Question: Arco gas????

[WhalePirot]

consider that all gas comes from maybe 1 or 2 regional refineries and not a different facility for each brand.

Such is my understanding, however, the various brands have their mix of additives added to make it 'theirs'.

Bad gas is also gas without enough of the rights detergents and other additives to prevent deposits on the valves and injectors.

Good luck finding accurate info on that, then understanding how it really translates to the real world!

This thread seems as conclusive as those concerning thermostat or oil choice.

I know my car runs like stink; ask my buddy who got his Harley , and badly!

 

[roger longman]

Having been an analyst, with Gulf Oil, I can confirm that companies do indeed draw their gas from the same source but, use their own aditives, which are added to that within the tanker, after drawing from the refinery......Roger.

 

[kpic]

Having been an analyst, with Gulf Oil, I can confirm that companies do indeed draw their gas from the same source but, use their own aditives, which are added to that within the tanker, after drawing from the refinery......Roger.

True, at the shipping terminal there are additive injector systems; here is Honeywell's:

https://www.honeywellprocess.com/library/marketing/brochures/BR0804ENG.pdf

There are two types of systems at the shipping terminal, an additive and an ethanol system.

At the gas station, there is also a Veeder-Root tank monitoring system which monitors the tanks for water contamination.

None of the gas companies or the Top tier sites ever claimed the gas was different just the additives.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

None of the gas companies or the Top tier sites ever claimed the gas was different just the additives.

The average guy on the street is unaware of that and believes that there is a difference in the base product. There's tons of myths out there about the industry and that brand X fuel is better than brand Y right down to the hole in the ground it came out of. Better quality dinosaur juice etc.

 

[kpic]

Ditto, the average driver is more concerned with price than anything else. Most folks interest and knowledge stops at turning the key and driving. Cars are way too complex; it takes almost as long to disconnect all the wires on my 97 as it did to pull the engine on my 66.

Bad gas happens, I pay attention to the MPG as an indicator of does the car need, such as an air filter etc. If I see a one tank drop, it was quality.

After the dyno tune, they left me about enough gas to get to a station. The first station was Hess which literally ran through it. I filled with Shell and matters improved considerably. However, it could have been the computer learning driving is not a dyno cycle.

I've heard that some brands of gasoline improve mileage, is this true?
Gasoline additives can affect engine performance. Therefore, brands of gasoline that use higher quality additives can help improve gas mileage. Additives that actively clean away deposits within the engine make them run more efficiently. Deposits in carburetors or in fuel injectors, for example, can affect fuel economy and emissions. Most brands of gasoline have different additives packages. Because the additives are different, the gasoline’s performance can vary between brands.
CheMysteryDetail

Afton Chemical - Fuel and Lubricant Additives with a Passion for Solutionsâ„¢ it is an interesting site which deals with more than gas additives.

 

[WhalePirot]

The base product is not what we purchase, however. The added-to product is, so the amount and effectiveness of that blend is what changes. Even so, the fuels are regional and seasonal.

I vividly recall driving my stock Vette back from Colorado. The last fill outside California delivered MUCH better performance that the crap I am forced to buy inside. I really wonder where the economy and enviro-benefit is with alcoholed-down gas, when the engines burn at least 10% more of it.

The energy content of the liquid is not entirely determined, I think, by the octane rating, which is as much art as science and, therefore, subject to variance (to be polite).

I appreciate the verification from Roger and try to be an informed consumer. Along these lines, we see claims of this gas additive, or that cleaner. This forum had a post from a Pontiac fuels engineer showing that an extremely 'dirty' set of injectors was fully cleansed with 3 tanks of high detergent gasoline; as effective as an injector cleaning service, per his published paper.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Keep in mind that the octane rating of a fuel is purely a measure of resistance to detonation and nothing else. There is no connection to the amount of energy it contains.

Ethanol is commonly used to boost the octane rating of a fuel, yet it contain 30% less energy than the same volume of gasoline. This means, all other things being equal, that 87 octane pure gas would have 3% more energy than 93 octane E10.

 

[catbert]

Keep in mind that the octane rating of a fuel is purely a measure of resistance to detonation and nothing else. There is no connection to the amount of energy it contains.

Ethanol is commonly used to boost the octane rating of a fuel, yet it contain 30% less energy than the same volume of gasoline. This means, all other things being equal, that 87 octane pure gas would have 3% more energy than 93 octane E10.

......which is why I run "pure gas" in my cars (and mowers). They start easier, and get better mileage. I assume they make more power, which is why the gas mileage goes up, but I've never dyno tested - life's too short for that. My little town has a number of stations that sell ethanol free gas, and that's pretty unusual. When I'm out of town, I run what I can get, usually Shell. As one local said, Corn " licker" is better swallowed than burned.

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

......which is why I run "pure gas" in my cars (and mowers). They start easier, and get better mileage. I assume they make more power, which is why the gas mileage goes up, but I've never dyno tested - life's too short for that. My little town has a number of stations that sell ethanol free gas, and that's pretty unusual. When I'm out of town, I run what I can get, usually Shell. As one local said, Corn " licker" is better swallowed than burned.

With a 90/10 blend of gas/ethanol which is E10, the loss of mileage and power is only 3%. Pretty hard to see that variation on a mileage gauge.