Here's what I read about today's gas companies, specifically Chevron.

Mods - Sorry if this's is in the wrong place, just some good info for our .org members.

This is from SmartMoney.com

"My gas isn't better for your car; it's just more expensive."

Oil companies spend lots of money explaining why their gas is better than the competition's. Chevron's gas, for example, is fortified with "Techron," and Amoco Ultimate is supposed to save the planet along with your engine. But today more than ever, one gallon of gas is as good as the next.

True, additives help to clean your engine, but what the companies don't tell you is that all gas does so. Since 1994 the government has required that detergents be added to all gasoline to help prevent fuel injectors from clogging. State and local regulators keep a close watch to make sure those standards are met; in Florida inspectors checked 45,000 samples last year to ensure the state's gas supply was up to snuff, and 99% of the time it was. "There's little difference between brand-name gas and any other," says AAA spokesperson Geoff Sundstrom.

What's more, your local Chevron station may sell gas refined by Shell or Exxon Mobil. Suppliers share pipelines, so they all use the same fuel. And the difference between the most expensive brand-name gas and the lowliest gallon of no-brand fuel? Often just a quart of detergent added to an 8,000-gallon tanker truck.

 

Hmmm, I still prefer my Tier 1 gas from Shell.

 

I don't buy 90% of that BS

 

As I understand it, tier 1 gas retailers have fuel injector cleaning additives in all grades of gas not just in the premium like some other retailers advertise.

However for the most part I think one gas is just as good as the other as long as you get the fuel injector cleaning additives at least every two or three tankfulls.

 

What about tank maintenance. Local mom and pop shops probably never ensure their full tanks are up to snuff. While the larger manufacturers, your Mobil's, Shell's and Amoco's probably weekly/monthy or quaterly inspections.

Just my 2cents. I will keep using Mobil and Amoco exclusively...

 

i buy the cheapsest gas i can find. in ga, its usually racetrac or quiktrip. never had a problem with it. I also heard this from other people, and it makes sense. screw chevron and amoco cuz they can take their 10 cent higher prices and spend that on marketing... IMO. hehe.

after i take engine apart, we'll see what condition its in, but using bg44k fuel cleaner should be enough. thats what nissan uses in their 30, 60, 90k maintenance.

 

My engine even sounds differently if I refuel on some no-name gas stations.

 

In my 5er or in my old 5.5 gen i could feel when i put crappy gas in. Ive only done put gas that i think is crappy once. Ive always like cheveron..I think they have some of the best gas around IMO

 

don't have to worry about all of this most of the time here. The 76 station near my house has the same, if not lower, prices for their gas that Arco or mom & pop gas stations do. A lot of the times I just put the brand of gas that is convenient. My car is of course older than your cars, so that may be it, but my engine can be picky at times.

 

My x works at a Corporate station. Maintaince is the same. They may clean the pumps off to look nicer, other than that no difference in maintaince.

The biggest difference as stated above is additives. Sulfur content may/may not be tested in this report, but can vary largely between companies. (When I saw largely, it is a relatively small #, but enough to make a big difference.)

You can usually tell which stations have a higher sulfur amount in their tanks than others. Typically after you fill up from one of these stations and stop from a hard WOT run, you can smell the rotton egg smell from the cat. It's a PITA to get rid of becuase you have to run the tank almost dry 1-2 times from another hopefully lower sulfer content station just to get the sulfur down enough to not smell the cat anymore.

 

It's the placebo affect.. hahaha

but, i rather spend couple more dollars on my tank of gas, then go with a no name brand.

It's like wearing clothes from old navy and wearing clothes from banana republic. I rather wear the banana repbuclic clothes... but it's the same company

 

I stick to the same brand, Chevron 92, and hunt for the cheapest price in town. I don't want my car to... !

 

I just buy whatever is cheapest except Hess. My car doesn't like Hess fuel.

 

What a worthless article. All it says is that 99% of the gas stations comply with the federally regulated minimum level of additives. But that doesn't mean all gas is equal. That's like saying all cars are equal because they all pass the minimum EPA emissions and safety standards. Duh! What an idiot. Ironic that it was published in "SmartMoney."

Nowhere does it say that some stations like Chevron or Shell, etc. go beyond the minimum requirements and/or whether their extra additives make a difference. I'm sure they do. Everyone I know swears that their car runs better on Shell, even non-car enthusiasts who wouldn't know what additives are or do. So you can't say they show placebo effect. Although I think the extra additives are helpful, I also think there is too much hype about how much they help.

 

"There's little difference between brand-name gas and any other," says AAA spokesperson Geoff Sundstrom.

 

nope, it's not placabo...

 

The cheapest gas here happens to be chevron 93 so ill stick with it for now

 

I usually go with BP 93 Octane, then sometimes add in STP Fuel Injector & Carb. cleaner. Not sure if that stuff is actually good or not...but it's worth doing it every once in a while.

I don't know why, but I always thought it was in my head when it just felt like the car ran diffrently with cheaper QT gas.

Glad it's not just me!

 

hahaha, sound like me too.

 

chevron 92 or 94 only goes in my car. I perfer chevron and have for along time.

 

The brand of gas has little to do with how good your car will run. The important thing to look for, is a station that is very busy. When a station is real busy, they are getting a load of gasoline everyday ( some several times a day ). When a station is not as busy, they have time to play the "market" a little bit, and wait several days for the next load. All of these tanks are under ground, so during this time, these tanks are building up condensation, putting small amounts of water into your gas. I deliver gas to these stations for a living, and trust me whn I tell you, this is 99% of the differance. You would actually be suprised as to which product these stations are really putting in their tanks. The only company that makes sure that their own product is going into their tanks is Mobil. Some others do also, but you dont know which local oil company owns which station, and because it isnt an industry standard across the board, you really dont know what product is in the ground at your local "name brand station", except Mobil. There really arent any Chevron stations around here in CT any more so it would be unfair for me to comment on them.

 

As a new 02SE owner I proudly filled up my tank to the tune of $42 with Chevron's 94 w/Techron (and will continue faithfully). My second choice would be Unocal 76.

 

I fill up with old chew spit. F$ck them gas stations.

 

Not 5th gen related. Moving to fluids..etc.

 

I use Arco, it's like mislabeled race gas




no pinging ftw.

 

I wondered why I had not seen this thread earlier in its life. Then I see where it was moved just a few posts ago from its original 5th Gen location. Being a 6th Gen person, I don't go on the 5th. I do come here frequently, because I know something about this subject.

What you report above may well be true for your area of CT, but you should not assume that it applies to the whole country. Also, Canadians read this site, and it does not apply to them, either.

Mobil most likely supplies CT by shipping gasoline up Colonial Pipeline to Linden, NY where other smaller pipelines (or sea-going barges) allow the product to be shipped into CT. They also have the option of taking gasoline refined in the Linden area by other refiners. All gasoline shipped up Colonial pipeline is comingled -- that means Mobil gasoline from their refinery at Beaumont, TX is mixed with all other shippers of that grade of gasoline. There are no longer any segregated batches of gasoline in Colonial for only one company. (Amoco and later BP for years segregated Crystal Clear Ultimate because it was different from other premium grades. Also, Sunoco produced a 94 octane premium at their 2 refineries in the Philadelphia area that was different from other premium. This was shipped to Linden in another pipeline whose name I forget. These unique gasolines are now both gone from the marketplace.)

The US Federal Govt. has a minimum specification for the amount of fuel injector cleaner that must be put into all gasolines. Unfortunately, this treatment rate is not sufficient to keep injectors clean on most vehicles. But there is some of this cleaner in all brands and grades of gasoline. Each brand uses the cleaner of their choice, and some are better than others. Because of this minimum treatment in most gasolines, I clean my Max's injectors every 7,500 miles. Because the oil company where I worked for 35 years used Techron (from Chevron) in all grades of gasoline, Techron is the product I buy to treat my injectors today. The technical people there told me it was the best that they had tested (this was in the early 90s).

Tier 1 gasoline was an attempt by some auto makers and oil companies to get the additive treatment level up in gasoline -- above the government mandated minimum. I can not name all of the oil companies that claim Tier 1 product (Shell for certain), but I do know that other oil companies did not join this effort. Some of these companies claim that their additive treatment rate is at Tier 1 levels, but they had other problems with this program that I can not describe. I know the Tier 1 claims, but I don't know their actual performance, since this all came out after I retired.

Almost all gas stations have water problems in their underground fuel tanks -- even those with high volume. But the water, being heavier than gasoline, sinks to the bottom of the tank. The only problems with water occur when the station allows the water level in the tank bottom to get high enough that it is drawn up by the pumps that pump fuel into your car's tank. The good stations do a water draw on a periodic basis to prevent this from happening. (This water caused the older steel tanks to rust and leak. Now all tanks are made of fiberglass or have a fiberglass lining in a steel tank.) You should never buy gasoline from a very low volume station because the gasoline gets old. Also, if the gasoline you use has 10% ethanol in it, the ethanol will pick up some water, so these tanks need to be de-watered more frequently to keep the amount of water picked up by ethanol to a minimum. This ethanol problem may be what you are describing. Only recently did they start blending ethanol into gasoline in the North East.

I have not been to CT in years. Are there any Texaco stations left there. Texaco and Chevron are now the same company and there may still be Texaco stations selling this company's gasoline in CT.

Bottom Line: Yes, in most locations in the US, gasoline comes from only a few supply locations -- a local refinery or one or more pipeline terminals in each area. So the only way to differentiate gasoline is through a unique additive package. As long as there is a net shortage of gasoline in the country, this differentiation effort will be minimal. This shortage means that all refiners can sell all of the gasoline they can make, and any shortage must be imported from South America, Canada, or Europe (the three biggest out-of-country suppliers). In this environment, most oil companies will only meet the minimum requirements. That is why the Tier 1 effort has not gotten much publicity recently. So be safe and do a clean-up treatment on your fuel system every so often. Also, buy gasoline from a source that you feel reasonably confident will back up their product in the event you get a bad batch pumped into your Max. For that reason I stay away from the "Mom & Pop Independents" but don't hesitate to buy from the grocery chains like Safeway, Kroger, etc -- who frequently have the best prices.

 

I get 93 octane, if its from Sunoco or from delta sonic carwashes I could care less...none of us have tested the gas ourselves or have the industry knowledge to really, REALLY know...I have few shady looking mom and pop places where I live, and if given the choice go with sunoco, they have the lowest prices. It all comes down to price with me, and that its premium grade, the rest is a friggin leap of faith.

 

Chevron tastes just as $hitty as cheapo Getty to me.

I live by two ideals:
1.) Gotta be at least 91 Octane.
2.) As cheap as it comes, all you faithful gas buyers spending the extra 5 bucks per fill-up got the suits dancing to the bank with their smoke and mirrors.

 

Proof positive these marketing departments are working to brainwash alot of people

 

Gas is gas. All marketing hype that has people thinking the big boys have better gas. Go ahead and blow your money on hype. I think we should have all learned from marketing hype. Remember the 5.5 gen were suppose to be 255hp and the altima 240. Live and let learn...........Wake up people and buy whatever gas is cheaper.....

 

Lol you serious?

You ever test gas? It's not all the same. I have done my tests and I will stick with Amoco and Chevron. Shell makes my car knock. I don't trust no name places because some could be buying gas from BP or Chevron and others could be buyin the wierd ****ty brands.

 

You definately have extensive knowledge on this subject, however the point I was trying to make was that in some cases, the brand of the gas station and the brand of the product don't always coincide. Oh, and most of the Texaco's around here have been changed to Shell. Also, the less active stations always seem to have a higher level of water than most. 99% of the time, the busier ones have none, or so little that it does not read on my stick, or on their Vedder Root report.

 

The point I was trying to make is that the physical gasoline (the hydrocarbon product) in almost all cases (for all brands) comes from the same terminal storage tank for each grade of gasoline in a market area. (In some bigger markets there may be a number of different terminals supplying a market. In Denver there are 2 refineries and 5 different terminals for that market. And most terminals now only have two grades of gasoline: regular and premium -- mid-grade is a blend into the tank truck of the other two grades.) This product is loaded into a truck while each brand's additive package is injected into the stream of gasoline. Thus, there is no "brand of gasoline" except for the different addative packages. The hydrocarbon product is the same for each brand that loads at that terminal.

When Chevron and Texaco merged a few years ago, the FTC made the combined company (originally Chevron-Texaco and now simply Chevron) divest of some refineries and gas stations. Almost all of these were previously Texaco properties. Most of the previously Texaco branded stations here in CO are also branded Shell -- because Shell bought most of those retail properties (I'm not certain about the refineries).

I defer to you on the water in gas station tanks. I know that there is water in the bottom of almost all terminal storage tanks, and simply assumed -- based on condensation inside of station tanks -- that stations would have the same problem. The recent move nation-wide to requiring 10% ethanol in gasoline will help remove water from all station tanks -- it will be "sucked up" by the ethanol.

 

...Or, you could just use better gas and not have to give your engine such a harsh treatment every 30k miles.


Mine too.




Anyone who didn't know this, drill it into your head. If you don't understand it, keep reading it over and over again until you do. People make the "they all meet standards, they're all the same" argument all the time, and far too many people fall for it.