Different Brands of Gas Yield Better or Worse MPG

[USAFANGWINGNUT]

I am wondering if anybody has noticed that their vehicle yields better or worse MPG's one brand(Mobil, Shell, BP, Texaco etc) of gas over another?
I have a 2006 Nissan Frontier with about 35k miles and of all the different brands I've used in it my MPG's are better with Mobil gas. Average is usually 2-4 MPG better.

Presently experimenting on my 2012 Harley Sportster 1200C to see if it makes a difference.

 

[dave5358]

Originally Posted By: USAFANGWINGNUT
I am wondering if anybody has noticed that their vehicle yields better or worse MPG's one brand(Mobil, Shell, BP, Texaco etc) of gas over another?
I have a 2006 Nissan Frontier with about 35k miles and of all the different brands I've used in it my MPG's are better with Mobil gas. Average is usually 2-4 MPG better.

Presently experimenting on my 2012 Harley Sportster 1200C to see if it makes a difference.


I haven't noticed this personally. But, in addition to different brands, it might be interesting to note if Top Tier gasoline with a standardized additive package provides better mileage than non-Top Tier gas. Is the difference noticeable?

Many gasoline retailers (brand names, but also Sam's Club and the like) sell Top Tier gasoline. Here's a bit more information on Top Tier gasoline. There are several threads on this forum as well.

 

[Tdbo]

Only time that I ever noticed anything was years ago at a Sunoco station that I sometimes frequented when I was in that area. When I purchased gas there, the car ran better and mileage went up 1.8 mpg above normal. Come to find out, they were selling gas without ethanol. Same station now =10% ethanol.

What I have noticed over the years, is that certain cars CAN react differently to different brands of fuel. For example, when my ex fiancee and I were together, she had a 2 year old Chevy Nova (1988 model). She always went to BP for gas (her rationale "I have a credit card there." The car upon acceleration always sounded like a popcorn popper. She had it back to the dealer several times, and they could find nothing wrong with it. She was complaining to me about it and told me to do something about it. I told her to use another brand of gas for two tanks and see what it did. After the first, it quieted down and the noise stopped entirely after the second tank.
About 8 years later, I bought a used 1987 Nova as a commuter car (the exact same vehicle exactly equipped) and found that I could put any name brand (except BP) or no name gasoline in it and the car ran fine. The few times that I put BP in it, the car sounded like a popcorn popper at acceleration. Some cars do better on specific brands of fuel for some reason.

 

[gathermewool]

How long have you had the Frontier? If for the entire 35k miles, then what has your routine been like between fillups? With only 35k miles in nearly a decade, it may be that you're driving too infrequently or irregularly to get good data.

I haven't noticed any difference in my MPG from place to place, because I don't drive consistently. For one tankful I may floor it on the on-ramp to the highway most days on my way to work, either because it's fun or because it's a short on-ramp and traffic requires that I get up to speed quickly; whereas other tankfuls I may be able to gradually accelerate. That right there causes a 1-2 MPG swing if I actually stop to think about why my MPG is up or down on a particular fillup.

 

[johnachak]

It absolutely does make a difference. In my car and my daughters. We both noticed as much as 2-3 mpg difference in our vehicles.

 

[jimbrewer]

I imagine its just tank-to-tank variation, coupled with differences in the ethanol content of the gas. Some batches have a little less than others.

 

[Oil Changer]

No doubt about it. Shell V-Power (93) yields about 2 MPG better than any other gas but ONLY in my '11 CR-V; no other vehicle I own. The results a repeatable and predictable in the CR-V.

 

[Mach1Owner]

You run 93 in a CR-V? What made you decide to try that?

 

[Eddie]

In the short term no but, maybe long term due to different cleaning additives.

 

[Oil Changer]

I never once thought the CR-V needs 93, I wanted the nitrogen. Turns out that while using it, my MPG went up a repeatable amount. Once the winter fuel hit, the gains stopped. The wife drives it and only puts in regular from wherever which is fine too. Let there be no doubt, I seen a MPG increase with Shell V-Power with 93 octane.

FWIW, the OM says to use 87 or better.

Originally Posted By: Mach1Owner
You run 93 in a CR-V? What made you decide to try that?

 

[TiredTrucker]

If anything, a difference between one station and another would be probably attributable to detergents and other additives added at the fuel terminal. All the fuels in a general area come from the same terminal. That terminal will have a select few refineries that they get their fuel from. I tanked fuel for some time, and when you go in for a tank load, you specify the customer at the console. When the fuel was pumped to the tanker, various additives specified by that customer are shot into the fuel stream. That is where ethanol is dosed as well if it is part of the fuel order. But the gasoline itself, is the same stuff regardless if it is going to Phillips 66, BP, or any number of convenience store chains.

 

[NHHEMI]

Originally Posted By: USAFANGWINGNUT
I am wondering if anybody has noticed that their vehicle yields better or worse MPG's one brand(Mobil, Shell, BP, Texaco etc) of gas over another?
I have a 2006 Nissan Frontier with about 35k miles and of all the different brands I've used in it my MPG's are better with Mobil gas. Average is usually 2-4 MPG better.

Presently experimenting on my 2012 Harley Sportster 1200C to see if it makes a difference.


Yes, I have. Backed up by always keeping a fuel log that includes brand used. It shows a pattern of better MPG with certain brands over others. However, it varies from vehicle to vehicle as to which brand does best. Also, the difference has never been as much as 4 MPG. That is a big spread. Usually a 2 MPG gain is the best I can do by using certain brands over others.

Vehicle A may do better with Hess or Gulf while vehicle B prefers P66 or Sunoco. I usually vary the fuel brand on a new vehicle( 2-3 fill ups with each brand available around here )to see what the vehicle likes best and then I try and stay with the top couple brands as much as I can.

FWIW Shell and Mobil are almost always at the bottom of the list for MPG in my cars. 2 brands that tout superior MPG( especially Shell )and I almost always seem to get the worst MPG with their gas. Never had one of them be the ebst. Top middle at highest.

I have had the best luck with P66, Hess, and Gulf around here as a general rule. Used to get good results with Irving too but I don't use them anymore for a non fuel related reason. Texaco always gave good MPG too but they are all gone around here now.

My current vehicle( 2011 Jeep patriot )likes P66 the best. Easily gets the best MPG by a large margin over any other brand. Sunoco gets the worst in it( even worse than Shell and Mobil ).

 

[bvance554]

Originally Posted By: johnachak
It absolutely does make a difference. In my car and my daughters. We both noticed as much as 2-3 mpg difference in our vehicles.


Its not absolute.... Personally I've kept meticulous MPG records recording each fill up for nearly a million miles and there is no consistent variation between brands of gasoline. The variation in MPG is so inconsistent amongst brands of gas that the only variable is temperature, and driving style/conditions across fill ups.

 

[Mach1Owner]

I'm currently keeping a log of my MPG, and am going to to 10 tanks of 87oct vs 10 tanks of 89. Then Im going to compare brands.

 

[Durango]

I've used different brands and never noticed any difference is MPG at all but I admit I haven't taken accurate readings. Just visuals from the gas gauge.


Durango

 

[Joenpb]

I haven't noticed a difference between brands. Everything in So Cal is E10, which in itself has about 3% less energy or BTUs than 100% gasoline. So its possible that might be the difference some people are noticing, depending on stations & location.

 

[147_Grain]

Have gotten the best MPG from Chevron, next with Mobil, then all the cheap brands.

 

[Jeffs2006EvoIX]

I was reluctant to post on this subject well mainly for that reason. Its subjective. One example I can give that resulted in hundreds of data logs of my previous car a Lancer Evo MR that was tuned for track duty, but was also my DD car.

I did a study of my own due to the HP variances I kept seeing on the dyno. That in itself is subjective. I used an OBDII USB device and a program called EVO SCAN to data log my car. This showed, basically everything your engine reads. I was looking closely at knock.

On the dyno HP would be down slight whenever knock went up, and I noticed a trend on certain fuels on dyno days and put the 2 together. So for one month per fuel brand which was about 4-6 fill ups for DD duty I recorded knock readings from driving to work, WOT and WOT on the dyno. I did this for the following brands of gas.

Chevron
Union 76
Texaco
Shell

All fuel of course was premium unleaded 91 octane. Of the 4 Union 76 showed the least amount of knock which netted more HP and TQ on the dyno (consistently) in my particular application.

Now, does different brand of gas decrease or increase HP or MPG's is VERY SUBJECTIVE, BUT if you look at knock, gas quality comes into play. This in itself is subjective due to variables such as:

Age of gas station tanks
water contamination
service of pumps
car maintenance
car tuning
driving style or habits

any of the above reasons may cause knock. Knock retards the timing in your car, and in forced induction reduced boost levels. These factors would indeed reduce HP and TQ not to mention MPG's.

In closing, my report took over 4 months and hundreds of data logs. I do believe that some additives burn off better than others, and I do believe that fuel does vary in quality even within the same brand. I went to one Chevron station had a higher value of knock, vs another with less.

So in the end, I believe gas quality and gas contamination is key in vehicle performance regardless of brand.

For personal preference though, I do avoid ARCO and ANY unbranded gas like COSTCO. ARCO I had bad experiences with many times, and unbranded gas? Well I just like to know what I am buying. May sound silly, but if my car manual recommends High Detergent Fuel, and I buy unbranded gas, how do I know its High detergent? You dont. Is why I avoid them.

Everything else is Subjective.

Just my ten cents.


Jeff

 

[Ayrton]

I have not seen a difference between brands in terms of MPG. I regularly go on exactly the same drives and my MPG can vary by up to 2, but i account all of that each time on driving variances.

Nevertheless, I use Top Tier brands. Built up deposits is something that eventually I believe decrease MPG, therefore, I use those top brands. I used to try to use Shell and Chevron exclusively as I believe they go so much beyond Top Tier. Nevertheless, in one of my cars due to where I find myself, I often need to put 76 in it, which is fine I think (Top Tier).

I also always use Premium, which with some brands gives you the extra benefit of additional cleaning additives. It's a bit of a win win, if your car already needs Premium, with many brands you get more cleaning additives too.

 

[Bamaro]

There is no measurable difference one brand to another one tank to another as long as octane stays the same.