I'm sure this has been addressed in the past but is there really a difrence between racetrack gas and shell,texaco gas etc?

Just the additives. Gas is gas is gas. However, the stuff you get at Sam's, Wal-Mart, etc. is just plain old gas. The stuff at Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, etc. has additives that either aid slightly in performance or in keeping the internals of your engine in better shape.

NB4 someone says it all comes off the same truck

GM, Honda and Toyota recently came out with their preferred gasolines, because no, just because the base fuel on the truck is the same doesn't mean it's the same in your fuel tank.

http://www.toptiergas.com/

The additives make a world of difference. The top-tier gasolines were (in no particular order):

QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Company
Shell-Canada
Texaco
Petro-Canada
Sunoco-Canada

I personally prefer Chevron. My Tahoe usually gets a little better mileage performance out of a tank of Chevron than say, Exxon, for example. The very same can be said for my Honda Accord.


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aka Commander 99

That sucks.

The only one we have from that list here in Cedar Rapids: Shell. And none that I know of on my side of town. One or two on the north side.

I've put Wal*Mart gas in three times, and I get better MPG.

I am very surprised Valero is not on there. I prefer Chevron myself, as it is usually .10 cents cheaper on average in Houston.

Wow...Chevron is usually .10 higher up in North Texas.

I go for Valero usually too, unless the pumps at Wally World are not crowded...I will go there as well.

I had a truck driver that I used to supervise tell me that it all comes off the same truck...just different additives. I think he used to drive a truck for Murphy...which is the Wally World brand.

So would buying cheap gas and then dumping in a little additives yourself be about the same as buying the top tier stuff?

quote:

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QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Company
Shell-Canada
Texaco
Petro-Canada
Sunoco-Canada

---

Same company, same additives, different name. What gives?

EDIT: nevermind, I missed the "no particular order"

[This message has been edited by TexasRebel (edited 2/10/2008 12:19p).]

I used to be a service manager for a company that installed and repaired fuel systems.

One thing I watch for is the condition of the station. How fast does the fuel flow when no one else is pumping? If it is slow, they may have clogged filters. (There are filters in the dispensers, they look like oil filters.)

Many of the older stations also have water in their tanks, I don't want to hope that the tank is running near empty and I'm paying to water.

I do not go to any gas stations that look older than about 5-7 years. Seems to me, the older ones could care less about quality of gas. Probably a stupid rule, but I abide by it.

quote:

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The intention of the TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline standards is to create a winning situation for gasoline retailers, auto manufacturers and drivers.

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Top Tier appears to me to be a "standard" created to promote certain gasolines. It describes some cleaning requirements but doesn't say anything who has done the testing or how.

It mentions that BMW, Honda, etc. do not believe the EPA minimum standards are enough but nowhere does it say these carmakers have actually endorsed any specific gasolines.

Please someone show me this site has some genuine scientific credibility. It looks like marketing to me.

My dad was the manager for the lubricant division of Shell Oil back in the late 70s. He worked out of the Chicago area and had a handful of engineers and chemists under him.

They ran a fleet of test cars. Only a single type of fuel and a single type oil was used in each car. After 5,000, 20,000, etc miles the engines were broken down and carefully examined for wear, deposits, and general status.

All oils are not the same (pre synthetic) and all gasolines are not the same. They were always happy because Shell was always a cleaner burning gas than Texaco , Amaco, and the rest.

They also examined aircraft engines, farm equipment engines, train engines, and industrial equipment engines to do the same evaluations. Keeping in mind airlines, farms, etc usually contracted with a single oil company to provide fuel and lubricants.

While 25 years have past, the same is still true for fuel. I stick to the big brands who take care to make their fuels clean. I avoid the no-name convenience stores and places like WalMart. Also, better gas milage does not necessarily mean fuel that is better for your car.

I fill up with whatever I can, and whatever is the cheapest. I've never noticed a difference, and my mileage is pretty much always the same on a hwy trip. My truck is still running fine at 120k miles and 13 years old.

quote:

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Just the additives. Gas is gas is gas. However, the stuff you get at Sam's, Wal-Mart, etc. is just plain old gas. The stuff at Chevron, Texaco, Exxon, etc. has additives that either aid slightly in performance or in keeping the internals of your engine in better shape.

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Sam's gas is the Exxon gas. When I worked at Sam's in College Station I used to sign the invoices when the truck would deliver it.

I guess I've been lucky since I've been driving since 1974. Datsun, Mercury, Oldsmobile, Mazda (many), Honda (many), Jaguar, Ford (several), etc. and I can't recall a single problem that I associate with bad gas. I generally don't buy from an obviously no name place. But I buy gas these days from Chevron, HEB, Shamrock/Valero, Texaco, Mobil, Exxon, Shell and I see no difference whatsoever in performance or mileage.

I generally take good care of my vehicles but I'm not anal (no 3000 mile oil changes) about it. I think that Top Tier site is BS marketing. I think tiger in the tank is BS. I want to buy gas from a place that sells alot and looks like it is well run.

quote:

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this first-hand experience with dirty gasoline has made me a believer in quality gas and i'll never go back to the cheap stuff.

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I said this about women, too. Oops.

Nice looking jeep, btw.

For what it's worth, I used to work at a Kroger Fuel center in the Summer of '04.

We sold "unbranded" Chevron. The tanker that brought our fuel would pull fuel from the same tanks regardless of destination. If the fuel was going to a Chevron station, the driver then added the Techron additive. Since we weren't Chevron, we got their base detergent. All detergents have minimum standards they are required to maintain.

QuickTrip