Do you believe they are lying?
Bad Premiun Gas During Winter Months
- Thread starter LazyDog
- Start date
One of the Costco’s here in Ft Myers gets 4-6 tankers a day! You see a lot of high end vehicles there. Each tanker load is 8k gallons. That’s a lot of gas in a day.
ON modern cars, the ECU changes the ignition timing according to a number of programmed variable,two of which (that I am aware of) are engine load and fuel grade.
The timing advance is reduced for lower octane fuel so you may notice some fewer HP.
If your engine is without this feature, the the booster solution is a good one. Alernatively you can get fuel conditionner additives that remove water from the fuel tank.
Incidently in humide climats like ours (80~100% all year round) fuel water absorbtion is always a potential issue. I would like to think fuel suppliers have resolved this.
On a general note, I would not buy high octane from supermaket stations as their sales are generally 60% diesel, 30% regular and the balance maybe premium
The timing advance is reduced for lower octane fuel so you may notice some fewer HP.
If your engine is without this feature, the the booster solution is a good one. Alernatively you can get fuel conditionner additives that remove water from the fuel tank.
Incidently in humide climats like ours (80~100% all year round) fuel water absorbtion is always a potential issue. I would like to think fuel suppliers have resolved this.
On a general note, I would not buy high octane from supermaket stations as their sales are generally 60% diesel, 30% regular and the balance maybe premium
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Yes. I can’t think of a component that would add so much knock resistance with so little added. Think about how much half an ounce is, mixed with a gal of gas. That’s like 500:1 or something close.
How much tetraethyl lead did it take to raise octane?
I have never thought of this. Living in the desert this may not be a concern as there are tons of off road vehicles,Harleys and street cars running around including our FJ 24/7 that take premium
This;
I do like Shell gas!
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Do you think the $10 an hour guy at the station who's real job is selling booze and pot accessories, is going to know or even give a rat's behind. The two stations that sell BP/Amoco Ultimate 93 here, are basically places where the attendant does not even understand "I need a receipt for pump #3, when they push the button to make you come in for the receipt, thinking you might buy something else.. When the attendant at Quik Trip does not even know who supplies their fuel when it is pretty common knowledge. Thank God they have "Gas Station Cheeseburgers" for them to sell.
Like others here said look for the stations that performance cars go to. It will be fresh enough. @Zee09 sorry to crap on your post.
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Hermann
Site Donor 2023
I like Shell gas also. I have quit buying there as there are no stations close and are low volume.
This is problem where I live also!
Zee09
$200 Site Donor 2023
Small town and yes. Owner works every day and the others know when the deliveries come.
I can do this daily. Depends where you are and if you are local. No big deal.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
Hey bud. Hope you’re having a good day. Just a few comments.
I’d be careful making blanket statements like that. What you think the ECM/ECU uses as inputs is also grossly undercounting. There are inputs from the MAF, O2 sensor(s), MAP, IAT, etc. Also, every new modern mainstream make of car has a knock sensor.
1. For vehicles that require premium, the knock sensor can only do so much to retard timing, add fuel, and adjust valve timing if so equipped. I don’t know if all makes adjust fueling and VVT or just ignition timing.
1a Who pays for a vehicle that requires premium just to put regular in it because it’s cheaper, even if it can be proven that ignition timing is being retarded and or the vehicle knocks or performs poorly at high throttle inputs???
2. The risk may not always be high for damage, but the consequence of running too low of an octane isn’t just lower HP, it’s a potentially failed component or engine damage.
3. water issues in ethanol-fueled vehicles is exceedingly rare. The system is not open to atmosphere. I wouldn’t say ”conditioners” are common at all.
4. Finally, commercially available octane boosters typically, and as far as I know, add POINTS of octane, meaning 0.1, 0.2, etc, not 1.0, 2.0, etc. If there was a SAFE product that allowed a small amount of fluid to be added for major octane gains, it would be ALL over the web. I mean
Are you able to tell me? I can’t find the PPM or % TEL added easily.
Besides, most people aren’t routinely adding leaded race fuel to their DD to get moar HP!
TEL additives aren’t a thing.
It was a rhetorical question. You seemed skeptical that something added at 1:500 would raise octane.
But TEL was added at about 2g/ gallon. Roughly one part in 1500 by weight, so, yeah, one part in 500 is believable. I’m going off memory, and I recall numbers like that. Wish I had a source for you.
But TEL was added at about 2g/ gallon. Roughly one part in 1500 by weight, so, yeah, one part in 500 is believable. I’m going off memory, and I recall numbers like that. Wish I had a source for you.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
I don’t have a vehicle that calls for it but I use it in all my vehicles. The gas stations I go to I’m usually there when the truck comes since we wait with the employees when they close the store as we are the most frequent customers and help out there a lot. They get a gas delivery usually twice a week sometimes more just depending on how much they sell.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
I trust you. Is this stuff TEL, though???
Just found out there's a recently new Costco near Bradenton, FL that you can see from the Interstate. It's one of the few Costcos that was designed for lots of gas pumps. They use 10 tankers a day. That's 80k gal per day. Don't think you can get any fresher gas than that.
gathermewool
Site Donor 2023
According to a Corvette forum, this stuff is MMT. I'll have to look it up -never heard of it.
Can't find an SDS so far...
What about deposits, CAT/plug, O2 sensor fouling???
Dang, that's over 100 octane if the stuff is legit!
Can't find an SDS so far...
What about deposits, CAT/plug, O2 sensor fouling???
Dang, that's over 100 octane if the stuff is legit!
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I would venture a guess that most cars that recommend mid or premium grade are operated solely on 87/regular. Why? Because people are cheap and most are utterly clueless about cars. If a person buys a car new they’re likely to maintain it well and use the appropriate fuel. Subsequent owners, much less so.
Plenty of relatively mundane cars recommend mid/premium fuel (my ‘96 Maxima and ‘07 Pacifica are two examples), so this is not just the type of vehicles (BMW, Jaguars and the like) owned by folks with lots of money to burn. I highly doubt lots of premium is getting run through the cheaper cars.
Modern powertrain controls can cope with the varying octane available at our pumps quite well.
