Which gas station(s) do you OR folks pump at?
 

So far I've done 76 and Shell gasoline. I know people like to praise Shell V-Power but I think I've been getting better throttle response from using 76 gas. Just wondering what you guys are filling up with around these neck of the woods.

Costco and shell are my regular stops

I use shell Vpower most of the time, once in a while Chevron , both seem to work as well as the other.

Costco.

Costco.

Shell or Chevron.

Shell, Chevron, Union 76 or the occasional Safeway

NOT Astro (or any other sub-grade stations)
NOT Arco (I have actually felt my cars run worse on the crap)

Yeah I tried ARCO before on my old 4runner, ran like crap and emptied much faster. Just wondering if anyone else is noting marginal differences between the likes of Shell vs. 76 vs. Chevron.

So far I'm feeling more throttle response from 76 vs. Shell V-Power, but it could also be my imagination. Maybe the next 3 fill-ups I'll ask my wife to go fill it up from these 3 in random order so I can gauge it from a more blind approach.

I think that any high quality gasoline will work. I think the key thing here is use the same brand all the time. While each manufacturer tests their own additives, what hasn't been tested is the result of mixing gas companies A's additives with the additives from company B.

I still believe it's all the same. Sure some of the additives are different but all the fuel comes from the same 4 distributors (I think it's only 4).

Last time I did some research I believe it showed ARCO has surprisingly good quality fuel but just not the same massive levels of additives like Chevron.

I have ran several cars: ITR, NSX, S2000, FRS, Prelude and my race car on ARCO with no noticeable affects, ever. It's just gasoline. Unless it's stored improperly or is heavily contaminated there should be very little difference station to station.

Shell V-Power FTW

Nothing but Chevron in all my vehicles.

Shell, sometimes 7-11 (Citgo?)

Many years ago I watched a documentary show on how gas works, and it covered some of this stuff. The pipeline that carries gas around the country is shared by all of the gas companies, with at least one notable exception. Chevron might produce gas at their refinery and pump it into the pipeline, but when they pump out the same volume at the other end, it could have been produced by a different refinery owned by a different company. Essentially, all gas is basically the same.

Where it differs is when it gets to the regional storage location. It is there that each company mixes in different additives to create their own brand of gas. All of the top name brands (Chevron, Texaco, Union 76, Shell, etc) do this and other than their personalized additives, you are getting the same thing.

There is a lower grade of gasoline that is slightly less refined, and that stuff gets sold to the off-brand stations. Around Portland these are Space Age, Leathers, etc. You should stay away from these stations if you can.

ARCO is the notable exception to the pipeline. They don't use the same pipe and they produce their own gas with their own mixture of additives.

Like I said, this was years ago that I watched this, so maybe some of the details are not accurate anymore... and it was before Safeway, Fred Meyers and Costco began selling gas, so I have no idea where theirs comes from.