TT EF

[mjoekingz28]

Any Ethanol free top tier fuels around? Preferably 87 octane


We have a Chevron that I quit using that stocks 100% gasoline, but states on the pump that it is not a Chevron product.

I would like to avoid the potential need to buy a fuel cleaner in a bottle to add.

 

[Garak]

I don't have an answer for your exact question, but your statement brings up a question of my own. How does a Chevron station (with Chevron being certified as Top Tier) get away with selling "someone else's" product? When a company is certified as Top Tier, they must provide that Top Tier product at all their stations.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Garak
I don't have an answer for your exact question, but your statement brings up a question of my own. How does a Chevron station (with Chevron being certified as Top Tier) get away with selling "someone else's" product? When a company is certified as Top Tier, they must provide that Top Tier product at all their stations.

Top Tier is basically a certification of the detergent additive at a specific concentration. It's assumed that the base fuel will conform to industry/regulatory standards. Chevron really doesn't make a better or worse base fuel than anyone else. However, the concentration of additive does make a difference, and that's basically what Top Tier is addressing.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Any Ethanol free top tier fuels around? Preferably 87 octane


We have a Chevron that I quit using that stocks 100% gasoline, but states on the pump that it is not a Chevron product.

I would like to avoid the potential need to buy a fuel cleaner in a bottle to add.


I don't quite understand what they mean. The Top Tier requirements don't include ethanol, although the **testing** of the detergent additive requires a base fuel with a minimum ethanol content as a worst case scenario - to test the additive.

The way most fuel is distributed, the fuel itself is considered a fungible commodity that can be freely traded. The only thing that really "brands" gasoline is an additive, and even then it's possible for different brands to contain the same additive bought from the same supplier.

The way the Top Tier requirements work, all gasoline sold at stations carrying the brand must have gasoline with an additive and at a level meeting the Top Tier testing requirement. It sounds like they might be selling it as some sort of side item like racing gas (that they're not purchasing from Chevron), and disclaiming any requirement that it meet the Top Tier standard or contain their own additive. The way one buys from a distributor is also pretty convoluted. Chevron will just put in fuel to the pipeline operator, and their customers can get it somewhere else. It's not guaranteed to be fuel that Chevron made, but is supposed to meet the same standards. For instance, it might be easier to transport that fuel no more than 100 miles, but then Chevron has a retail branded customer 500 miles away, and their pipeline operator is only obligated to provide (let's say) industry standard 87 octane E10 to the retail gas station when a tanker shows up to deliver it.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
It's assumed that the base fuel will conform to industry/regulatory standards. Chevron really doesn't make a better or worse base fuel than anyone else. However, the concentration of additive does make a difference, and that's basically what Top Tier is addressing.

That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, where he mentions that the pumps say it's not a Chevron product. Of course, the base gasoline can come from anywhere, and that's not the point. I mean, if it's not Chevron gasoline (i.e. gasoline with Chevron's additive package), then what is it? BP? Something else non-TT? Something TT?

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Garak
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
It's assumed that the base fuel will conform to industry/regulatory standards. Chevron really doesn't make a better or worse base fuel than anyone else. However, the concentration of additive does make a difference, and that's basically what Top Tier is addressing.

That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, where he mentions that the pumps say it's not a Chevron product. Of course, the base gasoline can come from anywhere, and that's not the point. I mean, if it's not Chevron gasoline (i.e. gasoline with Chevron's additive package), then what is it? BP? Something else non-TT? Something TT?

Who knows. I mentioned race gas. There's a well known 76 gas station maybe halfway between San Jose and San Francisco that sells 100 octane race gas with a blue tint. The nickname of the stuff is "Smurf gas". They were carrying it way back when the 76 brand was owned by Tosco and they had clear info that it was made by Tosco and met all the street fuel standards that Tosco had for their fuel. Then after the ConocoPhillips various mergers and divestitures, the 76 brand no longer included 100 octane race gas, but this gas station still sold 100 octane. Not quite sure who they got it from, although it could have been Sunoco, Torco, or (right now most likely) VP Racing.

These days 76 is certified as Top Tier, but I would suspect that this particular fuel may not meet the standard unless they specifically paid extra to squirt some of their own additive. That's always possible, but I'm not sure how that works with the Top Tier organization.

If anything, it sound as if the gas station mentioned by the OP may be in CYA mode when it comes to meeting the Top Tier standard - if this particular fuel isn't getting the specific Chevron additive called for in the Chevron agreement with Top Tier.

 

[Garak]

Good question. When a station is certified Top Tier, it's all supposed to be Top Tier, so I wonder if this disclaimer would cover them or not.