I've heard a lot of dissent and negativity in regards to some "discount" fuels, most of which says that the blend is potentially harmful.

I've used RaceTrac on many occasions and have never experienced any negative issues. It doesn't hurt that at one point early this summer, they were $.25 cheaper than that nearest Shell, Valero and Chevron (no exaggeration).

Can someone explain to me the realities of a RaceTrac type gas?

I can't speak all-knowing about QT/Racetrack products but I can say I have a friend that works in fuel delivery for a major gas company and she says that "gas is gas".

That's what I've always been told also.

This is from my Dad(buffalo chip) when I asked him the same question...

"Generally, gasoline is gasoline. The various retailers market their gas by
touting the detergent additives, etc., but gas is gas. There is a very
efficient wholesale market for gasoline that ensures that the delivered cost
of gas to any station is about the same as any other. In order to sell
cheaper gas and stay in business, Racetrack has to be doing something
different. It could be as simple as using gasoline as a "loss leader" to
get people to frequent their stores. In this case, they would make up their
loss or breakeven on gasoline by the profit margins on everything else that
they sell.

I have heard rumors that Racetrack and other gasoline retail discounters
lower their delivered cost by buying off specification loads of gasoline,
blending it sufficiently with good gasoline to get it barely on
specification, and thus being able to sell it at a lower retail price at a
profit. I do not have any confirmation of whether this is actually a
business practice, but it makes some sense.

I cannot think of any other business model that would work in the long term
with a retailer setting its price versus its competition by $0.25 per gallon
lower (that would be near or below the wholesale delivered cost of
gasoline)."

Gas is Gas....Racetrack gets their fuel from the same place as Exxon, Valero, Chevron, etc..

tfunk02,

It would have to be something of that sort. I don't really go shopping at gas stations, so I can't tell you how expensive RaceTrac is inside. I've heard about the off/blend, but have not suffered any ill-effects of my vehicle. It's at least on par with everything else.

It has to be that, or every other place is jobbing consumers.

I've heard that plenty of times before, that gas is gas. But I've used cheap gas and the vehicle just doesn't run the same. Usually the price difference isn't more than 5, maybe 10 cents at these locations. Considering on a tank of gas that only amounts to at most a couple of bucks, its not worth it, I'll go with the well known gas.

I have gas...

I asked my mechanic about Racetrack/QT gas. He tells me that the gas they sell there is of a lower quality, which will cause greater wear on your car over an extended period of usage than some of the higher priced gasolines. He also said that you get lower gas mileage with the cheaper gas.

Also, talked to friend whose dad works for a major gas company as a distributor. His dad said that a lot of the lower end places "water down" their gas (I don't really know how that wold work, but that's what he said.)

And to address an earlier post: all gas is not equal, and they do not all come from the same place. My uncle is a senior petroleum engineer for BHP, and he tells me that different companies get their gas from different wells, and have different refining process. A lot of the cheaper places will have more impurities in the gas, which in turn deposits on various parts of your engine over a long period of time. Also, (don't quote me on this), I think he said they aren't as concentrated as some of the higher end stuff, so you end up getting less "bang for your buck" for the same amount of liquid.

Bottom line: QT, Racetrack, and similar places aren't bad to use every once in a while, but if you only buy gas from places like those, you might end up paying more in the long run.

-Treloni

FYI, QT is the dominant gas retailer in my part of the world. They have just recently begun to expand into Texas, which I'm happy to see if for no other reason that they have excellent brewed ice tea in addition to gobs of fountain drinks!

They are a very, very good company, and their gas blends meet the "top tier" standard developed by some of the auto manufacturers, meaning it is high quality gas with detergent additives to keep your car running well. Here is a list of top tier retailers:

Top Tier

I've been using it for many years now in my Chevy truck, BMW car, and BMW motorcycle with absolutely no ill effects whatsoever. I would encourage anyone to use it and help the company grow into Texas!

there has been a qt around the corner from me and I have used it almost exclusively for about 3 years...no knocking, hesitation, or any other gas related problems...my vehicle has just over 110,000 miles