, I have used Cheveon on all my cars all the time and have never had another problem. As with a change to premium, it doesn't cost much extra to go with the 'top tier' Chevron and it seems to keep my cars running just fine, so I stick with it. No I don't have Chevron stock!