Best gasoline option for performance & MPG

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I am the new owner of a 2008 Mercury Milan Premier, 3.0L V6 Duratech engine, Automatic. 38,000 miles.

Habbits:
I don't drive far. My job is 1.6 miles from my house. Everything is close, so there is not a reason to drive far. The town I live in has a grocery store, Walmart, and US high 22 runs through it, so almost every type of chain store is around, like advance auto parts, pep boys, the ford dealer where I got the car. Everything is very close. I drive about 30 miles a week.

From the oil thread I posted last week, I am going to take a recommendation and I will be taking the car for a 15-20 highway driving trip once a week.

My question is about gas.

There are many gas stations close by. I was wondering if there really is any difference in gas, (quality or additives) and a better octane to run.

The owners manual says to run at least 87 octane.

Every gas station below starts at 87 , 89, and 93 octane. One or two also have 91.

Gulf
Sunoco Ultra
BP (with invigorate)
Exxon (V power available)
Chevron (with techron, similar to Texaco)
Getty
Shell (v power)

I found a independent report
The chemical tests conducted by Paragon Laboratories show widely different levels in gas samples collected
BP 87 Octane ... 17.2 milligrams per 100 milliliters
BP 93 Octane ... 26.4 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Citgo 87 Octane ... 6.0 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Citgo 93 Octane ... 9.4 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Exxon 87 Octane ... 20.0 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Exxon 93 Octane ... 21.2 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Pilot 87 Octane ... 5.8 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Pilot 92 Octane ... 8.8 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Shell 87 Octane ... 16.2 milligrams per 100 milliliters
Shell 93 Octane... 31.0 milligrams per 100 milliliters

source
http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/local_news/investigations/I-Team%3A-Test-of-different-popular-brands-of-gasoline-shows-big-differences-in-emissions-mileage
 
Cheapest Top Tier at the recommended 87 octane. Nothing else to consider, except I would run a bottle of Techron with your first tank.
 
TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
USA
76 Stations
Aloha Petroleum
Chevron
Conoco
CountryMark
Entec Stations
Exxon
Hawaii Fueling Network (HFN)
Holiday Stationstores, Inc.
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star
MFA Oil Co.
Mileage Stations
Mobil
Ohana Fuels
Phillips 66
Quik Trip
Rebel Oil
Road Ranger
Severson Oil
Shell
Texaco
Tri-Par Oil Co.
U.S. Oil



Any of them will be fine and a bottle of Techron is a great idea, i use it myself.
 
The best gas is the cheapest gas and the cheapest stations uusally also have the freshest gas, since they will have the highest volume.
Run a bottle of a good fuel system cleaner through it once a year before an oil change if you'd like.
I usually do this, although years have gone by with any given car where I haven't with no ill effects.
Don't sweat brand of gas, just sweat the price.
 
Some cars will get better MPG with higher octane, some won't.
Some cars will get better MPG on the highway with higher octane, some won't.
Some cars will get better MPG in town with higher octane, some won't....
Some cars will get.....get it?

Each car, each engine, reacts differently to gas (and oil)...as fdcg27 found for his/her car, the cheapest works just fine...
Others will tell you different, based on their experience...

In my case Shell regular gets 1/2 mpg (2%) less than other brands, Tier1 and lesser as well...so there you have it...

Try a few months of your favorite and compare results...
 
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I wouldn't worry about the gas brand, however, at least every other oil change I'd put a bottle of some sort of fuel injector cleaner since you'll be short tripping mostly from it sounds like.
 
Some cars are tuned for premium fuels and will perform better and get better fuel economy typically. Your Duratec is not tuned this way from the factory and will run fine on regular if it has not been retuned through the computer for higher octane fuel. Advancing the timing will usually yield better performance but not so much better gas mileage.
 
I would stick to any 87 Top Tier. One bottle of something like Techron or Gummout Regane with the 1st tank may be good for an initial cleaning but probably unneeded afterwards with Top Tier.
 
I can tell the OP is not listening to the advice given (even posted two threads) but I'll try again:

Even if you picked just one station, the actual formula is constantly changing. They refill the tank, which comes from a different refinery, which has different properties. Or they accidentally pour-in too many additives (or not enough). And then there's the summer vs. winter blends. It's never the same fuel.

My old Dodge Shadow went 360,000 miles, and it ran fuels from thousands of different stations/brands all across the country. Let's suppose you did pick a "top tier" like Exxon. It costs 15-20 cents more per gallon than the "US GAS" brand across the street. So take the 25mpg national average, and a 300,000 mile lifespan, which yields around $2000 more money spent on the more-expensive fuel. Worth it? Not in my opinion..... you could use that money as downpayment on the next car when your current car wears out (or rusts-through, or transmission fails, or whatever)
.
 
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Originally Posted By: 07734
I will be taking the car for a 15-20 highway driving trip once a week.
That isn't enough to heat-up the oil in the pan. 1/2 hour minimum. 1 hour in winter.
 
Originally Posted By: Bamaro
I would stick to any 87 Top Tier. One bottle of something like Techron or Gummout Regane with the 1st tank may be good for an initial cleaning but probably unneeded afterwards with Top Tier.

I would still run an in-tank fuel system cleaner but maybe at a longer interval than if using non-Top Tier gas (say 10,000-15,000 miles instead of 3,000) because Top Tier is a performance standard that allows for deposits at levels lower than with gas meeting only the EPA minimum standards so you will still get deposits but at a much slower rate.
 
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