Best Brand of Gas

[Jerry Cowing]

Question for our learned petroleum engineers.

I've heard two stories for years about the quality of different brands of gas and was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this subject.

Story 1) I heard that there is really no difference in the brands of gas you buy. The gas supposedly all comes by barge or truck to a distribution center and then this gas is redistributed to all the local gas stations. The distribution center supposedly adds some Brand name additives to the gas when it is pumped into the gas trucks for distribution to a particular brand of local gas station, but the additives don't do much and therefore all the gas is really the same.

Story 2) I heard that there is a big difference in the gas you buy. Some stations add ethanol to the petroleum gas which I was told is really bad for our high performance engines and any engine using fuel injection, which is most of the modern cars and trucks. Ethanol molecules are supposedly harder/larger than petroleum molecules and will eat the tiny injector holes away ruining the injectors.

Story 3) Something else?

Here's also what I've heard:
-- CHEVRON = good
-- SHELL = good
-- AMOCO = good, but may change because BP bought them out.
-- TEXICO = bad, uses Ethanol or a lower grade of gas
-- BP = bad, uses Ethanol or a lower grade of gas

Anything correct about the above?

Thanks, Jer

[USrowboy]

in the mid seventies, when I was sporting around on an XLH Sportster, which had electric start and no back up kick start....I found that the Shell hi test was the only fuel that would help start the bike in cold weather.

As for the other brand vs brand dilemma, add another mitigating factor. When a service station owner wants to fill his regular tank, but can't quite get all (5000 ? ) gallons into that tank, he'll dump a few hundred/thousand into the "hi test" tank. Billed for the regular, and selling the MIX as premium, it's a win win situation for him.

This does happen. Seen it, been there. So......is it a crap shoot?

rowboy....

[Ibr8k4vetts]

All the gas in CAL. is bad But I run Exxon, Chevron makes everything I own ping I wouldn't run it if it was free
Mike

[Don]

Reference The Idaho Corvette Page for a technical article on gas by Hib Halverson:

http://www.idavette.net/hib/fuel/index.htm

[Gordon Claunch]

Hi, I work for Shell oil in a refinery, I can tell you from Bakersfield to the central coast, to modesto north, to the Bishop area if you are buying gas we made it at Shell, every jobber or company that picks it up adds there own additive to it that we store on site. sorry guys it is all the same!!!

[werthie]

Don, that's the best article on gasoline I've ever read. I guess those Corvette guys know a thing or two . . . .
Best wishes for the holidays!
Alan in L.A.

[Cobranut]

Rowboy,

If you saw this firsthand why didn't you do yourself and all of us a favor and report it to the Dep.t of Consumer Affairs or whatever the appropriate state agency would be?

They could test the fuel in his tank and bust him with a hefty fine for consumer fraud amongst other things.

If they knew anyone seeing this would report it then things like this wouldn't happen as often, and we'd get the gas we paid for.

I've often had a car not ping on one tank of premium and ping on the next tank from the same station/pump a week later.
The next tank would be back to normal. All this with the same engine settings and similar weather conditions. The fuel had to be different.

Later,

[USrowboy]

Conflict of interest kept me from doing it in both cases. Both instances were quite a while ago too. One was a "landlord" where i parked my trucks. He'd done some favors over the years as far as towing and repairs in short order. One was my employer when I was in college....
What can I say? I turned a blind eye. Guilty as charged.
: (

[USrowboy]

PS: The same guy would post his fuel prices (usually 10-15 cents higher) in LITERS and nowhere could you see the dollar/gal price unless you got out of the car and read the placard carefully. Just his way of doing (shifty) business. He's retired and I don't park my trucks there anymore either.

[Cobranut]

Ziggy,

Thanks for fessing up to your crimes. I guess the statute of limitations has run out by now so you're off the hook.

I do hope that any of us would report this if we saw it again.
I really hate to see the honest man get screwed.

Later,

[Tony Radford]

It takes less time for my gas gauge to go from "F" to "E" than it takes to weigh various fuel grade options. Since it runs through my engine like doo doo through a goose, I don't think it notices the octane rating.

[Rick Bagley]

Any good 93 octane mixed with Sunoco Purple 60/40 ratio. The FE loves it!

[Ron61]

That is a great report but I really find it hard to accept that Calif. pump gas gives better perfromance than any other. If it does then they must keep it all in Southern Calif. as we can't get anything above the so called 91 octane rating that even my power mower stumbles on. Even my little 65 Comet with the stock 289 two barell carb. doesn't run well or get good mileage on what we get up here. But if I go to Oregon for example and fill up, it runs better and the mileage goes up. I have tried Shell, which I have to drive 20 miles to get, Chevron, Texaco, and some of the cheap stuff and I had better luck with Shell but I use Texaco because I don't have to drive 20 miles to get it. And the difference really isn't that much. Not really knowing a lot about the chemistry involved I just have to go by how my car performs and the milage to see which gas I get the best results from. And for the other thing about the mixing. That could explain why people around here have been griping about getting a tank of our so called premium and then the next time they fill up their pickups ping like crazy.

Thanks,

Ron

[JoeLafives]

I used to work for Shell Oil and then for Tosco who was bought out by Phillips and then merged with Conoco. I supported the trading floor for their Oil movements system.

There are probably 100 different kinds of gasoline for retail sale in the US based on regional requirements. (often at the county level). None of that is brand related.

a "standard" unleaded gas will move down the pipeline to a region and at the terminal the additives get blended with the gasoline to create the brand. The additives are different and can make a difference. ( I personally prefer Chevron techron )
This allows companies to do "Exchanges". for example lets say Exxon wants to sell gas in Wisconsin but doesn't have a refinery close to their. Shell will ship gas from their refinery to an Exxon terminal and the Exxon terminal will add it's additive and make it Exxon gas.

Many Terminal service multiple brands and will have additive blends for each of those brands.

If a region requires RFG or MTBE or another type of specialized gas that is blended prior to moving down the pipeline.