Ridin Dirty

Anyone have opinions for preference of fuel BRANDS?

Never thought much of this until I had a tank of actual bad gas.

Not considering the generic fuels (grocery store, big box, discount mini markets).

Pretty confusing. And to further complicate matters....ever hear of "Top Tier" fuels? They are a group consisting of MOST of the major brand gasolines.

Apparently they guarantee a certain amount of cleaning additives ABOVE what the gov requires.....I use Sunoco for the higher octane but they are not a "Top Tier" brand.

I think think Top Tier mostly means they have a little more of the Techron additive (or its equivalent) but does that make them "better"?.

Thanks

Joe

Quadcammer

you ask me, its all bull****.

I buy gas from any of the respected brands (exxon, bp, shell, sunoco, etc). never once noticed a difference in how the car ran. Bad gas can happen from any brand, top tier or not.

I try to avoid the off name brands, although their gas is likely fine as well.

LexVan

Buy 93 octane, from a busy branded station. Not much else to over think.

PiB993

In California the major brands only go up to 91 so I usually run 1/2-3/4 tank of Sunoco 100 unless I'm on a long trip and can't get the 100. Usually stick with Shell or a certain 76 station but any major would be fine with me. I would consider VP fuels but they are not as easy to get in my area. VP has a 94 octane with no ethanol but I think it requires a barrel purchase. Any fuel station that offers free coffee is good in my book.

It would be nice to have some hard facts on what the best brand for additives that work are.

badabing

I use Shell 93 exclusively. No concrete reason other than too much hype drilled into my head.

I deal with several folks who are in the business of running the tanker trucks that deliver the gasoline from the fuel depot to the gas station.

The way they describe it is that all gas coming out of the depot is the same regardless of what station it is going to. Once the tanker is filled, a separate nozzle is supposed to inject the particular brand's additive package.

They say most of the time the nozzle is broken, frozen, or they just plain forget to do it all together.

chsu74

Brands do not matter as much as the traffic volume in each fuel station gets. More volume at the station equals fresher fuel equals less chance of bad gas. Bad gas comes from underground tank condensation mixing with fuel.

I would buy a 91 at a station that is replenished on a weekly basis instead of a 93 from a station that is 6 months old. Since I don't live in Cali, I buy fresh 93 octane fuel from a busy station.

ScottMellor

My father in law used to own a service station.
He said never buy gas when the delivery is being made. The tanker truck unloading stirs up any crap and denser water condensation from the bottom of the tank.

solomonschris

This spring I had to replace the fuel modules in my Chris Craft Corsair. It has twin 350's that have Volvo marine conversions. The fuel sat in the tank from the previous spring and the 10% ethanol caused phase separation to occur. Valvetec additive is supposed to delay this phenomenon for more than a year. I now use it on my last fill up before putting my motorcycles up the winter. The Porsche I use all winter except when there is salt on the road so the gas gets burned before a problem can occur. Another alternative is to use aviation gas and a fuel stabilizer when laying up for long periods.

Todynot

Is anyone putting in an additive, routinely, due to concerns about the ethanol content?

Quadcammer

most definitely not.

LexVan

For daily driving, no issues.

For winter storage just use StaBil (red) or the StaBil for ethanol. I think that is a green fluid.

Most ethanol levels are about 8-9%. Certain times of the year levels hover around 5% max.

Essexmetal

Just had conversation today with Phillips 66 partially on OEM factory oil fills for a new hypermiler motor that I am involved with. Instead of discussing lubrication most of the conversation centered around the new E15 legislation and how E15 will effect the new engine design. Most of the information just reinforced the issues the auto industry in Detroit has been sweating out for over a year....... how to deal with this corn juice in our fuel. As noted above most gasoline arrives at the depot buy pipeline. The specific Brand additives are added when the tanker fills, this also happens with the 10% ethanol blend. The problem that the addition of the ethanol is a "that looks pretty good" type fill. We have seen numbers in the 12-13 % range. Point is size they don't hold it tight. The companies are required to sell a specific percentage of corn juice and if they don't make their quota the pay a fine. Slipping the extra in helps their cause. When you start getting into 10% plus I would start running a specific additive formulated for ethanol abatement. No big deal of course if you burn through that tank quickly but I think many of our cars see a lot less use than a daily driver. Worse if you are in humid areas where phase separation can happen quickly.

I don't think this matters on which Brand of fuel you buy, the effects of ethanol needs to be kept in check. The up side is it is a great octane enhancer, perfect for a turbo engine where boost offsets the lack of energy in corn fuel. Down side is phase separation and corrosion. Both Star Tron and StaBil Ethanol are proven products to combat the bad effects.

dbf73

I run 93 w/ eth from BP most of the year but the last couple fillups before putting it away for the winter, I use 91 no ethanol and then add Stabil to the final fill.

Kein_Ersatz

Lots of good insight, shared pipelines / storage tanks, additives at the tanker station, crap in ground storage tanks, avoid filling up at a slow volume station or when tanker is dumping, other then storage stabilizing, most additives are a waste if going with 93 (but I do like Techron "flush" with last tank on TT before oil change / winter storage with new full tank), and the corn lobby is strong, there is a reason Iowa is the first primary . . . And corn had a bumper crop this year, so 15% will be getting more "support" inside of this disfunctional congress.

PiB993

I believe it was this very forum or perhaps the 993 forum where someone posted this link to stations with gasoline with no ethanol. (Is it not a federal mandate yet?)

http://pure-gas.org/

I was surprised how many corn belt states don't have ethanol in their fuel. Honestly, if I didn't live in a condo/apartment I would be buying barrels of ethanol free fuel and mix with street fuel to lower the %.