Best Gas Brands For Your Vehicle

[JankyS13]

Originally Posted by blkmz3

so Sunoco is not a top tier brand? I would think since the Sunoco refinery is in Philly we would get the cleaner gas.

[boostede36]

sunoco 93!

[DaBombDiggidy]

E10 stations are shafting us. lower cost for them, same price for us, worse gas mileage, and that corny bs eats away at the rubber lines, pulls sludge from the tank to the filters and etc. also some gas stations are adding more then they state with e10 some studies have poped up with gas stations adding over 40% ethanol to their "e10" in NY. E85 is nice for power, but e10 sees no real benefits beside cash money to the companies using it.

[marshallpre1]

Originally Posted by oneday

I will actively avoid BP, Exxon/Mobil, and Lukoil because of environmental/political reasons (not looking to start a n argument or debate the rationality of my choice, just making a statement).

Agreed.

Supra gets Shell or Sunoco 93 ONLY.

G gets any other legit brand 91 or higher.

Jeremy

[jesus_ralliart]

beater gets sunoco usually but only because its actually cheapest lol. i did mid-grade to get best mpg but recently ive been doing 87 and i still get 32ish mpg. the less legit brands i don't often do but when i do, the mpg is about the same.

[Diablo2424]

The SER only gets Sunoco/Shell 93, unless it's an emergency and I can't make it anywhere else (This happened once and I got Hess 93, wasn't bad though)... I too stay away from Exxon/Mobile/BP/Lukoil...

[OMGz Turbo]

Sunoco oh how i miss 94+ oct

[daewoo]

sunoco or wawa

[AutobahnRacer]

Originally Posted by daewoo

sunoco or wawa

+1. It may be in my head, but my car runs poopdick if I put anything else in.


ALSO PEOPLE:!?

If it doesn't infuriate you, it should. Wawa charges the same for 92 octane as other gas stations do for 93 octane.

Yes octane levels are minimum levels but still. You are shelling out money for something inferior.

[Spawne32]

the wawa around here only has 91 octane, and its more expensive then the shell 93

[Chris B.]

I really haven't noticed a signifigant difference in gas mileage or how the car runs with between any major brand 91 octane or 93 octane. I've even done track days with Wawa 91 or 92 octane gasoline and had no issues. My 2008 Mustang GT was dynoed with 10% ethanol gasoline from the local Giant grocery store and it made good power for the mods it had.

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

I've designed oil refinery processes for 20 years and there is a big difference. Any of the major brands like Shell, Exxon, BP, or Chevron are OK. Some of the off brands are OK and some are not, but I would never put any of the secondary brands in my car.

There is very little difference in the major brands apart from the additives that are blended in. The vast majority of gas is transported from the refinery to local distribution points via pipelines. In several areas of the country several refiners will use a common pipeline to transport their products to remote storage facilities. So brands such as shell, BP, exxon, etc are mixed in the pipeline. There are agreements as to the quality of the gas that goes into these common lines. If Chevron ,for example, puts a 100 gallons of fuel in the pipeline from the refinery at Pascagoula, MS they are entitled to remove a 100 gallons from a distribution point in Sioux City, IA even though their fuel never went to Iowa. So even if you buy shell gas it may have been made by Chevron. The company specific additives are added at the remote distribution points and is the only thing different between major brands.

These distribution agreements are why it is possible for shell (or any other refiner) to sell fuel in places where it would otherwise be uneconomical because of transportation costs.

Most (but not all) of the secondary refiners are not part of this distribution agreement because their fuel does not meet the quality standards.

I've heard the same things from other people that work in the petroleum industry currenly. Basically all the retailer custom additives are added after it comes out of the pipeline. Its all the same grade going in and each refinery doesn't deliver directly to the local distribution points. Your Sunoco 93 might have been made by BP or Valero, but have SUnoco's additives added to it.

Originally Posted by 420sx

Can you still get gas without 10% ethanol? I feel like Im getting ripped off every time I see that.

In the winter its hard to find, but in the summer in the northeast some stations have it. Some even advertise it being Ethanol free and charge a few cents per gallon more for it.

Also http://pure-gas.org/ tries to maintain a list of Ethanol free stations.

Originally Posted by DaBombDiggidy

ethanol hurts gas mileage by about 2-4%

Real world testing on may cars shows a gas mileage drop of 5-15% using 10% ethanol. The issue is the best air/fuel ratio for 10% Ethanol gasoline is different than the best air/fuel ratio for 100% gasoline.

[PAFirefighter11]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

I really haven't noticed a signifigant difference in gas mileage or how the car runs with between any major brand 91 octane or 93 octane. I've even done track days with Wawa 91 or 92 octane gasoline and had no issues. My 2008 Mustang GT was dynoed with 10% ethanol gasoline from the local Giant grocery store and it made good power for the mods it had.



I've heard the same things from other people that work in the petroleum industry currenly. Basically all the retailer custom additives are added after it comes out of the pipeline. Its all the same grade going in and each refinery doesn't deliver directly to the local distribution points. Your Sunoco 93 might have been made by BP or Valero, but have SUnoco's additives added to it.



In the winter its hard to find, but in the summer in the northeast some stations have it. Some even advertise it being Ethanol free and charge a few cents per gallon more for it.

Also http://pure-gas.org/ tries to maintain a list of Ethanol free stations.



Real world testing on may cars shows a gas mileage drop of 5-15% using 10% ethanol. The issue is the best air/fuel ratio for 10% Ethanol gasoline is different than the best air/fuel ratio for 100% gasoline.

Do you think when I get my car tuned the shop can tune it to work best on the 10% mix of ethanol since 95% of stations here run that?

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

Do you think when I get my car tuned the shop can tune it to work best on the 10% mix of ethanol since 95% of stations here run that?

A competent tuner can do that. Just be sure to have 10% ethanol gas in the tank when its tuned and use 10% ethanol gas int he tank a couple tankfulls before getting it tuned.

[jpalamar]

Originally Posted by PAFirefighter11

Do you think when I get my car tuned the shop can tune it to work best on the 10% mix of ethanol since 95% of stations here run that?

Originally Posted by Chris B.

A competent tuner can do that. Just be sure to have 10% ethanol gas in the tank when its tuned and use 10% ethanol gas int he tank a couple tankfulls before getting it tuned.

Right on the money. Any tuner can tune for just about anything. I was considering an 87 tune for the GTO just to see how different it would feel, if MPGs would change, and what the dyno difference would be.

[BigWhiteTodd]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

Right on the money. Any tuner can tune for just about anything. I was considering an 87 tune for the GTO just to see how different it would feel, if MPGs would change, and what the dyno difference would be.

we did a 93 tune on my buddies truck and he only made a little more power then the 87 this was a 02 silverado.

[Chris B.]

Originally Posted by jpalamar

Right on the money. Any tuner can tune for just about anything. I was considering an 87 tune for the GTO just to see how different it would feel, if MPGs would change, and what the dyno difference would be.

On the S197 4.6 Mustang with bolt ons an 87 and 93 performance tune is a difference of 10-15 HP depending on the mods. I'd assume the GTO could be similar.

[AutobahnRacer]

Originally Posted by Chris B.

I really haven't noticed a signifigant difference in gas mileage or how the car runs with between any major brand 91 octane or 93 octane. I've even done track days with Wawa 91 or 92 octane gasoline and had no issues.

While this may be true, the fact stands that you are paying more for less which is what bothers me the most.