best brand of gas?

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I am looking for opinions on the best gasoline.......

i dont care about saving 10 cents a gallon, i just want the gas with the BEST additives and all that... i have been using shell lately, but what about BP(amoco) and Mobil?

i need 93 octane... my cars engine naturally has fuel injector problems, so i want to use the best detergent gas...
 
I generally use Shell 93 octane as my three cars require a minimum of 91. I have used this grade for about 10 years with no fuel related problems at all. I use no additional additives.

On their respective websites.... Shell states that they use the same amount of additive in all three grades. Mobil and Amoco both state that they use the "most" amount of detergent additives in their premium grades only. I would feel comfortable using Mobil or Amoco premium also.

I first began to use Shell about 20 years ago after dirtied up carbureator within 30 thousand miles filling up wherever. I was steered to Shell by a co-worker. He had worked for Shell and believed that no other supplier maintained their tanks and equipment better.

I understand too that all the gasoline in this region as any other, is coming from a few refiners and all the brand suppliers fill up with the same stuff. The added detergents and maintenance of equipment makes the difference.
 
thanks for the reply....

i would never use speedway or thorntons, i heard citgo was not to good, nor is clark...

i used to, but im so anal about my new car....
 
If you can get in your region Chevron with techron is the best I've found. I get the best mileage with Chevron. Chevron pioneered the techron additive, and from what I've read it is the only additive that does not create a deposit of it's own when it burns. I've used it for years and have never had a fuel system or engine related problem.
 
I use shell only. They claim to have the same abount of detergents across the board in "The New Shell"

--Matt
 
In some areas it might be more difficult to ignore marketing claims, but here I can follow the same tank truck to six different stations (4 different brands) and watch them fill the tanks. I then have a choice of prices, currently 15-17cents/gallon spread from high to low for regular unleaded. One has much better advertisements but it doesn't get me any further down the road.

I don't know if this is true of our one Chevron station. It's on the other side of town, out of the way of my early driving.

David
 
my car gets terrible gas mileage on BP gas. our V6 accord runs really badly on it too. I try to stay away from the BP gas.

-Matt
 
I as well as my parents have always had good luck with Philips 66. It may not be quite as good as chevron or shell, but its one of my favorites considering it sells within a cent or 2 of Thortons and it at least seems to be pretty clean. We had a 90 Maxima that after a month of using MotoMart or Thortons could barely idle because of clogged fuel injectors. The shop told us to stick with at least Marathon, Amoco, or Shell as well as most of the major brands. The next 80k miles there were no problems and most of the gas used was Philips 66.

Jason
 
I can't compare it to other brands cause I don't run anything but Amoco 93. It has been great in my truck. I use to run the 89 in it and it was very consistant and ran well. Then I reprogrammed the computer with Hypertech tuning and it started knocking like a jack hammer and I had to move up to 93. But this is in northern TN. Maybe different there.
 
I agree with what OneQuartLow said. Gas quality appears to vary locally/regionally. I've heard numerous people claim that tanker trucks of numerous liveries have topped up at the same pump at regional distribution centers.
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I think that if your car is picky, you should try to find a station near you which sells gas your car/truck likes and stick with it. Same brand gas across town may not perform as well. Some local stations may also have old, contaminated tanks. These should be fairly rare in most parts, though, as older steel tanks are replaced with double-wall fiberglass tanks for environmental reasons.

Around here, Mobil has had repeated problems. They've had really crappy gas which was contaminated so bad that it was clogging fuel filters and actually made the news.

Also, I had a 1990 Integra that would run on anything ... except Mobil and the cheapest gas from the least reputable-lloking gas station in town. The type of place most people on this board wouldn't even think of pulling into.
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When I filled up with gas from these places, the car would knock and ping badly. 87 octane from any other station (Hess, BP, Sunoco, Gulf, Getty or Citgo) was fine. The funny thing was, Mobil has always been the most expensive in this area and I wouldn't use it if it was the cheapest.
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Now I use Sunoco (mostly) with occasional fillings at Gulf stations as well as Hess. I don't notice a difference with my car. I use additives so frequently (formerly Red Line SI-1, now mostly Neutra #131) along with isopropyl alcohol, I'm not really worried about any injector fouling.

We don't have Chevron, Unocal 76, Phillips or Shell in this area.

--- Bror Jace
 
My car seems to like Chevron 93 best of all. Last time I tried Phillips 66 super, 3 tanks in early Sept, both power & mileage dropped a little.

BTW: what refinery the gas comes from can make a big difference. The local Chevron station had big trouble with trash in the gas from one local refinery, stopped up pump filters & made my vehicle run lousy. He switched to another refinery, no more pump filter problems, exc gas for his customers.
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I don't know about best. But unleaded gasoline is a commodity traded on the exchange. The difference between brands is in the additives and marketing.

About 10 years ago I switched from the cheapest gas I could find to Chevron. Since that time I have never needed to add a cleaner to my tank to clean the injectors nor have I had any pinging problems.

Maybe any name brand gas will do that. But around here a Chevron station sits on every other corner.
 
Neil, I used to recommend the fuel you mentioned but in the past 3 months have ben trying a new technique; The cheapest fuel I can find, then doctor it with 1 oz of Fuel Power to 5 gallons gasoline ( works great with Diesel too).

Have been able to go from 91 oct to 87 OCt with Fuel power cleaning and raising Oct ane enough to keep from retarding timing. The Fuel Power cost is around .16c to .20c per ounce.
I like Schaeffers Nuetra as a fuel system cleaner but the Fuel Power actually raises the energy value of the fuel.

Disclaimer; I'm just a oil analyst not a fuels specialist.

[ December 19, 2002, 10:43 PM: Message edited by: Terry ]
 
Terry, don't want to take this off track but do you add before or after the fillup? I ask because I've noticed different adds behave differently in motionless gasoline. Some seem to disperse well while others pour straight to the bottom. Could affect results without the agitation of a fillup.

Much simpler back in my 2-stroke days when I could shake the cans or even the bike if necessary.
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David
 
I'll agree that the gasoline quality can vary greatly with region, brand, refinery, and time of year. In this area, there are two refineries that provide nearly all of the gas consumed in the area.

I keep really close tabs on fuel mileage in my vehicles, and I have found that Stations with the Amoco (Soon to be BP), Citgo, Phillips 66, Conoco, and Holiday Brands tend to give me the best fuel mileage. The bad ones in the bunch, as far as mileage is concerned, are Texaco (absolutely the worst - without a doubt - doesn't matter which station in town in it comes from), Kwik Trip, Superamerica (Speedway), and Mobil.

It does vary a little from vehicle to vehicle (like one really does well on Superamerica gas - it stinks in the others). I have had problems with pinging on 87 Octane Amoco fuels in the past in all of my vehicles. No other brand exhibited the same problem. I have not had the problem in the last 6 months.

Texaco stations will soon be rebranded as Shell stations in this market. It will be interesting to see if there is any differnce in the performance of the fuels.

I should also note that ALL gasoline here has 10% ethanol in it, by state law. Non-oxy 92 or 03 octane is availible on a limited basis, but it costs about 15 to 20 cents higher than oxy-premium fuel (non oxy is currently running about $1.79 a gallon, oxy premium around 1.62, and regular 87 around $1.42 or so)
 
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