High Ocatne = old?

[mjoekingz28]

I'm looking into getting a sportbike and want to keep it to 87 octane, but if I used premium I don't know if it would run good.

Well, 87 is used by everyone everyday so it gets replenished frequently at the gas station. But on 93, I imagine it gets used, like, 0.1% percent as much. So while a service station tank of 87 might last a week....93 would last a year or two.

I assume they don't put Stabil in the underground tanks, so wouldn't having a high performance car comes with a whole host of problems since you're using very old gasoline?

 

[gathermewool]

I've wondered about this too, though I think it gets used more often than you suppose. I hear people tell me they use Premium all the time because it makes their car run/perform better, even though it doesn't require it. Heck, I used to add premium every other tank in my old Toyota Paseo in highschool for the same reason. Ignorance leads to fresh 93 for my Subie

 

[javacontour]

In many stations, the midgrade is a blend of premium and regular, so I suspect as was suggested above, it gets used more than you suspect.

Think of it this way, as volatile as gas prices are, a station is not going to keep a large inventory of fuel. They are going to buy it based on how it moves. So it's likely reasonably fresh.

 

[Rob_Roy]

Our Lincoln Navigator requires premium, and I have gotten a few tanks of "old" premium. I say it was old because the mileage was terrible and the exhaust fumes were nasty. Each time the gas was from a station that was not in a busy area.

Old premium gas seemed to be more of a problem when gas was $4 per gallon.

 

[dparm]

Depends on the area you live in. My parents live in a more affluent suburb and I guarantee you the 93 octane gets used up as fast as the 87. Where I live downtown, most people don't even own cars (and those that do have cars like Civics and Corollas) so I'm fairly certain it lingers more.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Depends on the area you live in. My parents live in a more affluent suburb and I guarantee you the 93 octane gets used up as fast as the 87. Where I live downtown, most people don't even own cars (and those that do have cars like Civics and Corollas) so I'm fairly certain it lingers more.


To be honest, the people I've personally seen or heard (mostly back home in DE) using higher-than-necessary octane were people of lower socio-economic status. For whatever reason, they would choose to upgrade the rims, add chrome accents, use any(all) additives and higher octane fuels in their hooptie, because, while they couldn't afford a better car, they can for sure afford to treat this one as if it were a more expensive car.

This isn't always the case, and may be a bit off topic, but the bottom line is that ignorance knows no income level, IMO.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Well, 87 is used by everyone everyday so it gets replenished frequently at the gas station. But on 93, I imagine it gets used, like, 0.1% percent as much. So while a service station tank of 87 might last a week....93 would last a year or two.

You're assuming the 93 tank is just as large as the 87 tank. Is it?

Also, as other pointed out, I think the use of 93 is actually much higher than what you stated, but I guess it depends on where you live.

 

[willix]

There are plenty of folks using premium fuel out there that supplies would never become dated unless in a very remote area.

 

[JHZR2]

The key for any fuel is a well-used, high turnover station.

There IS a reason why tankers have different size sections inside.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
The key for any fuel is a well-used, high turnover station.

There IS a reason why tankers have different size sections inside.


Good point. I tend to stay away from stations that are kind of out of the way. I'm sure their stuff is just fine, but it's not worth the risk to me. Besides, they're usually more expensive or have a markup for credit card use.

 

[BBDartCA]

I have a friend in the fuel blending, distribution and retail sales business.

He tells me some stations, especially since the recession hit, now fill up their 93 octane take 1 time for every 10 times they fill the 87 octane tanks. So some customer who were using 93 who did not need, probably reverted back to 87, and some who need 93 may have dropped down to mid or regular - thats the theory.

And most keep the level in the 94 octane tanks very low.

Yes, most midgrades use blender pumps that mix super plus regular to get mid grade.

Interesting graph here from Uncle Sam, looks like premium usage is going down.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=pet&s=a133700001&f=a

 

[gathermewool]

I wonder what happened in the 90's that could have caused this

 

[BBDartCA]

Originally Posted By: gathermewool
I wonder what happened in the 90's that could have caused this

My guess its the economy. Early 90's and 2001 bother are where super had a big drop off and both are also times when the economy was souring. Here is output for all gas usage.

 

[mechtech2]

mjoe - A sportbike that runs on regular? It would be detuned to do this.
This is of course an individual case thing.
Honest to goodness, use what is required. Generally, bikes need high octane.

 

[prs]

I have a Suzuki GS500, A Honda VTX1300, and a Honda GL1800. All three specify "regular" octane fuel and all three run just dandy on it.

prs