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  #31  
Old 07-29-2014, 01:14 PM
MikeBmusic MikeBmusic is offline
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Originally Posted by Bingoccc View Post
I always get a brand name. I don't think the gas comes from a different refinery but I do believe the additives (I'm NOT talking about ethanol) are better in the brand names. For years I used high test. Then cars started getting their little computers that make engine adjustments on their own. Now I strictly use the octane rating listed in the owners manual. That is what the vehicle's computer is calibrated to.
A friend who ran a brother's convenience store/gas station told me it was all the same gas from one brand station to another station, only the additives changed.
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  #32  
Old 07-29-2014, 02:04 PM
BTF BTF is offline
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In my area ALL grades of gasoline are 10% ethanol.

There was a local petroleum distributor who sold pure gasoline to a few stations, but he's since gone out of business.

To make matters worse, the government is mulling over upping the ethanol percentage to 15%. When that happens, cars older than about 2006 will have trouble using the fuel because of the increased water production, increased burn temperatures (damaging sensors like the oxygen sensor) and corrosion. The pumps carrying 15% will be marked with red labels so that the owners of older vehicles will know. I guess pre-2006 drivers will have to convert to steam...
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  #33  
Old 07-29-2014, 02:41 PM
valleyguy valleyguy is offline
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In the summer the blend of gas is different, I notice I get much lower mileage in the summer.

Off brand gasoline has no additives. Whereas they all come from the same refinery, the majors add their additive to the truck as it leaves the terminal. Some cars don't care, others really do benefit from the detergents added by the majors.
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  #34  
Old 07-29-2014, 03:05 PM
architype architype is offline
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Originally Posted by valleyguy View Post
In the summer the blend of gas is different, I notice I get much lower mileage in the summer.

Off brand gasoline has no additives. Whereas they all come from the same refinery, the majors add their additive to the truck as it leaves the terminal. Some cars don't care, others really do benefit from the detergents added by the majors.
In the winter the air that the engine is sucking into the cumbustion chamber is much dryer, colder and denser, (more oxygen per cubic inch), so you might be experiencing more efficient cumbustion and resulting in better MPG.
My truck seems to have a bit more get up and go in the cold months.
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  #35  
Old 07-29-2014, 03:25 PM
GolfSteve GolfSteve is offline
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Originally Posted by MikeBmusic View Post
A friend who ran a brother's convenience store/gas station told me it was all the same gas from one brand station to another station, only the additives changed.
I worked in a refinery for several years. All the stations in our area received the same gasoline. Only one brand had a special additive package that was mixed into the gasoline just before loading into the trucks/trains for distribution.

Back to the original point, use whatever fuel your engine manufacturer specifies.....but......if your car runs better on a higher grade, feel free to use it. Most of the time it is a waste. The ONLY time I have personally used mid-grade fuel is when operating a vehicle at high altitude crossing the Rockies (>4000 feet). Using mid-grade instead of regular seemed to reduce engine ping in my 4 cylinder 1990 Toyota Celica. This was a before modern engines with variable timing, sensors, computers, etc. to control engine ping.

Fuel grade/altitude didn't seem to make a difference in older vehicles with massive engines (e.g. my 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88 and 1977 Ford F100).

Fuel grade/performance at altitude seems to make no difference to more modern engines such our old 4 cylinder 2004 Honda CRV, or our current 6 cylinder 2012 Honda Pilot, both of which use regular fuel.

I'm now driving high speed diesel engines in my Volkswagens and find no difference in performance with regular vs. premium diesel (as of today I've burned 18,096 litres of diesel since August 24, 1999. Price in 1999 was 49.9 cents/litre and today is 133.9 c/L. I kinda like to keep track of stuff. )

BTW, an unrelated point is that the price of gasoline is identical across the country (probably around the world). There are a couple of exceptions where very high quality fuel is specified (e.g. Arctic diesel vs. normal diesel), and there is a certain amount of local market competition affecting prices a few cents/litre, but any other differences in price are entirely due to different taxes/subsidies and transportation costs from the refinery to the market.

One of my first jobs was to look up fuel prices across North America every morning, figure out the transportation cost from our refinery to each market, and calculate where we could make the most money selling our fuel. A few cents per litre extra and the marketing people fired off a train load of fuel the next day. Really quite amazing, and that was before the internet was invented! I used to receive hundreds of intelligence reports on thermal fax paper, collate them, type the data into an IBM XT 286 running Lotus 123, save the data onto a 5-1/4" floppy, print out a summary on an HP LaserJet II (which took forever) then go for lunch and watch all the pretty girls strolling around downtown. Now I'm 44 years old and stuck in an office in an industrial park :-(
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  #36  
Old 07-29-2014, 04:12 PM
The Growler The Growler is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by architype View Post
In the winter the air that the engine is sucking into the cumbustion chamber is much dryer, colder and denser, (more oxygen per cubic inch), so you might be experiencing more efficient cumbustion and resulting in better MPG.
My truck seems to have a bit more get up and go in the cold months.
This is true, but the summer blends mentioned are oxygenated to reduce emissions and while it does that, it reduces mileage. Some states have these rules mandated, not all.
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  #37  
Old 07-29-2014, 04:18 PM
The Growler The Growler is offline
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Originally Posted by Fatstrat View Post
Just to clarify. My vehicle ran OK most of the time on the 87 octane gas. But there did seem to be occasional tank fulls that ran pretty rough. But overall they consistently run better on the mid range.
Try this Fatstrat: use 87, then every third or fourth (or even fifth as a test), try the higher blend. I had a truck that this worked well on. I had to do that about every fifth tank full. Since I filled up once a week, I would just use the higher grade once a month. Problem solved. Your mileage may vary and all that (no pun intended), but it worked well for me.
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  #38  
Old 07-29-2014, 04:48 PM
Long Jon Long Jon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by valleyguy View Post
In the summer the blend of gas is different, I notice I get much lower mileage in the summer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by architype View Post
In the winter the air that the engine is sucking into the cumbustion chamber is much dryer, colder and denser, (more oxygen per cubic inch), so you might be experiencing more efficient cumbustion and resulting in better MPG.
My truck seems to have a bit more get up and go in the cold months.
Don't forget running the air con burns extra gas in summer.
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