Gasoline experts, please chime in!

[Liquid_Turbo]

This is going to be a silly question, but which gasoline is best, over long term usage?

I've been researching and haven't been able to find anything. All I've concluded is that Chevron was the first to implement Top-Tier gasoline, which everyone else following suit.

My personal experience with Shell is car sputtered and died once I filled up. They subsequently recalled the batch of gasoline from my particular gas station. Drained the tank and refilled with another brand of gas, and all was well. After that, I never went to Shell again.

My question is, is there an optimal brand of gas for a particular engine? Or is it all really the same?

Edit: I refuse to believe marketing. On Shell's website there is "nitrogen enriched gasoline", which is supposed to be superior for cleaning.

Then there's Chevron's Techron.

 

[crinkles]

in australia fuel can only come from the following sources

(1) Brisbane refineries (BP and caltex)
(2) Sydney Refineries (Shell and caltex?)
(3) Must be 2 in melbourne? (Mobil and shell??)
(4) Perth (BP)
(5) direct import from singapore

(i'm sure Shannow or Doug) would correct me

so if oyu are in one region you would probably get fuel originating from one of these places... not a great deal of difference.

 

[Captain_Klink]

I see the same tanker going both to the name brand, and no name brand pumps. it is basically all the same. i do not trust the "gas bucks" and various phony promotions the big companies dole out, I just always fill up with MID-grade (89 octane) because probably there will be less of that ethanol garbage in there. there is basically no difference, there are no "tiers" in canada. at least with that shell station, you know they cleaned the tank out, but i do not like going to shell on principle. I do not like any oil companies for that matter, but at Canadian Tire, at least you get some coupons to use in their store. besides that, there is no difference. I do NOT trust "nitrogen enriched", because nitrogen is a corrosive element, and I don't want it in my engine, period.

 

[Blokey]

Originally Posted By: Captain_Klink
I do NOT trust "nitrogen enriched", because nitrogen is a corrosive element, and I don't want it in my engine, period.


Don't virtually all gasolines use some form of amine (PEA) for detergent?

 

[benjamming]

Terry Dyson has stated on here before that he likes the formulation of Shell the best. I don't know what about the detergency that cranks his tractor, but it evidently does.

 

[opus1]

Not a silly question at all, just one that I think is not really answerable. Or more accurately, the answer is "it depends."

I had a '79 Impala that seemed to be more "pungent" when I used Shell gasoline -- there was a very distinct sulphur smell that didn't happen with other brands of gas, even though the car didn't seem to run any differently. I passed that car along to my sister when I bought my '89 Jimmy and she swore that the car ran terribly on Speedway gas.

Right now, the Cobalt only gets name-brand premium, the rest of the fleet gets regular gas varying from Meijer/Murphy up to BP or Shell depending on the price. As has already been observed by others, except for BP in my area, I pretty much see the same tanker company's trucks at local stations. Other than places like Billy Bob's Rib Joynt-n-Gas Station, I pretty much go where ever. But I will go to Billy Bob's for good ribs...

 

[StevieC]

Shell may not have been the first to develop Top-Tier but they are the only ones exceeding the standard according to their FAQ on their website.

It's all I use and I have better mileage with it. Terry recommended it and that was good enough for me.

The detergents are superb on their own, but I run it with an additive.

As for the poster that said he filled up with Shell and it made his car sputter/die... I don't buy any of that at all. You have/had a mechanical problem or picked up some water in your tank. It was not as a result of the fuel being "bad". Shell would have been out of business by now if this was the case... Use your noggin before you post absurd things like that...

 

[wander2039]

Ours seem to like BP the best.. and I despise using BP due to the "BP" recommendation on the gas cap.

 

[prax]

Terry hasn't been here for 2 years. He still recommends Shell?

Any other good alternatives?

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

Originally Posted By: StevieC

As for the poster that said he filled up with Shell and it made his car sputter/die... I don't buy any of that at all. You have/had a mechanical problem or picked up some water in your tank. It was not as a result of the fuel being "bad". Shell would have been out of business by now if this was the case... Use your noggin before you post absurd things like that...

It happened quite a few years back in 2002.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/05/28/Shellsuit_020528.html

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1073522700259_58/?hub=Canada

Use your OWN noggin before you jump to conclusions and telling other people they're being absurd.

 

[punisher]

Gasoline is gasoline, only the additive package differs. 25 years ago this was a bit different as there were at least two different base gasolines used (Citgo on one side and Exxon/Phillips/Mobil on the other.) No idea how they differed or if there was that much difference.

When a tanker pulls into the rack, he selects the "brand", and the specific additives for that brand are injected as the gas enters the truck. Many add packs have the color and consistency of light maple syrup. Gas for a "no name" has a generic additive pack injected. The additive pack is where the brand differences actually are.

Gasoline arrives to tank farms via pipeline, automatically switched by optic sensors in the lines that see the different dyes in each grade.

As far as using different brands, I have never known a difference (outside of the additive pack). Many times when refineries change formulations during fall/spring, when ambient temps change rapidly, there are problems related to vapor pressure like hard cold starts, vapor lock etc.

 

[Gary Allan]

Yes. Up to the point of tank/terminal dispensing, gasoline is generic. Its uniqueness happens there.

In the later 70's Sun Oil and BP cut a deal for East vs. West coast supplying/distribution. Sun's production was blended for all the east coast sales and BP for the west coast. This was the time where the handling train for oil from crude producer to end user was getting complicated and many oil companies were divesting themselves of one or more of the elements. Sun ditched many of its station holdings not too much later. An evolution that was considered premature afterward.

 

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
As for the poster that said he filled up with Shell and it made his car sputter/die... I don't buy any of that at all. You have/had a mechanical problem or picked up some water in your tank. It was not as a result of the fuel being "bad". Shell would have been out of business by now if this was the case... Use your noggin before you post absurd things like that...

This happened a few years ago, but it just goes to show that it can happen.
I lived in Dallas, TX during this time, so I remember it well.
The Diamond-Shamrock gas stations sold some bad gas back in the late '80s. This was a huge chain of gas stations, not an individual station. It caused extensive damage and a lot of the cars had to be towed to dealers and repair centers for the fix and the fix was a lot more than just a fuel filter change.
They admitted damage, paid for all the needed repairs and took out a full-page apology in the Dallas Morning News.
It was obviously an additive of theirs that caused it because no other brands of gasoline were affected.
Johnny, I believe you were living there at the time. Do you remember it?

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

It happened in Texas too? In 2002?

"We extend our sincere apology for any inconvenience this problem may have caused," said Terry Blaney of Shell Canada in a news release today. "The problems have occurred in a narrow range and limited number of vehicles."

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: Liquid_Turbo
Originally Posted By: StevieC

As for the poster that said he filled up with Shell and it made his car sputter/die... I don't buy any of that at all. You have/had a mechanical problem or picked up some water in your tank. It was not as a result of the fuel being "bad". Shell would have been out of business by now if this was the case... Use your noggin before you post absurd things like that...

It happened quite a few years back in 2002.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2002/05/28/Shellsuit_020528.html

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1073522700259_58/?hub=Canada

Use your OWN noggin before you jump to conclusions and telling other people they're being absurd.
You were making it out to be the brand has a problem. Every station has issues now and again. so I repeat for you to USE YOUR NOGGIN. You stop using a brand because of a bad batch of fuel which can and does happen to all brands?

That makes a ton of sense...

 

[Liquid_Turbo]

StevieC,

Did you even read the articles? The problem was clearly a Shell problem. Not another brand's problem. The gasoline caused fuel pump problems. Shell's gasoline.

You said:

"As for the poster that said he filled up with Shell and it made his car sputter/die... I don't buy any of that at all. You have/had a mechanical problem or picked up some water in your tank. It was not as a result of the fuel being "bad"."

That statement is straight up wrong with respect to the 2002 Shell incidents.

For example, find an example where Chevron was sued (and won) because their gasoline was causing fuel filter problems.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Gasoline is gasoline, I could not detect any differences between one brand to another for all 3 cars we have. The only different is Premium and Regular, all my cars required 91 Octane and I could feel a lost of power with regular(87 octane) at high RPM near redline, specially for Honda S2000.

 

[Vilan]

Originally Posted By: Captain_Klink
I do NOT trust "nitrogen enriched", because nitrogen is a corrosive element, and I don't want it in my engine, period.


"Nitrogen enriched" does not mean they inject nitrogen gas into it. One, it would just bubble off, two, it doesn't burn. It is not a corrosive element... in fact nitrogen gas is famous for not reacting with much of anything. Nor does it mean they add nitromethane, or nitroglycerin, to the gas. It is a (very poorly worded, IMHO, because it's quite confusing, and if I wasn't a chemist I'd probably be thinking the same as you) way of saying they add amines, which are a nitrogen-containing compound. Techron is probably the most well-known amine formulation. So it's just a fancy way of saying "cleaner enriched" or "detergent enriched".

Back on topic... I do have a certain preference for Chevron gas, due to the Techron. But I can't say I've really noticed a difference with any brand.

 

[ryansride2017]

Gasoline isn't just gasoline if some have ethanol added and some do not. There are several stations around (one Shell, one Citgo and one Gulf) that advertise that their gasoline products do not contain ethanol. Significant gains in fuel economy are observed if I fill-up at stations that do not have ethanol in their gas. I would love to know how some gasoline stations, from the same company (Shell for example) are required to use ethanol while other Shell stations can dispense gas without ethanol.

 

[CivicFan]

I get 5% back on Shell or BP so I use these two only if there is choice. Out of these two, it seems that I get better gas mileage out of Shell. BP says that they have 10% ethanol. Shell says that they may have up to 10% ethanol.

Not the guru answer the OP expected but I have non-scientifically concluded that Shell contains more energy per gallon than BP.