Gas Stations - Differences?

More opinions on this than, oh, say, brands of motor oil. Just mine- dont worry about brands. If you need the octane, pay attention to that, but gas is as generic as bleach. Some will be sorry to hear that- sacred cows are hard to kill.

 

The only thing I take into consideration is whether the gasoline has ethanol. I go out of my way to fill up with ethanol free whenever possible. Luckily we have a station with 94 octane Sunoco no-ethanol a few miles from my home. Of course in some areas it's difficult or impossible to find pure gasoline. Brands... I pay no attention.

 

Wait a minute, what about the additives used by various oil companies?

I've read that Techron (Chevron) is a good thing, for example.

Then again, Ferrari has recommended Shell for quite awhile, haven't they?

 

Of course,.................. Shell is a big sponsor. Ferrari also recommends Marlboro cigarettes. You get to decide if one is good for your car and the other is good for your lungs. Nothing against Shell, but I'm not convinced that Ferrari recommends anything simply for the good of the public.

Agip and Shell have historically bid against one another for the right to have their decal on the side of Ferrari F-1 cars. When Agip is the sponsor, Ferrari doesn't promote Shell, that's for sure, and vice versa.

My favorite sponsorship deals involved John Force Racing (NHRA drag racing). One decal on his car was "Say No TO Drugs" right next to an EZ Wider decal, a cigarette rolling paper company associated almost exclusively with smoking dope.

 

I've got a relative who drives a local tanker truck. He fills up from the barges at the river or the storage facility and delivers to the different stations on his route. He says he delivers the same stuff to shell , mobile , citgo , and others. I usually just go for price.

 

Gasoline already has the additives/enhancers needed. No need to "add" more. When gas companies have sold you all the gas you can burn in a day, they think of other products you "need" to sell you.

 

Locally we have a single 91/no ethanol option as well as multiple 93/ethanol options. What would be the better choice for Fcars?

 

If we had a choice in California, I would go for the non-ethanol variety, unless you are doing some track or other activity where you will consume all of the ethanol laden gas before you park/store the car.

 

There is a bunch on Fchat here re ethanol gas-a lot of it depends on how old your car is. It's a drive but I only use non ethanol at this point. It keeps the carbs cleaner and mine still has the tubing that the e gas supposedly rots away. I have def seen a difference in cleaner carbs but can't really tell re the tubing-I haven't seen any bits in the filters, etc and I know the car has run on e gas before

 

I pretty much agree that most of the gasoline is generic, but there are a few things to watch for: Pick a station with reasonable turnover. There may be a Chevron station on one corner off a highway exit, and a Flying J or Pilot across the street selling gas for 5 cents a gallon cheaper. Which one do you suppose has the greater turnover? Also, I've been told to avoid any gas station where the big truck is replenishing the tanks - filling the tanks stirs up any sediment in the tanks - a bad thing.

I also have an app on my Android smartphone called "GasBuddy" - it links with the GPS on the phone and lists the closest gas stations with prices updated by users.

 

Months ago I looked around on here for some year or model when the fuel lines, tubing was officially friendly to the e gas sold today. Anything newer than mine is fuel inj so the carb issue is cleared up-although I'd miss the sound! I think I heard that somewhere around the 'newer' 355's we started using neoprene tubing? So maybe 355's in the late 90's?

Not trying to hijack the thread, but has anybody have any specifics on this?

 

The Shell stations seem to be a bit more yellow.
The BP stations a bit more green.
The Conoco stations a bit more red.

The gasoline . . . pretty much the same. Like others here I seek out ethanol free. As far as I know there is only one ethanol free station in the Denver area, ethanol free premium only at about $4.50 a gallon.

 

That is the long and short of it. Like Bud light vs. Bud, the difference is in the label. Just stay away from ethanol.

 

and stay away from Bud, Busch, and Miller, and Milwaukee's Best.

 

Same here. Have an acquaintance that drives a tanker. He mentioned that there are only a couple of retailers that have a different blend here in CT, and that is just different detergents. Also, in CT we have only E10 since 2005 or 06. Never had any fuel related problems with hoses or other fuel system parts with my 85 308.

 

There are more no ethanol pumps than you might think. Do an online search or call them up. You are likely to find no ethanol near marinas,various race tracks,Indian reservations .......A lot of small engines just won't run on it for long. If you need leaded gas ask. Various available in 5 to 50 gal drums(leaded). I use no ethanol in all small motors and anything needing 91. A little more expensive than than 91 ethanol but 10% better gas mileage. In my 575 I use 2/3 91 no ethanol and 1/3 cam2 also known as Sunoco 260gt.(100 Octane pump race gas with 9% ethanol). GTS Bruce

 

Not in our area Bruce. We only have 10% ethanol and it is the same for marinas and small aircraft. Closest one is about 300 miles away

 

+1 for fresh gasoline, got to watch out for bad gas, especially higher octane which is probably purchased less often.

Depends on your car, the definitive answer is your owner's manual . My Euro 308 manual recommends 94 (actually 98 in the scale it uses, roughly 94 here in the States), while the same model US car had lower compression ratio and only recommended 91 IIRC. So it really comes down to compression ratio, ignition timing, and what Ferrari felt would be best when they typed up the manual.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to get 93 regardless even if 91 is all that's required, but only as long as it's fresh, as mentioned above. Very few cars get 93+ in most areas, and I'd rather have fresh 91 octane gasoline over 94 octane varnish.

 

Non ethanol gas by state Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

I don't know how often these folks update this-but the place I go to is on here

 

To quote a friend of mine "it all comes out of the same pumps...."

 

If you have it near you, there is no question ethanol-free is much better even for modern cars that don't have rubber compatibility issues (non-ethanol gas produces more power, improves gas mileage, and stores much better).

Among station brands, I think there is a difference in the additives they use even if the gas itself is basically is the same. There is an industry classification known as "Top Tier" -- fuel brands must meet standards to be classified at "Top Tier" (Top Tier Gasoline). While it sounds like a marketing thing, I've read that it actually is a meaningful standard. One data point that might support that is that Audi, whose direct injection cars are very prone to carbon build-up, specifically recommend using only Top Tier gas in their owners manuals. As far as I know, Audi doesn't have any vested interest in Top Tier stations, so I interpret this to mean that they at least think it's a meaningful standard. When I first heard of Top Tier a couple years ago, I think there were only about 7 that met the standard (it's also a pretty short list of stations in the Audi OM), but the link above shows a lot more brands meet it now.

 

I re-jetted my Espada from stock configuration for the ethanol gas and that helped a lot. When I did try the ehtanol free gas one day it then ran terribly I assume because it was too rich.

 

yeah there are standards and also base stock differences in gasoline, add in the 'additives' added to that when the truck fills at the depot and the real only difference between the base stock formulation between the same tier, same base stock is the additives they add. So it's hard to really say they are all the same. just very close. turn-over and tier is more critical to clean fuel, oh and avoiding the west/left coast.

there is also the pipeline 'pig' that separates the octane cut and the blended wash between.

the base stock varies across the US, out here in CA it's not even straight gasoline, but a reformulated base stock, so there is CARBOB, ABOB, AZ RBOB, CBGBOB, LVCBG, RFG, CARFG and that's just between CA,AZ & NV! the RFG is an EPA mandated type.

 

But one can safely say that if you mix Shell gasoline & Marlboro cigarettes, the result would not be good for either your lungs, OR your car!




I like Chevron, I do feel that the Techron is a good cleaning agent for your fuel system, and my anecdotal evidence of that is: I had an '88 Grand Prix that was about a year old & IIRC around 12k miles when I got it - this was in the era when GM was having major issues with clogged injectors... I ran nothing but Chevron in it (unless I had no other choice on a given occasion when I needed to gas up), and would also dump a separate bottle of Techron in it every few tankfuls... I would also get an injector flush a couple times a year - which I'm sure also contributed - over three years of ownership & 99k miles, I never had a single problem with the injectors (or any other part of the fuel system) in any way, shape, or form. That car ran just as well when I got rid of it, as it did when I bought it.

So, I've been sold on Techron ever since.