The Gasoline Debate Revisted

From the NYTimes. Again, hardly chest-pounding stuff. But I think I'll still stick with Premium.

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With So Many Gasoline Choices, What's a Driver to Do?
By MATT RICHTEL

LEADED or unleaded? It is a question that belongs to simpler times, when a consumer could pull up to the gas station, momentarily forget life's complexities and know the right answer.

Buying gas these days, though, has become a complex and emotionally draining experience. The questions swirl: How much octane do I need? Will my car fall apart without gas that includes additives and detergents? What is a higher priority, my child's college education, or a full tank of premium fuel for my sport utility vehicle?

Hysteria, of course, will get you nowhere and may cause you to swerve while operating heavy machinery. It turns out that by following basic rules, you can become an informed gas consumer - an important role in a time when fuel seems so expensive that you could burn a dollar's worth just turning around your car at the self-service island to have the correct side of the vehicle face the pump.

The first thing to understand is that gasoline, like most everything else, has been subjected to the wizardry of marketing experts. They have introduced so many grades, products, brand names and fancy words - like "Techron" and "V-Power" - that the Shell Answer Man himself may become disoriented.

So how much fancy gasoline do you need? And will it really matter if you use the cheapest gas you can find? There are competing schools of thought. One side is anchored by people who believe that brand names matter, and the other by strict constructionists, who argue that gas is gas is gas.

"A lot of consumers buy more expensive fuel on the mistaken belief it will enhance performance," said Sean Comey, a spokesman for AAA of Northern California. "They might as well throw the money out the window and burn it."

But there are also those who say gasoline quality and brand name do affect mileage, car longevity and driving performance. Some of these people, to be sure, come from the gasoline industry, and they can be very forceful about their opinions, especially with their next of kin.

"I tell my kids: never buy gas at an independent station; if you do, get the highest octane," said a manager at a repair shop at a San Francisco Chevron who refused to give his full name.

Of the choices facing consumers, the two most basic are about the level of octane to put into the car, and whether to buy gasoline with an "additive," which is essentially a detergent that is marketed as a way to keep your engine clean and head off mechanical problems.

The big franchises, like Shell, 76, Mobil and Chevron, profess to have special additive formulas (like Chevron's Techron) that keep the engine cleaner. But it is worth noting that while independent stations may not include additives that are as powerful in their gasoline, the Environmental Protection Agency does require all fuel sold to include some detergent, said Jim Williams, a senior manager at the American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group.

Is the amount of additive required by the E.P.A. enough to keep cars clean?

"It's a minimum quality standard," Mr. Williams said, adding that some companies have decided to go further than the minimum, in part because it gives them a marketing leg up. "It's a decision they make on their marketing strategies, based on what their consumers want."

People who work on cars for a living differ on whether special additives help. Dennis DeCota, executive director of the California Service Station and Automotive Repair Association, and a longtime owner of a 76 station, said it helped to put some detergent in the car. But he said that it did not matter where it came from - whether from a brand-name station or from an auto-parts store where you can dump a bit into the tank every three or four fill-ups.

"I'm a 76 dealer, and I can't remember the name of our additive - Prosomething," he said. "It's absolutely not worth the difference in price between branded and unbranded detergents - it's marketing."

Go to an auto-parts store "and buy octane boosters or detergent and add them to your own gas tank," he said. "It's cheaper."

As for the octane issue, well, it makes the detergent debate look clean. The higher the octane level, the more efficiently the fuel burns. Most gas stations have three grades of octane - 87, 89 and 91, for example.

On the most basic level, the octane level dictates whether your engine makes knocking noises, which can happen if fuel burns inefficiently or continues to burn after the engine is turned off.

Again, though, there is a perhaps little-known factor that mitigates engine knock. Mr. Williams, from the petroleum association, says that most cars today have automatic knock sensors that can determine whether fuel is burning inefficiently and can change how it is combusted, thus eliminating knock. Further, he argued that a little knock never hurt anyone, unless it lasted a long time.

Mr. Williams and several other people in the industry agree that the octane decision may come down to what is required by the automaker. Near the fuel cap of Mr. Williams's Lexus, he said, is a note that reads, "premium fuel only," and he complies. But he would not necessarily recommend the high-end fuel for drivers of cars whose makers do not require it.

Mr. Comey, from AAA, said that when a car maker "recommends" premium fuel it is not the same as requiring it.

"If you shoot truth serum into the veins of car engineers," he said, "they'll admit that 'recommended' means you don't really need it."

Car makers and dealerships say higher-octane fuel can improve performance and minimize the risk of engine knock. Tiffany Cook, a spokeswoman for Saab Cars USA, said the company's engineers "have seen slight performance improvements when cars use higher octane fuels," but they think it is much more important to get regular maintenance and oil changes for the car than to worry about octane.

"It becomes an issue of personal preference," she added. "We have some owners say they won't use anything less than premium. They get accustomed to how the car sounds. But it's certainly not anything where it's going to be damaging to the car if you're using lesser octane fuel."

Generally, the least expensive gasoline available is the best choice, unless your car manufacturer states otherwise. But there is a caveat: Do not drive around for miles to find the least expensive station. A moral victory of 3 cents a gallon may cost $1.50 in gas.

There is no concrete data on whether a particular brand of gas can increase performance. But there are anecdotes. In the Sunset district of San Francisco, there are two gas stations a block apart - an Olympia station and a Shell. George Williams, 46, filled his Honda at the Olympia the other day and said, "I avoid putting Shell in my car" because it never runs as well.

Moments later, at the Shell, Hank Chan, 57, a cab driver, said he buys only Shell, which gives his car more power. In other words, some people swear that a certain brand makes their cars run better. They may be right.

But some other people may just be deeply loyal by nature, or happen to have the credit card of a particular oil company.

WERE the Beatles trying to tell us that Paul was dead? Some gasoline shoppers labor under certain old wives' tales: independent stations sell gas that is watered down, or comes from the bottom of an oil tanker and is somehow dirtier than brand-name gas. In no particularly order, the answers are: not true, not true and the Beatles were a great band but were not trying to personally send you any subliminal messages, except, perhaps, to ditch that gas-guzzling S.U.V. for something smaller: a yellow submarine.