Just curious... I usually fill @ Sam's Club, but a buddy told me their gas was sub par.

My gut feeling is that gas is pretty homogenous, but I'm not 100% sure. Due to the high level of intelligence found on these forums, I thought I'd throw it out to find out what the consensus is, or if anyone can point me to some substantive proof that Mobil is better than Exxon, etc. Or if there's a true reason I should be avoiding Sam's Club (BJs back east) to fill my tank.

 

I am glad you asked this question. The manual says we should be using a "detergent" gasoline. Do all brands of 87 octane gasoline contain detergents, or only some? My dad worked for the railroad, and he said all the tankers filled up with the same gasoline. What gets added after the fact, I would like to know.
JoAnn
Overeager in Maryland

 

I don't have any evidence, but I tend to be in the "gas is gas" camp. I've filled up with the name brands and at Sam's. Regarding the detergent issue I think they all now have detergents. But if not you could always fill up with the cheap gas every other tank.

 

After 5 tanks in my TCH, I found that my best tank average was when I used Arco ecUnleaded regular. I averaged 2mpg more than the other 4 tanks (37 vs 35) which used Shell unleaded regular. This might have been an abberation, but I drive the same route every day and have put 2000 miles on my car in the last 4 weeks.

Regarding gas in general, most of the "name brand" gasolines are the same high quality. A survey done many years ago showed that only Texaco showed a slightly better quality than the others, but not by much. I would think Costco, Safeway, and other national "non-petroleum" chains that sell large amounts of gas would be the same. But once you go to local mom&pop, the quality is not as good, and hence the price is cheaper. Why? The way gasoline is sold is that the most expensive gas is at the top of the container, because any sedatives/sludge sinks to the bottom. As the various merchants purchase their gas, the top of the container tank is more expensive, and the bottom of the tank is less expensive. Take a guess what part of the container "mom&pop gas station" gets their gas.

 

I can't say that Sam's is worse. However the major's have strict testing for gasoilne and they reject anything that does not meet the spec. That gas is then sold through several "minor" branded stations (I won't mention their names). Yes it does come from the same refineries and if you are buying 87 octane you are getting 87 octane. However it is not necessarily the "same" gas as at the brand stations. Sort of like generic and name brand. Sometimes it's just a matter of saving money for the same blend, but sometimes its not. I don't use the off-brand stations but that don't mean I make the right decision. I'm not real sure with this particular engine that I would worry about the gasoline specs too much.

Don't waste money on anything other than the octanne recommended.

I will find this post amusing as the other posts on synthetic oils and Slick 50 and other products tend to have some very staunch supporters of spending more "just to be sure". I will take interest in seeing what gasoline people use.

My worse experience had nothing to do with the gas, rather I got dirt in my tank from one of the store / gas combinations and I am real picky as to how the station is maintained around the gas tank filling area. Minor nit, but I only want burnt once on any one thing.

 

Generally, all distributors fill up their tanks at the same terminals. However, the cleaning additives and quality control makes a big difference. Recently, Toyota-Honda-GM-BMW, concerned with a decrease in the quality, introduced the standard for top-tire gasoline (you can read the details here http://www.toptiergas.com/deposit_control.html). So far the following brands/distributors met the standards: chevron, shell, phillips, conoco, 76, entec, mfa oil, somerset and a couple more, but, surprisingly not exxon, nor mobil. Personally I think that chevron has the best cleaning additives, but any other in the list should do very well. That being said, I still fill at Sam's quite often. But, if you go for discounted gasoline either add detergents every few thousands miles, or fill-up with a brand name now and then.

 

I no longer buy CITGO as it's a wholy owned company by the Venezula government who openly "hates" the US.

I have found through research (past threads) that BP appears to use the least foreign oil (at least on the East Coast) of any of the major and available brands in my area. Also with the BP card you get a 5% rebate on all gasoline.

My TCH makes more of a "less foreign oil" statement than an "ecological" statement. I can't help to some extent, but I want to limit the support I give to the terrorist backing nations as much as possible. Other than riding a bike BP seems to do this for me.

 

Most gasoline, heating oil, diesel, jet fuel etc is all shipped in the same pipeline separated by nothing. Depending on when the particular gasoline shipment reaches its destination/delivery point, it could have a slight mix of whatever was shipped just before or just after it in the pipe. The only difference between brands is maybe a 16 oz can of detergent added to about 8,000 gallons of fuel in the tank truck delivering it to the local gas station. Stick with the top tier to be sure but its all the same stuff..

 

VWGasGuy--I am a believer in synthetic oil. As for gas, I use the recommended octane from any name brand station. Recently, as you, I have stopped buying gas from Citgo as a direct sponsor of Hugo Chavez's anti-US policy. I believe Valero is also Venezuelan.

I seem to recall a study a few years back that said Chevron's gas was closest to the octane posted at the pump, while many other brands fell 1-2 points below posted.

Finally, from Consumer Reports (http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/d...ine%20quality). I am not sure if you can get to this link if you are not a subscriber.

Gas, "Top Tier"
Q. Reading up on gasoline quality, I've noticed a new standard for gasoline called "Top Tier Detergent Gasoline." Is it worthwhile to seek out gasoline that meets this new standard?
A. First, there is an EPA requirement that all manufacturers of gasoline and cars have agreed on. "Top Tier" appears to be primarily a marketing term. There are requirements to meet "Top Tier," but this does not mean that those who are not top tier do not meet such requirements. The bottom line is, you can safely purchase gasoline from any major brand station because the quality of the gasoline from all of them is very high.

 

Thanks to this post I went to Shell today and not Race Track. On the sign at shell they showed what a valve looks like after 5,000 miles using cheap gas, it wasn't a pretty valve.



Now that gas is so high, IMO I go with Race Track. The gas there is 5 to 8 cents cheaper but today it was only 1 cent difference so Shell was a bargain

And yes, BAN CITGO