nice guys at yahoo find out

http://biz.yahoo.com/brn/080104/24176.html?.v=1&.pf=insurance

Quote :

"You're driving down the street with the gas gauge pointing to empty. Scanning the prices on the boards at the gas stations, you notice that the national brands are all around $3.25 a gallon for regular. ADVERTISEMENT Then, you approach Joe's Gas 'n' Go. To your delight, good ol' Joe is selling regular for $3.15. You think about stopping at Joe's, but wonder: "How good is the gas? Will using Joe's bargain gas harm the performance or reliability of my car?" The short answer is "no." At a time when motorists are trying to shave even a few dollars off their fuel bill, shopping some of the lesser-known brands may be a good idea. The entire nation's gasoline comes from various regional refiners who then sell the product to a wide variety of retailers. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, mandates that all gasoline meet certain standards for detergent additives that combat potential deposits on an engine's valves. In addition, gasoline is periodically tested at the pump to make sure it meets minimum octane ratings for regular, mid-range and premium levels. That means Joe's gas must perform to a certain standard and likely won't harm your car. But that doesn't mean Joe's gas is the same as what you'll find coming out of the pump at Chevron, BP, Amoco or other brands. At the fuel depot, where gasoline from the refiner is dispensed, a lot of brands mix in their own formula of additives that they say goes beyond what the federal government requires. Some manufacturers say that today's high-tech engines require higher-standard gasoline than the EPA benchmark. Audi, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen have worked with major gasoline companies to set a standard for what is known as Top Tier Detergent Gasoline. Gas companies that meet these standards include QuikTrip, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, MFA Oil Company, Kwik Trip/Kwik Star, The Somerset Refinery Inc., Aloha Petroleum, Tri-Par Oil Co., Texaco, Petro-Canada and Sunoco-Canada. Calculate your monthly auto loan payment Whether using Top Tier gasoline makes a substantive difference is debatable. AAA contends that any brand of gasoline is safe. In addition, the deposits that Top Tier gasoline helps prevent generally don't cause problems for an engine until after 100,000 miles. To date, no manufacturer has threatened to void the warranties of drivers who fail to use Top Tier gasoline. Drivers who are still concerned but who don't want to buy the higher-cost gasoline can visit an auto parts store twice a year to buy a gas additive. For example, Chevron's Techron additive, which the retailer says is in every gallon of its gas, can be bought in a bottle for less than $10. So, a 20-gallon fill-up at a Chevron or another Top Tier station that costs 10 cents a gallon more than the rate at Joe's bargain gas means a driver would pay $2 more to get those additional additives. Assuming one such fill-up a week, a driver would save $104 a year by buying at Joe's, a savings that would more than cover a twice-a-year purchase of a bottle of detergent additive. While on the subject of gasoline, drivers should stop paying for gasoline with a higher octane rating than their car needs. Check the owner's manual to see what the manufacturer recommends -- for most vehicles, the octane rating is 87, which means regular grade. Buying 89, or 92 or 93 octane gasoline will not make your car go faster or get better gasoline mileage. One exception is high-mileage engines that experience "knocking'' -- that pinging noise when you accelerate. You may be able to eliminate such noises by stepping up in octane. But for the vast majority of consumers, spending 20 cents or more to put higher-octane gas in the tank is an absolute waste. And with gasoline prices likely to rise as spring and summer approach, drivers should take advantage of everything that will save money at the pump. "

1/10/2008 12:44:44 PM

shell vpower ftw

1/10/2008 12:53:14 PM

knee grow plz

i put 74 octane in my tank

1/10/2008 12:59:46 PM

I only use Shell, ExxonMobil, and BP fuels.

1/10/2008 1:11:40 PM

Quote :

"The entire nation's gasoline comes from various regional refiners who then sell the product to a wide variety of retailers. The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, mandates that all gasoline meet certain standards for detergent additives that combat potential deposits on an engine's valves. "

Pretty much summs it up

1/10/2008 1:13:30 PM

knee grows please...

i just use the cheapest gas anywhere.

thats all you need.

IBTniggers

1/10/2008 1:25:17 PM

i only use bp, exxon, shell or the 76 at the corner of western/method

1/10/2008 1:52:08 PM

Personally I stay away from Citgo and Lukoil brands b/c Citgo is state owned by Venezuela and Lukoil is state owned by Russia.

[Edited on January 10, 2008 at 1:55 PM. Reason : k]

1/10/2008 1:54:28 PM

never heard of the L one but i stay away from shitgo also cause its owned by venez.

1/10/2008 2:03:43 PM

I don't know about harming my engine, but I do notice that I get different mpg from different gas stations.

1/10/2008 2:33:08 PM

Shell V-power only

1/10/2008 3:43:15 PM

Prefer BP/Amoco or Shell, but in a pinch I'll go elsewhere.

1/10/2008 4:51:02 PM

in the marauder, i generally go for BP/Amoco or Shell V-power.... in all my other shit- whatever is cheapest.... have found i can average about 3mpg better in my civic with wal-mart gas than the other cheap stations

1/10/2008 6:26:25 PM

Gas is gas!

[link to prove]

Another worthless thread by the Internet's most retarded poster.

1/10/2008 6:28:12 PM

Gas is not gas.

Some engines are calibrated to run off of premuim fuel. If yours is one of these, and you run it on regular then YES it will harm your engine long term. Short term it will likely only hurt your mileage.

Also each brand of gas uses different additive packages. If you drive a vehicle that is prone to valve guide and/or carbon buildup problems the two best gasolines to use are the premuims from Shell (V-power), Conoco, and Chevron.

Here is another good link.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/bad_gas2.htm



A good read on the current state of fuel quality in the US. Read it and understand why you pay the extra 20 cents/gal to get the best gas you possibly can at the pump.

http://blog.sfrcorp.com/2007/06/20/fuel-is-better-quality-these-days-i-heard-additives-are-no-longer-needed-is-that-true/#more-44

1/10/2008 6:50:10 PM

Quote :

"knee grow plz i put 74 octane in my tank"

lol, ftw.

i'll buy gas any damn where, unless i need some 105 then i go to bp because i know they keep their tank fairly fresh.

my diesel usually comes from shell though, but only because i use it in my work truck and that's where the company gas card is for.

i don't even bother to ride around looking for the cheapest stuff, a difference of a few cents isn't worth the time/effort/gas wasted.

for 99% of vehicles, it doesn't matter what you run. for the ones that it does matter, maybe you're talking about getting 210k miles out of an engine instead of 200k. big deal.

[Edited on January 10, 2008 at 7:10 PM. Reason : don't forget that we get better octane than the western u.s. also]

1/10/2008 7:05:00 PM

There is a gas station on 64 called Triangle gas. The stuff is regularly 40 cents/ gallon cheaper than here in Raleigh, but I get only 3/4 the distance with equal volumes of gas.
I know that shit is not as good.

1/10/2008 7:06:00 PM

Gas is gas.

1/10/2008 7:57:03 PM

no, it is not. the additive packages are different.

the shell and chevron have been proven to have the best anti buildup properties of all the top tier gasolines. i just cant find the fucking article right now.

1/10/2008 10:08:49 PM

my friend had some buick i think and got chevron gas and his car had some electric mpg thingn and he said it was getting more than he ever seen it get...and it was the first time he had ever had chevron

1/10/2008 10:10:57 PM

Who cares if your gas is shitty. Don't you knee grows know how to clean a carbeurator or pour Sea Foam into your shit?

[Edited on January 10, 2008 at 10:14 PM. Reason : ;l]

1/10/2008 10:13:54 PM

okay if you've got a really nice car I can see putting gas that has a few extra cleaners in it. But for most everybody that has a POS car like mine the cheapest gas around works great. Although maybe it is time I get my injectors cleaned since it hasn't been done in over 200k miles.

MOST gas comapnies gas all come from the same spot. At a job I used to work at i saw petro tankers come up and there were 4 pumps, diesel, 87, 93, 97 or whatever they are, either way BP, Sunco, Texaco, Hess,... I don't remember but there were at least 10 different gas companies all filling up at the same place.

I'm not saying all are the same but most are, so if you are going to pay more for gas you best check that it's the high quality shit you're paying for.

1/10/2008 11:34:03 PM

Quote :

"for 99% of vehicles, it doesn't matter what you run. for the ones that it does matter, maybe you're talking about getting 210k miles out of an engine instead of 200k. big deal."

that's why I go to Costco for 93 octane that I use in the Q45, and the Rx-7 uses Sunoco 110 or BP 100 unleaded (or whatever it is they have at that BP in Cary)

1/11/2008 12:40:43 AM

the bp in cary (on kildaire) has 105. that's where i get mine. mayhem motorsports is selling c16 now, and they're literally like 2 minutes from my house. w00t.

1/11/2008 1:55:06 AM

I need to hook up on some of that for the scoot i bet it run even better

1/11/2008 1:57:55 AM

Quote :

"There is a gas station on 64 called Triangle gas. The stuff is regularly 40 cents/ gallon cheaper than here in Raleigh, but I get only 3/4 the distance with equal volumes of gas. I know that shit is not as good."

they use a mix of ethanol don't they?

1/11/2008 1:40:12 PM

so you pay like 12% less but get 25% less gas mieage?

. . .

1/11/2008 2:00:12 PM

yes. there is nothing good about using ethanol.

1/11/2008 2:19:27 PM

other than being able to run more timing (or boost on FI)

and not relying on foreign oil..

nothing good about it at all.

1/11/2008 2:22:11 PM

nothing good about ethanol....

[Edited on January 11, 2008 at 5:13 PM. Reason : and that's with a smaller restrictor]

1/11/2008 5:12:32 PM

where the fuck is Queti at when we need her?

1/11/2008 8:13:15 PM

i dont agree with beethead...ethanol blows and is making the shit i love to eat go higher

1/11/2008 8:23:02 PM

^ yeah me too

1/12/2008 9:35:44 AM

too bad that even if every field in the u.s. was converted to corn it still wouldn't be enough to support our needs. e85 is nice for high performance applications though, despite the slight additional wear on metal parts.

1/12/2008 4:52:44 PM

Quote :

"Calculate your monthly auto loan payment"

1/12/2008 5:01:10 PM

ethanol will prove to be much better if all these efforts to make it out of non corn products actually pan out in an economically viable way. And you can make power on ethanol if you can flow all that extra fuel needed.

1/12/2008 11:29:52 PM

Quote :

"Some engines are calibrated to run off of premuim fuel. If yours is one of these, and you run it on regular then YES it will harm your engine long term. Short term it will likely only hurt your mileage."

fuck that

engine computer will recalculate timing based on the gas thats in there in all cars built in the last 10 years or so

1/12/2008 11:35:59 PM

I don't believe the article is comparing using low octane vs. high octane gas will harm your engine, but whether the quality/brand of gas will do harm. Sure you have some brands that have special additives that hype or market one thing, but they are extras.

I do agree that for ethanol to be come more viable as a fuel, the process of manufacturing needs to branch out instead of using beet or corn. I find it funny how everyone keeps on saying how hybrids are the way of the future, except they do more harm than good with the amount of batteries they require.

I'm hopeful for crystallized methane to pay off. That's probably the next viable fuel source after oil.

1/13/2008 12:15:50 AM

woot

crystal meth ftw

1/13/2008 12:23:29 AM

Quote :

"engine computer will recalculate timing based on the gas thats in there in all cars built in the last 10 years or so"

say what

1/13/2008 7:04:47 PM

can it recalculate compression too?

1/13/2008 7:29:51 PM

i'll find out sooner or later.

my car 'requires' premium, but i run regular.

honda later issued a retraction and stated that they "recommend" the use of premium, but that running other grades 87 octane or higher is fine. even changed the stickers on the filler doors to that effect.

i don't drive crazy in hot weather, so i'm good. hot outside = i use premium.

Quote :

"and not relying on foreign oil.. nothing good about it at all."

also since you get less gas mileage out of a tank, you'll have to fill up with more foreign sourced gasoline mixed with your precious ethanol. good job.

[Edited on January 13, 2008 at 10:03 PM. Reason : eh]

1/13/2008 10:00:52 PM

not only that, but we are importing corn mix from other countries as well for ethanol. So there goes the whole statement about depending on foreign oil, now it would be foreign cow feed...

1/13/2008 11:24:43 PM

Quote :

"they use a mix of ethanol don't they?"

I hope you're aware that all gasoline sold in this country has 10% ethanol in it. Which sucks.

1/13/2008 11:30:58 PM

Quote :

"say what"

knee grow they have a fucking knock sensor

its part of OBD

1/13/2008 11:35:52 PM

^^ i think he meant more than 10%... i hope...

dont make ethanol out of corn, make it out of switch grass, more efficient, net energy gain (solar gain capture) (yes this takes everything into account, fertilizer, planting, harvesting etc etc) of 5:1, five units of energy out for every one put in.

sun ftmfw

corn based ethanol is stupid

[Edited on January 15, 2008 at 10:20 AM. Reason : s]

1/15/2008 10:19:27 AM

yeah ethanol is one of the few issues i care about this election

i'm cool with abortion, i could care less about illegal immigration, i dont care if queers get married, the mortgage crisis aint a big deal to me, the economy isnt that big a deal cause i'm still pulling those shit jobs til i graduate...but this ethanol shit is very important to me...chicken is a staple of my diet, and thats not the only commodity thats going up

1/15/2008 10:28:44 AM

for that matter, opinions on 100 octane? (some at a station between here and Charlotte)

1/15/2008 10:34:11 AM

Quote :

"i think he meant more than 10%... i hope"

all grades of gasoline can contain up to 10% ethanol, called E10. This is not the same as E85, which is 85% ethanol.

I couldn't agree more, though, that corn is about the worst there is for efficiently making ethanol.

Quote :

"this ethanol shit is very important to me...chicken is a staple of my diet, and thats not the only commodity thats going up"

Fuel costs are driving up the cost of everything. Ethanol is not the only contributor to higher food prices.

1/15/2008 11:54:05 AM

i am convinced i got better mileage and performance from the mustang when i used BP fuel (87) as opposed to bargain gas...from my calculations, though, the mileage bump wasn't worth more than a 3 or 4-cent premium (this was back when gas was a lot cheaper, though)

1/15/2008 12:00:35 PM