What Brand Of Gas Do You Use
 

I have a 2023 with only a few thousand miles. I live ib Cali and only have 91 Octane.

I have been using the same gas station, a small independent station called Super Star.

Well I was out far away from home and needed gas, I pulled into a Chevron that had 91 octane and holy cow the car runs so much better.

My question is this...

Do name brand stations have better quatilty gas
or
Does my local Super Star gas just have crappy gas.

Most people who claim to have firsthand knowledge of these matters on the internet will say it doesn't really matter, it's all the same gas, just different additives. I have no reason to doubt that, however:

I typically stick with Shell, Sunoco, Mobil in that order. Except in central PA, where I have found Sunoco 93 to be more knock resistant than Shell 93 for some reason.

My reasoning is that the big brand stations go through fuel faster and have a greater amount of control/negotiating power over quality of the gasoline and additives they get.

But I really don't know what I'm talking about, just answering the question with my opinion.

Never take advice from a potato

Nearly always use Shell V-Power (98 RON where I live). Apparently has cleaning additives, makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside using it, but could be bs. It would be interesting to know if there is an actual difference.

Maybe your independent guy cheats a little and puts some regular in his premium?

As far as additives, could be outdated info, but years ago, the Porsche Development Center in Weissach tested all the gas additives used by the big oil companies of the time. The results were the only additive that did any good was Chevron Techron. However, Chevron didn't put enough of it in the gas to do anything.

I have personally witnessed tankers of all brands lined up at the refinery in Benicia California. They each put their additive in the tank, then fill it up.

I always buy whatever 93 or 92 octane is the cheapest. Used to be BJ's gas, lately been using Marathon. Never had crickets or any other problems.

I usually go to Shell for the air miles rewards. obviously i get premium, which i think is 91 here

Depends on the potato.

Meijer, the only local stations that can be relied upon to accept ApplePay.

Corn ethanol or potato ethanol?
Sort of a regional thing.

I'm not very good at choosing the trustworthy ones.


I'm of the same opinion as yours and Spuds'. It's fine as long as it comes from a station seeing steady business. I added a gallon of toluene to nine gallons of 92 (alleged) octane once. It was glorious, expensive, and painful to go back to 92.

Snoopysvet likes - Charlie Brown 'I got a rock'

you answered your own questions right before you asked them

That's because it's true.

I care less about brand and more about how new and busy the station is. Busier stations cycle through the tanks faster.

My cousin used to be a buyer for a fuel distribution company in the NW, Marc Nelson Oil Products which was bought recently by Petrocard. It's more or less all the same stuff.

He used to also tell me they would buy based on "futures" a lot. Same with their customers with them. So sometimes they would promise to buy X amount of gallons over 6 months at X price and sometimes they would win, sometimes loose. A lot of fuel is bought this way and it artificially holds prices up higher then they should be more often than the other way around.

Yes it is all the same. The only difference is the additive package. Unless you live close enough to a refinery so fuel can be trucked. It has to be pumped through a pipeline. 93, 91, 87, Jet Fuel, Diesel, and Heating Oil are all pumped through the same pipeline. At the terminal it then goes to a companies storage tanks. Then the additives package is added and it is trucked to the stations.

I only go to a station that has 'Top Tier' fuel and select Premium for my BRZ and Regular for my Ascent. Seems like most of the time I end up at Costco. Sometimes I wonder how much Regular octane fuel is left in the pump line from the previous customer pumping Regular gasoline. Hey, I want a discount for not getting 100% premium! I remember when I lived in New Mexico during the 1970s, we had issues with gasoline blended for seasonal use considering altitude (4,500' on up) and ambient temperatures that range cold or hot sometimes in the same 24 hour period. Many cars would have vaporlock problems especially when the winter blend stocks were not depleted and the temperatures went up unseasonably. I have no idea if this is a thing now, but I assume with the advent of wide spread fuel injection and computer controls, engines can better cope with environmental conditions and fuel quality.


Something I just thought of after posting was that I don't notice any variations in performance day to day on my Subaru cars, but I do notice performance issues on my RV which is on a MB Sprinter with a 3.0L V6 turbo. I avoid Bio-mass diesel like the plague, but on a recent 2,000 mile round trip from Oregon to California, I had to use Bio-Diesel of various blends and sometime unknown ratios. Keeping track and doing the math, I estimate a 12% hit on fuel economy and I suspect an increase in oil dilution. Adding to the evidence of my suspicions, the diesel generator on the RV for the first time would shut down due to overload with the A/C, DC power convertor, fridge and then the microwave doing baked potatoes. Once I was able to get a tank of #2 Diesel, the generator was full output again. This is similar to how a gas generator output is de-rated when it is switched to propane and then even less when using natural gas. Based on these observations, I would say any paranoia about the quality of gasoline is not without merit.

Comparing "Top Tier" gasoline which is available in most of the country to "Top Tier" diesel which isn't, isn't a good comparison.

https://www.toptiergas.com/gasoline-brands/

https://www.toptiergas.com/diesel-brands/

Yes, airlines and basically all other commercial entities buy on futures.

I thought stuff like this was common knowledge.

I use Esso 93 up here in the Great White. It’s hard to find unless you’re in a big city. Luckily I can get it in a small town about 5 miles from here. There’s a refinery nearby and rumour has it that the gas is devoid of ethanol.

Nothing wrong with a little alcohol every now and then.

93 from who cares… I also taste a touch of gas on my finger to taste test its chemical properties then I sniff my tailpipe. Who needs porn when you can read your black stone lab oil report? The analysis is erotic.

Wherever is cheapest which usually is Costco. Since ALL the gas on my rock comes from a single refinery.
The only difference is the special 11 herbs and spices put in by each company which hardly has an affect.

That's interesting. Here in Oklahoma they are required to tell us which ones are E0 and which ones are E10. And E85 is legally required to be at least 70% at the pump.

About 90% of my fuel in the FRS comes from Racetrac (a US Southern region company if you aren't familar), just because its on my route and they are very consistent at the pumps and in the store.

Like most have said though, I get it from where ever I need. What I won't do if I can at all avoid it is go to a low traffic fueling station.

Most people I talk to don't know this. Like 99%.

Hey, That's me! I didn't know. Would be cool if I could buy milk futures.


Or pasts! Can we buy stuff for what it used to cost? I remember gas less than $0.40/gal

You can buy diary futures.

In Canada there should no longer be Ethanol free Gas available.

If you think you are lucky & have found a non compliant (NO Ethanol) pump around I would do an ethanol test.
The gas pump stickers are not always updated to reflect the new compliance required.


From Petro Canada site Fuel FAQ.

https://www.petro-canada.ca/en/personal/fuel/gas

Do we put ethanol in our Petro Canada gas:

“Yes, all of our grades of gas, including our Ultra 94 high octane fuel ,
contain up to 10% ethanol content.
This is required by federal and provincial regulations.”


The regulation is hiding here;
https://www.canada.ca/en/environment...ons/about.html

Guess I will need fuel stabiliser when I put my BRZ away at the end of the month.
Never had to worry about that in the past.
I no longer have small engines to worry about carbs vs Ethanol, converted to rechargeable snowblower 2 yrs ago &
lawnmower last month after my 31yr old mower developed fuel issues on some new gas I had over the summer…

How do you keep them from going sour?

#dadjokes
#boothisman

Make cheese.

OT for the thread tile but not for the last few posts.
Never even knew the who was behind the Got Milk campaign and all the things that went on because of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvLMH0wb_0k

It was thought up by an advertising agency for the California Milk Processor Board in 1993 to sell milk.

I get my milk at Chevron.