"Good" gas, "Bad" gas

[deerefan]

\"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

Hope I am not beating a dead horse here. Is the quality of gas the same at Race Trac, where it is 10 cents cheaper, than the Shell or Exxon with the higher priced fuels? I've hear the rumors and myths about cheaper fuels, for instance, they are "watered down", not "good quality" and so on. Can any one clear this up for me? I usually fill up at the Shell or Exxon b/c I've never had a problem w/ their fuel but if I can save a few bucks, by all means if the fuel is the same quality, I will use another station. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[HGM]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

I have always used Racetrack or one of the cheaper gas stations for my gas vehicles. The big name stations claim different additives which raise their price. I havent seen an advantage other than their claims in marketing. The bit factors to me are that they have a resonable volume of sales and that they arent filling the tanks while I'm there.

Sorry I cant provide a scientific veiwpoint, but I have never had a problem with gas at a high volume station. BTW, unless your vehicle is specificly tuned for higher octane, dont waste your money on anything higher than 87...

 

[slowrev]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

On the octane thing. I have found that in my 90 Subaru I get enough higher mileage with premium to offset the higher cost and it runs better. I can use all the better I can get with a 1.8 liter /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

My recommendation....Try it out, measure your mileage and see what works best for you. The same with the cheap gas, try it out and see.
Ben
ps. Just my opinion and observations.

 

[Hydraman]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

As a person that has delivered gas to various dealers, I can tell you that it all comes out of the same spout at the pipeline or refinery. I would go to the cenex pipeline and load up and deliver to a conoco, or exxon station, then go back to same pipeline and load a load for XYZ convenience store.
Then I might go to the Amoco refinery and load a load for the local Sinclair station. However, when loading "branded" fuels,
their particular additives would be injected right at the spout.
Don.
PS there are a lot of things happen in the fuel business that absolutely do not make any sense at all, but won't go into details here!!

 

[HGM]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

I can agree with that... I havent noticed a measurable difference any time I have tried it..When a vehicle is designed, they have an octane in mind, so usually higher octane wont make a difference. Good idea to try it though.

 

[MadReferee]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( However, when loading "branded" fuels,
their particular additives would be injected right at the spout.
...there are a lot of things happen in the fuel business that absolutely do not make any sense at all )</font>

How true. I used to own a Citgo station and the driver confirmed that all fuel here in the Boston region came from the same storage tanks (except Mobil who had their own storage). The additives were added at the rack. The "branded" fuels also had a tracer added. Every 6 months or so a Citgo rep would come and take a sample back to the lab. If the gas wasn't Citgo you would be in really big trouble. A station in the next town over got caught pumping "unbranded" and lost his deal with Citgo.

 

[Egon]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

Chances are the Big Name companies also own the discount gasoline dispensers. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Egon

 

[cup149]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

http://www.toptiergas.com web page

 

[5030]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

Egon:

I have to be careful here......

Good Gas is allright with your wife (and mine). /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Bad Gas allows you to sleep on the couch. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[Jay4200]

Re: \"Good\" gas, \"Bad\" gas

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( How true. I used to own a Citgo station and the driver confirmed that all fuel here in the Boston region came from the same storage tanks)</font>

I've always been a firm believer in this. HOWEVER - I recently found a serious discrepancy with a cheepo station in MA that I drive by every day, which was a penny or so under the least expensive NH stations. I always suspected that I got a little worse milage with their gas. After using up the tank that included 100 miles of pulling a 2k# trailer and hauling my 6k# tractor home, which obviously killed my milage, I filled up at the cheepo station. I ended up only getting about 240 miles on my Tundra tank, which is about 20% lower than normal. I then filled up at Hafners in NH, another cheepo station, and my milage returned to normal - (was actually a little better than normal). Something is up with that first station and I'm not buying there again.

Also, not to poo-poo the Subaru guy, but engines tuned for regular gas will get reduced milage using premium, especially with carborated engines. The effect is reduced for closed-loop timing systems, but higher octane gas has less energy per unit volume. W/o higher compression ratios to increase operating efficiency, the effect of going to premium is net negative.

Jay