Do you use gas brand exclusively ?

Originally Posted by NissanMaxima
Funny story Cubey. Thanks for sharing! Guess the few cents he saved by breaking the "Shell only" rule cost him more in the end by being grounded I'm sure. I'm sure that makes for some fine reminiscing come family events! Those LTD's were built like a tank with real bumpers. We had the cheaper Custom 500 back in the day!


That same LTD got rear ended pretty hard by a brand new 1990ish Chevy Blazer, or S-10 Blazer more likely. The whole front of it was pretty much gone from what I remember seeing, like the guy ran it into a brick wall. The LTD's rear bumper was pushed down some, it had broken tail lights, it lost some of the individual "F O R D" letters, and the trunk lid was dented, it leaked from then on, and never shut properly again without slamming it, but compare that to the totaled Blazer, that's small potatoes.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
I thought all major brands use more detergency in their Premium gas. I would like to know which lesser brands don't. All the big names do.


If someone has a reference on detergent levels in various octane levels of major brand names, I would like to see that study.

I would also be interested to see if there are any studies as to engine cleaning vs. those detergent levels. I have found none. The AAA study, which was good for the most part, just looked at Top Tier gases demonstrating effectiveness vs. non-Top Tier. It would have been nice to have extended that study to different octane levels with different detergent levels.
 
Originally Posted by RDY4WAR
You know what the best detergent is in fuel? Ethanol.


Blasphemy! Ethanol is the Devil's work!
28.gif
 
Originally Posted by Spector
An independent that sells 87 octane 100% gas, so far, after a few years no issues. MPG definitely better with the 100% but a break even cost wise.

You like to gamble? A few more years would begin to render stumbling, lowered rpm at idle......etc.
Mine started at around 65K.

Treat your fuel system now, both in the gas tank and at the intake. Buy Top-tier fuels.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Spector
An independent that sells 87 octane 100% gas, so far, after a few years no issues. MPG definitely better with the 100% but a break even cost wise.

You like to gamble? A few more years would begin to render stumbling, lowered rpm at idle......etc.
Mine started at around 65K.

Treat your fuel system now, both in the gas tank and at the intake. Buy Top-tier fuels.

I prefer something that's better than minimum detergent additives, but I rarely find that now that almost every major retailer has been Top Tier certified. And definitely I don't agree with the premise that there's one brand of gasoline that somehow has to be used. The vast majority of fuel is a fungible commodity, with the main difference being a detergent additive where there's diminishing returns when adding more.
 
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Spector
An independent that sells 87 octane 100% gas, so far, after a few years no issues. MPG definitely better with the 100% but a break even cost wise.

You like to gamble? A few more years would begin to render stumbling, lowered rpm at idle......etc.
Mine started at around 65K.

Treat your fuel system now, both in the gas tank and at the intake. Buy Top-tier fuels.

I prefer something that's better than minimum detergent additives, but I rarely find that now that almost every major retailer has been Top Tier certified. And definitely I don't agree with the premise that there's one brand of gasoline that somehow has to be used. The vast majority of fuel is a fungible commodity, with the main difference being a detergent additive where there's diminishing returns when adding more.

There's no diminished attributes, unless you periodically use fuel additives to offset your diminished detergency of brands rated lower-levels.

Top Tier means little, unless you investigate which gas brands offer the most detergency. I always am willing to pay 10 cents more per gallon for Shell, Exxon-Mobil or BP. Quality breeds mental confidence in knowing your engine will continue to run gasoline smoothly. To me it's worth paying $2.00 more per week, for a tank of gas.
 
I try to use Shell when possible, specifically their premium, because I think there's definitely advantages to their additive package. There's definitely a price premium over other brands though.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Spector
An independent that sells 87 octane 100% gas, so far, after a few years no issues. MPG definitely better with the 100% but a break even cost wise.

You like to gamble? A few more years would begin to render stumbling, lowered rpm at idle......etc.
Mine started at around 65K.

Treat your fuel system now, both in the gas tank and at the intake. Buy Top-tier fuels.

I prefer something that's better than minimum detergent additives, but I rarely find that now that almost every major retailer has been Top Tier certified. And definitely I don't agree with the premise that there's one brand of gasoline that somehow has to be used. The vast majority of fuel is a fungible commodity, with the main difference being a detergent additive where there's diminishing returns when adding more.

There's no diminished attributes, unless you periodically use fuel additives to offset your diminished detergency of brands rated lower-levels.

Top Tier means little, unless you investigate which gas brands offer the most detergency. I always am willing to pay 10 cents more per gallon for Shell, Exxon-Mobil or BP. Quality breeds mental confidence in knowing your engine will continue to run gasoline smoothly. To me it's worth paying $2.00 more per week, for a tank of gas.

Triple_Se7en makes an interesting and valid point. While many brands may be Top Tier, a few of them go beyond the Top Tier standard. Shell, XOM, and BP advertise this fact. Others may be doing it too but unfortunately we're left in the dark until they make it known through their advertising. As a side note, I'm very disappointed that RaceTrac is not yet Top Tier. They're as huge as QuikTrip in the Southeast and I don't understand why they remain content with continuing to sell sh*t-for-additives gas. I realize they may already be injecting high-quality additives at Top Tier levels and are simply refusing to pay the licensing fee, but c'mon - when you're a $9 billion dollar company it's time to step up to the plate and take ownership of your product like the big boys.
 
Deo
If RaceTrac is seeing high volume and high profits, it's unimaginable to see them switch gears and change. I hate bypassing gas stations that offer me a better price. I hate bypassing store brand name oils that offer me a better price.
We are faced with these decisions throughout our life. Sometimes the lack of good money dictates our decisions. Sometimes lack of money turns out to be a good decision, when products like RaceTrac and (hypothetical) Rural King Oils work out well.

I'm not a gambler. I can walk into a major casino and pass all the gambling machines and I head straight over to their usually very fine / very well stocked Buffet dinner line. Sure it's more expensive. But the quality is there (most-all times). That's why I prefer Shell, Mobil/Exxon and BP. They are the most trusted names for quality.
 
I use mainly Hy VEE gas or Sams club gasoline. Usually the cheapest per gal here in Lincoln/Omaha area. My vehicles have Never had any issues as far as i know. It's gasoline.
 
Originally Posted by BJD78
I use mainly Hy VEE gas or Sams club gasoline. Usually the cheapest per gal here in Lincoln/Omaha area. My vehicles have Never had any issues as far as i know. It's gasoline.


My mom mostly ran the cheapest gas possible in her 91 Corolla from when it was new until I got it in ate 2008, then I did the same for another year and then some. It was at around 167k as I recall when I traded it in towards a newer used truck. It's power steering was gone, the interior was in bad shape, it was smashed on the right side from getting t-boned by a Taurus, but it still ran good. She mostly ran Fram oil filters (WM oil changes) on it for all those years too. The car still ran great but it wasn't worth anything to the dealer, but they were offering a $1k minimum amount on any trade. I had already gotten about $1000 out of the insurance co of the driver that hit it, but I kept it for several hundreds less since it was still perfectly drivable. PS went out after that.
 
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by y_p_w
Originally Posted by Triple_Se7en
Originally Posted by Spector
An independent that sells 87 octane 100% gas, so far, after a few years no issues. MPG definitely better with the 100% but a break even cost wise.

You like to gamble? A few more years would begin to render stumbling, lowered rpm at idle......etc.
Mine started at around 65K.

Treat your fuel system now, both in the gas tank and at the intake. Buy Top-tier fuels.

I prefer something that's better than minimum detergent additives, but I rarely find that now that almost every major retailer has been Top Tier certified. And definitely I don't agree with the premise that there's one brand of gasoline that somehow has to be used. The vast majority of fuel is a fungible commodity, with the main difference being a detergent additive where there's diminishing returns when adding more.

There's no diminished attributes, unless you periodically use fuel additives to offset your diminished detergency of brands rated lower-levels.

Top Tier means little, unless you investigate which gas brands offer the most detergency. I always am willing to pay 10 cents more per gallon for Shell, Exxon-Mobil or BP. Quality breeds mental confidence in knowing your engine will continue to run gasoline smoothly. To me it's worth paying $2.00 more per week, for a tank of gas.

Depends. The cost of the detergent additive is really only in the pennies per gallon of fuel. Shell, Chevron, XOM, etc. carry a premium because of their marketing costs. It certainly wouldn't explain a 50-60 cent per gallon difference in price.

Now Costco is an interesting case study. They previously had a model where price was their primary selling point. They pointed to EPA minimum requirements and the fact that nearly all fuel sold in the United States is commodity grade where the refining company isn't necessarily the same as the fuel brand. Later on they started rolling out their "Clean Power" additive made for them by Lubrizol, which they stated was used in 5x the concentration needed to meet EPA minimum requirements. They also have a unique setup where the fuel delivered doesn't contain a detergent additive, and their own additive is stored onsite and metered when the fuel is delivered. They kept on getting questions as to whether or not they would seek Top Tier certification, but that would have required every station use a minimum amount of additive needed for Top Tier certification. But once they finally had it in every station, the Top Tier signs appeared and they changed the name to "Kirkland Signature Gasoline".

[Linked Image from costcoauto.com]


76 (now a Phillips 66 brand) claims that their fuel exceeds Top Tier requirements using maybe 40% more detergent additive than needed for that certification.

[Linked Image from 76.com]
 
I made a sort of discovery lately.

Let me preface this saying I used to fill up in USA due to living very close to border and price difference giving at times $20 in savings on a tank of gas.
So, with latest border crossing developments I started filling up in Canada at Petro-Canada and instantly saw very noticeable improvement in gas mileage.
Filling up in US at either Shell, Costco or Safeway I averaged 9.2L/100km and now I see 8.0L/100km numbers.

So, my questions are:
1) is Petro-Canada gas much different from other gas in Canada?
2) is Petro-Can gas best in Canada?
3) is Canadian gas that much different than US gas?

It's puzzling me, I searched the net to get answers but didn't see any good and facts based explanations.
Much appreciated if you can chime in.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by dubber09
I made a sort of discovery lately.

Let me preface this saying I used to fill up in USA due to living very close to border and price difference giving at times $20 in savings on a tank of gas.
So, with latest border crossing developments I started filling up in Canada at Petro-Canada and instantly saw very noticeable improvement in gas mileage.
Filling up in US at either Shell, Costco or Safeway I averaged 9.2L/100km and now I see 8.0L/100km numbers.

So, my questions are:
1) is Petro-Canada gas much different from other gas in Canada?
2) is Petro-Can gas best in Canada?
3) is Canadian gas that much different than US gas?

It's puzzling me, I searched the net to get answers but didn't see any good and facts based explanations.
Much appreciated if you can chime in.

There can certainly be differences, but I'm sure even in Canada the fuel sold is a fungible commodity.

There can ne differences in energy content, but it's not something where there's any kind of fine-tuned control when dealing with massive production. I understand it's highly dependent on the individual crude oil mixture sent to a refinery. And then refinery outputs are mixed together in the distribution process. I can't really say though, and there might be some fuel where you get worse fuel economy.
 
Many BPs around here have moved to 10% ethanol. A few Mobil stations also.
I drive up and scan the entire area around the pump. If I see Ethanol written, I move to another Mobil/Exxon - BP or Shellgas station that has pure gas.
All GDI / TGDI owners should do the same. Ethanol increases carbon buildup.
 
When I was filling up at US Shell I was getting 5¢ off per gal, in past years, only once I had 15¢ off.
Also, if i get 10% better gas mileage that's like 10% off price of gas I bought, that's greater than 10¢ off a gal
lol.gif
 
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