Gasoline Quality

[RV Guy]

I have recently been told by a mechanic, not the one I use, that I should use name brand gasoline, Chevron to be specific. I use Chevron on occasion but I buy a lot of gasoline at Wal-Mart for my Vette and our other vehicles. I look at it like I consider generic brands versus name brands that cost more usually just because of the advertising. Does anyone have a good reason that either supports or disclaims this recommendation to only use Chevron gasoline? Chevron is the predominate name brand in our area.

Thanks

 

[DRTH VTR]

from Hib Halverson on Idavette.net:

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

There are differences between gasolines.

 

[RV Guy]

Thanks for the link. That is a very infomative article about gasoline but I still have my question about gas at discount retailers. Does it hurt your engine to use it?

 

[bradfordsvettes]

most gas is the same as far as i know the additives are put in at the station and are specific to the brand . i also believe the upscale gas has a better packageand some have what is called tier 1 which is the best but the min grades are all required to meet a min spec no matter what brand :duh:duh steve

 

[G Winter]

The lack of cleaners in cut rate gas can cause all kinds of problems. Over the yrs I have learned that cheap isn't always cost effective. You also lack octain rating. To low of octain fuel can damage the engine. I also find a diff in gas milage as much as 10% depending on brand.

 

[vetteboy86]

I think those types of retailers by there gas from many different places. It basically goes on who is cheaper. Opposed to a name brand that gets gas from the same terminal no matter what. I know that some of those low grade gas use ethanol in their gas to boost octane rating. This allows for less of a refining process, therefor they can sell it cheaper. I would stay with chevron, how much do you save at the walmart?

Craig

 

[CQRT]

I worked for the same company as Tim Wusz- although different operating divisions-- and I can say I've never read a more thorough explanation of the process.

The big difference are in fact the additives-- put in at the "rack" or distribution terminal as the tankers are being loaded for delivery to the stations. So to some degree, 91 octane is nearly identifical brand to brand - -it's the additives that make the difference-- most are varying types of cleaners and yes-- the absence of those products in my opinion can affect your cars performance over time.

Most of the time, the large retailers that sell gasoline buy their fuels on the "spot" market - - in some ways, they pay less for "leftovers" or surplus production or storage and accordingly, their pump prices can be lower. And again generalizing, most spot market gasoline will not carry the top-tier additives in their blends.

Does one tank hurt? Nope - probably not - -but regular use sure won't help keep your engine smelling clean and all-day fresh:Silly

Regards--

 

[Ken]

Your mechanic's right in that Chevron's Techron© is the best additive on the market today.

 

[G Winter]

some subjects I think a person should have an answer in wordpad file and just copy and paste.


new people haven't seen the posts before.

 

[Edmond]

I don't go cheap on the gas for the Vette' but I find the cheapest gas possible for my Toyota because it'll run on anything. :L I drive my Toyota for work and I get imbursed for every mile I drive. Still, I find the cheapest gas possible for it.

I'm sure glad that gas prices have come back down these past few weeks. We're seeing regular for $1.78 at almost every station with some of the lower priced stations at $1.72 for regular.

 

[RV Guy]

Thanks for all of the information. I just found this web site and it has helped me understand all this gas stuff better. http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html

 

[SSTibet]

Folks, one thing I learned after having the Vette is importance of gas quality. Thanks to Ken, I found valuable articles to read on the web. Once I had engine stumbling for no obvious reason and that happened in the middle of the traffic; scared me a lot. I am pretty sure it was poor quality gas. I changed to a different fuel station and it went away. Now I buy the highest octane gas and only from the stations that I thrust. Since I do not drive it too often price does not become a concern.

 

[My Prozac]

I drove a gasoline truck for a year, this is what I learned

1. Not all gas is the same each company puts it in their own mix of additives.
2. Never buy gas when the tanker trunk is at the station... the fuel being put in the tank stirs up any water and dirt in the storage tank at the station. and it willl be pumped right in to your tank.
Wait about 30 minutes if you can
3. A no name station like Wal-mart gets the cheapest price gas they can from any supplier, one day it might be Citgo the next day Shell gas company prices chang from day to day
4. The only way to know if you are getting a certain brand of gasoline is to go to a "branded station" where the gas company runs the station.
5. Always buy gas from a station with a lot of customers the more gas they sell the less chance for water in their tanks.
6. Most '"mid- grade" gas is mixed by the truck driver it is not made by the gasoline company. The mixtures may not be perfect.
7. The worst thing that can happen is the wrong product be put in the wrong tank so be aware for the smells at the station if it smells wrong it is more then likely the wrong product.
8. ALWAYS GET A RECIEPT. if you get the wrong gas you have proof where you got the gas

Hope this helps you

 

[stevec2]

Remember that the octane rating of gas has to meet federal standards - 91 octane is the same octane rating across the country. The additives are what makes the difference and they are up to each individual gas company to formulate and market. Remember that you are listening to the marketing hype from each company and gas companies work alongside motor manufactures as 'partners' for their own ends - not yours! (yes I'm cynical LOL)

GM has declared that gas additives and injection cleaners are not needed or even recommended for the vette so make up your own minds.

I always love the discussions regarding gas prices over here - I'm a Brit who spent my first 25 driving years paying UK prices - currently $6.38 per US gallon !! - that's when you look around for cheaper gas and why we convert cars to use propane(LPG).

Steve

 

[G Winter]

- that's when you look around for cheaper gas and why we convert cars to use propane(LPG).

Steve

Converting to LPG is popular in the UK ?? I worked with converting to propane for a number of yrs. Always did like the way they ran on LP . At the moment I have an old pickup running on a dual feul system. Always thought it would be intresting to build a performance engine for LP. With 105 octane think of the possibilitys .

 

[Ken]

Interesting. I didn't know that...

Nitromethane: Produced specifically as a fuel for drag racing, it is the result of a chemical reaction between nitric acid and propane.

Learn something new each day.

January 25th, 2001

As many of the visitors to might site know, I am going to be racing my car this summer in the bracket races. I plan to race in Fort St. John, Fairview, Prince George (NHRA – North Central Raceway), and some trips to the Eagle Motorplex in Ashcroft and Mission Raceway Park ( both are NHRA certified tracks). My racing team is called Eldoren Racing and will consist of myself and 2-3 friends in the pits.

As many people know, a couple friends I know in Dawson Creek run a 1983 Buick Regal on the strip. Dale Pederson and Darren Black started racing this car about 10 years ago. I first saw it driving around town and noticed that the backend was tubbed and he was running a Ford 9 inch. I had know idea what was under the hood.

Well….a few weeks later I am out at the track in Hudson's Hope, BC and the car is running. As a street car, I figured it might run in the 12's. The car took off from the line and pulled the wheels of the ground about a foot. At that time ( this is in the early 90's ) he ran a solid 10.20 ET. And through mufflers and DOT tires. What was missing was the fact the car was quiet but with a weird whine and didn't smell like a race car.

I soon learned these guys were running a twin turbocharged small block chev ( 350 cu in I believe ) and were running propane. Awesome.

Over the past 2 years these guys continued to race and tweak the car. This past summer ( early September 2000 ) they ran the car in Mission, BC and ran a 8.78 quarter mile at about 155 mph!! And the car is still totally streetable ( both in looks and driveability). With over 1100 horsepower running out of an all aluminum small block chevy, you want to hold your hat when you get in this car.

 

[stevec2]

Yes it's very popular - both for the commercial guys and the DIYer. With LP at less than half the cost of gas there is a strong economic reason to change plus the engine benefits - less wear, cleaner oil and emissions etc.

Some guys even race with it - 300hp (DIN) from 2 litres with no turbocharging! The new kits use the O2 sensors for close loop operation making them real easy to install and tune - the older mono-injector systems were rather tricky to set up and could backfire, wrecking plastic inlets and MAFs.

It doesn't make any sense over here however as gas is so cheap.

Steve