Originally posted by: brian_riendeau
Mobil gas for me. In my area Mobil gas stations always have newer pumps compared to other stations.
The manufacturer of the gas is not as important as getting brand name gas. When you go to a Mobil/BP/whatever, you are getting gas they blend themselves. When you go to Tex's Gas-Up, you are getting whatever crappy gas they could find for the lowest price possible. In some cases, this gas can be of poor quality.
With 91/93 octane (or higher) gas, the difference between brands can become more apparect because those gasses will usually have some extra additive like engine detergents.
You're educated on the issue... sorta.
Gasoline quality is highly regulated. When was the last time you heard of an indepdenant refinery? The gas used at Tex's Gas-n-Go is the same gas used at some other name brand station. I do believe Oregon was one of the last states to adopt fuel quality rules(and random checks). You really shouldn't be finding poor quality fuel nowdays, unless you go to a truely shady station.
All gasoline contains detergents and various other additives designed to keep your engine running well.
Originally posted by: gluck
Originally posted by: brian_riendeau
Mobil gas for me. In my area Mobil gas stations always have newer pumps compared to other stations.
The manufacturer of the gas is not as important as getting brand name gas. When you go to a Mobil/BP/whatever, you are getting gas they blend themselves. When you go to Tex's Gas-Up, you are getting whatever crappy gas they could find for the lowest price possible. In some cases, this gas can be of poor quality.
With 91/93 octane (or higher) gas, the difference between brands can become more apparect because those gasses will usually have some extra additive like engine detergents.
So you mean to say that if I get 87 octane gas from say Arco/BP or chevron or mobile all of them will have different qualities ? I thought all gases with same octane rating have to be the same.
Oh yes, most certainly. The only thing that's the same, really, is the octane rating.
It's much the same as engine oil, although not as extreme since gasoline is so highly regulated. The constant is the oil's weight(or in the case of gasoline, the octane number). Just about everything else changes from manufacturer to manufacturer. Obviously, the chemical composition is different to obtain the different octane number. Different manufacturers also use different formulations of different fuel additives, like detergents.
So, it is true that technically there should be fuels that are better than others, just like there are oils that are better than others. You really shouldn't be able to tell the difference, though. 95%(or more..) of the time, it's placebo when you get "crappy" gas.
I bet if you had someone else fill the car at 3 different stations.. you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.