IMHO there is a significant difference between the way a vehicle runs on ARCO, Costco and 76 premium gasolines.

76 is one notch better.
Chevron two notches.
Shell two point five...

I think this is an important point. Clearly it's the same FA20 whether it's in Japan or the US....Or @Tcoat land...

All these cars run fine. If putting 5w-40 in promptly blew your motor, there would be threads about it. Same with the 0w-20 guys. EITHER. WORKS. Just do it right.

I'm in the camp that it makes a lot of sense to have some form of improvement from stock, but you don't need to go nuts.

I think that if you're concerned about oil pressure at all, get a decent oil pressure gauge. Then you can stop being worried because you know what's happening. A little low when you're beating on it? Add the FXT oil cooler. Beating on it all the time? Add a nice setrab cooler. Tracking all the time? Bump up your viscosity. :iono:

I think for a DD that might get driven hard on the commute now and again, and might see a track occasionally, an oil pressure gauge with FXT oil cooler and stock or comparable 0w-20 is just fine.
If it's a dedicated toy car, spring for a nice air to oil.

This ^.
Not everybody is driving their car the same. To say that "This is the way it is. End of story" is confusing to some and down right wrong for others. There seems to be a major disconnect with some people that can not grasp that not all these cars are track monsters (in fact very few are) that need major alterations or special fluids to operate.
Fluids seem to be one of the biggest debates since they are relatively easy to change and there are so many possible choices. Pick what is right for how and where you drive the car and don't worry about what the other guy is using. Oil is not a magical substance and brand hype aside they all work well at protecting the engine if used in the conditions they were designed for.

Results may vary depending on location, frequency of tank fills (the station not the car), station maintenance and many other factors. What may be the better fuel in your area could totally suck elsewhere.

Well put.

I made a few mistakes early on with cars, making them really uncomfortable, loud, objectively and subjectively BAD for what I was trying to do, (have fun getting to work, and be able to enjoy myself when I hit the autox.)

I had a 1.25hr commute each way, so my mistakes punished me hard.

I've found slowly making minor changes is often the best way to get your car to reliably do what you want it to do.

Make change>observe and document your results>hypothesize the next change>repeat

A good example of that theory at work is the way I built my Forester XT. Dardly anything on it is stock. It will always be changing slowly, and hardly anything is as it was, but EVERYTHING has been touched very mildly. People often go for solid motor mounts on them, instead I opted for group n motor and transmission mounts. I'm happy with that method of modding, and I think it applies especially well to these cars where we're spoiled for choice in both component design/style, and pricing/availability.

While I normally would agree, a friend of mine distributes gasoline for a living.

Most of the branded stations just have a list of approved suppliers they buy from. Sometimes a single supplier may sell to multiple brands in the same area, depending on demand.

1. I do business with Shell, Chevron and Tesoro refineries in my area.

I have used the finished products that come out of the pump after the special proprietory juice is added, to the tune of over 2 million miles.

Gas is gas ? Not in my sled.

Any thoughts on ethanol-free fuel ?

I agree/disagree. If your in a rural area then yes this makes a difference. If your in a city then no because the volume and frequent of getting the tanks changed and such is done on an much more frequent basis. My grandfather lived on a farm he had the oil/gas guy come out and he had gas for the cars, diesel for the farm equipment and oil for the heater it'll it was replaced early 80s.

My main point for asking is that it dosent matter what brand as long as it is a major brand. Each brand has a different set of cleaners additives that are added at the refineries. The tankers pull up base gas is loaded then the magic juice lol is added to that tanker that has the additives in it.

Just like the oil debate as long as you use the correct weight for your application and conditions each major brand has its own additives ect that improves this or that. Don't put in off brand products.

I have seen the same tanker fill up smiths gas station that fills up sams club gas station. Since Rebel was bought out by Arco out in my area. Now Arco uses Sunoco 100 octane race fuel. So that means they use the base Sunoco fuel and ether use the same additives or just a little different to the rest of there gas.
I have been using at one point 91 from chevron and 100 from Arco to make my 93. Now I save the trip and put in just the Arco and I haven't seen any difference in not putting in the chevron. Shell never use as it is substanccly more expensive and never saw a difference in performance.

I would like E free fuel we just don't have it out here in my location. My parents back in OH they use E free gas espically when they store the summer car for the winter on top of using products like sea foam and stabil. I don't like The E85 range of gas either tuning for it and fitting the parts needed to run it is rediculas. But to each his/ her own.

You are right. My uncle use to deliver fuel.

Yep agree completely.


Although additives may make minor differences the main effect is mostly placebo brought on by marketing hype. Pretty much any brand of gas of the same octane should have identical results.


Even in the city some stations pump far more higher octane fuel than others. Yep, the truck may hit one station and then another but it may be the first tank in 3 months for Sam's and the second tank that week for Rebel. Fuel does lose octane ratings if it sits so I would rather get the one that is used up faster.

So did I. That was back in the early 80s when all the different additives were just starting to be pushed though so it isn't a fair comparison to the situation now. I could take the exact same load of gas to as many as 4 different branded stations back then.

Do tell ......... :D

Marginally newer than that.


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