why does my 98 corolla seem to eat shell 87 fast?

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ziggy

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Hi all at bobistheoilguy!:)
Past 2 weeks, ive noticed, at a perticular shell gas staion, using 87 for my car, 98 toyota corolla, i like too use MMO at 4 ozs er 10 gallons, and bout 1 ozs gumout all in one or techron as well...that the car eats it up pretty quick!
Thiers another shell a few blocks away, and last year, using that stations gas, it wasnt eaten up as fast. I normally use CITGO gas, middle of them both, and usually get close too 2 weeks on a full tank! Same mileage with shell 87, but my corolla goes through it alot quicker,,about a week- week and few days. Havnt used mobil in a while, but last a remember it was similar too shell.
I am aware maybe thier winterizing the gas?n Should i getless burn using 93 octane at shell? car love too run on shell...very quiet, car likes it...but it eats the gas up alot quicker...why is that>? I was thining of going to 93 too for a slower burn*
 
What is the recommended fuel grade? Using loower octane fuels will retard timing and inject more fuel to reduce risk of pinging. Shell V Power Nitro + is probably the best pump fuel available anywhere outside of racetracks where you can pump 119 leaded
 
You don't get 119 leaded at many race tracks here in England chap

it's only really designed for nitrous cars
 
why not give us more details such as actual MPG. Track the actual mpg and then report back. I am guessing the increased consumption is because you were sitting in mall traffic over the holidays.
 
like others have said, you need proper measurements

Brim the tank with fuel and reset the trip, use the fuel and then brim it again and calculate how many miles you covered vs fuel used
 
Originally Posted By: riggaz
You don't get 119 leaded at many race tracks here in England chap

it's only really designed for nitrous cars


You're right, we don't, but the OP is in the US and they (IIRC) can usually find high octane leaded near their racetracks.

Failing that, the best fuel I've found I. The UK is Shell super unleaded - my car was setup and dyno'd on it, anything else feels significantly slowed down and unresponsive. Fill up with shell and all the urgency comes back
smile.gif
 
The BTU in the gasoline is often below standards causing an increase in fuel consumption. Ethanol also adds to the problem as it has a low BTU value and I heard that some gas has up to 20% alcohol. Some stations also cut the fuel with 1-5% water to make the fuel even cheaper, it still burns but not as good as quality gas.
 
ok! itis mall traffic..im in southwest CT, ide say 40 miles from NYC. stamford, CT.for the longest, stamford has been known as NYC's nightcap* buisness people using stamford too rest,but today, am time, rush hour starts at 3pm it seems knowadays, traffic is bumper too bumper. and the red lights. its more stop n go traffi than actually getting anywhere in a timely manner. so as a member stated...mall traffic.
The thing is, with this mall traffic, citgo wasnt eaten up as fast as shell. the car book does say to use 87 octane. i like shell though, car def responds as wanting to fly drive with it, and the extra detergency. it had me thinking, 93 octane, would burn slower...in this mall traffic*
I should make a vid, so you can see how congested it gets herem for a small city being disgutingly corporatized..
 
Originally Posted By: Char Baby
You need to set a proper baseline for MPG! You can't go by your gas gauge and miles driven without proper calculations.


Exactly.
 
Could just be water in the fuel; that is one major station-to-station variance.

Never fuel up if the tanker is on the property or has recently filled the main tank ... it stirs up water and sediment.

Your fuel consumption will go up in winter regardless; different formula than summer, also it's temp related as the volume pumped is corrected to 68F (or something similar). So a gallon does not necessarily equal a gallon. If doing a year-to-year then a mild winter and a severe winter will show different MPG.
 
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How does the exhaust smell on a cold start with the bad MPG gas? Somebody probably went a little high on the winter blend components when they mixed the fuel. I can tell a difference in winter, cold start exhaust smells like a chemical plant.
 
Originally Posted By: ziggy
i like shell though, car def responds as wanting to fly drive with it


Extra oxygen (ethanol) will do that. It releases oxygen during combustion and makes more power, albeit at the expense of gas mileage.
 
i have smelled the exhaust..well its 30 degrees here..teens at night. exhaust warming up, is thickish white, but sincei put MMO n its a sweetersmell.nothing too chokeon,def no oil burning. Last time fillup, 2 weeks ago,musta put a tad too much MMO in...it was reddishn white, the exhaust.
exhaust emissions tappers off after warmed up engine.
 
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Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
Could just be water in the fuel; that is one major station-to-station variance.

Never fuel up if the tanker is on the property or has recently filled the main tank ... it stirs up water and sediment.

Your fuel consumption will go up in winter regardless; different formula than summer, also it's temp related as the volume pumped is corrected to 68F (or something similar). So a gallon does not necessarily equal a gallon. If doing a year-to-year then a mild winter and a severe winter will show different MPG.


Modern gas stations have filters before the pump head,so the sediment comment is nonsense and are you seriously saying that the fuel in the underground tanks have temperature swings that are so wide that it affects the actual fuel output. Because if that's what your saying I suggest actually going to a modern gas station and physically checking yourself.
Because the tanks are buried there is very little to no temp fluctuation whatsoever.
Here in sask we build using a frost line established at 6'. Deeper than that the earth maintains a pretty constant temp. And colder would equate to more density which means you'd get more gas rather than less.
And aren't those tanks minimum depth at 12'. Even 10' deep woukd equate to minimal temp swing.
So I'm sorry. I'm not buying it.
If the tanks were above ground I could certainly believe temp playing a role in volume however underground tanks just aren't nearly as succeptible to the problems you've mentioned.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
crooked pump at gas station?
Does happen. How strong is the fuel pump inspection program where Coroaal guy lives?
 
The problem I have with Shell gas stations is that they are privately owned with little supervision so, unfortunately, many station owners take liberties to pad their bottom line.
 
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