One of the guys at work was saying that we should never buy anything but Tier I gasoline, particularly not in my 08 volvo S60. What's the consensus on gasoline?
How important is using tier I gasoline?
- Thread starter teddyboy
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Buy whatever meets your owner's manual recommendations, then whatever makes the car run well, then whatever's cheapest.
Your buddy probably means Top Tier gasoline. It's nice to know they're going above the federal standards at the brand level. Some stations are horribly dirty/run-down, and my cars would never see fuel from them, Top Tier or not.
Your buddy probably means Top Tier gasoline. It's nice to know they're going above the federal standards at the brand level. Some stations are horribly dirty/run-down, and my cars would never see fuel from them, Top Tier or not.
JHZR2
Staff member
I equate top tier to buying a name brand "premium" quality product. I equate no-name to buying wal mart store brand.
One you have some level of surity of quality. The other, should price pressure get too strong, being at the ragged edge of commodity product, it may fall off and you might get burned. It should be ok, but it could not be, and you have to take it instance by instance...
One you have some level of surity of quality. The other, should price pressure get too strong, being at the ragged edge of commodity product, it may fall off and you might get burned. It should be ok, but it could not be, and you have to take it instance by instance...
I see less advertising about top tier than a few years ago-- there doesn't seem to be a great correlation between top tier and "name brand"...
76, Petro-Canada
Aloha Petroleum, Phillips 66
Chevron, QuikTrip
Chevron Canada, Rebel Oil
Conoco, Road Ranger
CountryMark, Severson Oil
Entec Stations, Shell
Esso, Shell Canada
Exxon, Sunoco Canada
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star, Texaco
MFA Oil Co., The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Mileage Stations, Tri-Par Oil Co.
Mobil, Turkey Hill Minit Markets
U.S. Oil
76, Petro-Canada
Aloha Petroleum, Phillips 66
Chevron, QuikTrip
Chevron Canada, Rebel Oil
Conoco, Road Ranger
CountryMark, Severson Oil
Entec Stations, Shell
Esso, Shell Canada
Exxon, Sunoco Canada
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star, Texaco
MFA Oil Co., The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Mileage Stations, Tri-Par Oil Co.
Mobil, Turkey Hill Minit Markets
U.S. Oil
Buy gas where you see the most cars fueling up. There is very little difference if any I want the freshest gas so when I see the Chevron in my area that is constantly empty and the Sunoco or 7-11 that almost has a line every time I pass it I get those. Just run a fuel system cleaner like Techron (just an example RL SI-1 is what I use) through the tank before your oil change.
Originally Posted By: chubbs1
Buy gas where you see the most cars fueling up.
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Avoid buying where the fuel truck is offloading fuel. Other than that, all gas is basically the same.
There you go! Good safe advice that works.
I've NEVER had a single injector issue in way too many miles. One vehicle had 394,000 miles on the original injectors and they never came off the engine. Never saw any "top tier" fuel. A injector cleaner maybe once a year.
It all comes from the same pipeline/tanker trucks. IF they add anything else its fluff IMO.
Take care, Bill
Buy gas where you see the most cars fueling up.
Originally Posted By: Kuato
Avoid buying where the fuel truck is offloading fuel. Other than that, all gas is basically the same.
There you go! Good safe advice that works.
It all comes from the same pipeline/tanker trucks. IF they add anything else its fluff IMO.
Take care, Bill
I think the Government mandates that ALL gasoline have a minimum of cleaner in it. However; many Top Tiers state they have 4 or 5 times more cleaning agents that the minimum requirement. About 1/2 my purchases are top tier.
I've seen engines run on Top Tier gasoline vs lower gas at Shell's test faciilty in Houston, and there is a difference. Their advice was if you insist on running the lower priced gas, run a tank of Top Tier in between. It will clean the deposits the other gas leaves behind. Here is the current listing from http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html .
TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
76 Petro-Canada
Aloha Petroleum Phillips 66
Chevron QuikTrip
Chevron Canada Rebel Oil
Conoco Road Ranger
CountryMark Severson Oil
Entec Stations Shell
Esso Shell Canada
Exxon Sunoco Canada
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star Texaco
MFA Oil Co. The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Mileage Stations Tri-Par Oil Co.
Mobil Turkey Hill Minit Markets
U.S. Oil
TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
76 Petro-Canada
Aloha Petroleum Phillips 66
Chevron QuikTrip
Chevron Canada Rebel Oil
Conoco Road Ranger
CountryMark Severson Oil
Entec Stations Shell
Esso Shell Canada
Exxon Sunoco Canada
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star Texaco
MFA Oil Co. The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Mileage Stations Tri-Par Oil Co.
Mobil Turkey Hill Minit Markets
U.S. Oil
that is true buy only top tier gas.it will serve you well.
i use it for the detergents! the epa minimum detergent level is not enough to fight carbon build up in some motors. mike
Originally Posted By: teddyboy
One of the guys at work was saying that we should never buy anything but Tier I gasoline
Isn't it amazing the ignorant statements that some people make?
Your coworker has no idea what he's talking about, yet he continues to spew forth sophomoric statements.
One of the guys at work was saying that we should never buy anything but Tier I gasoline
Isn't it amazing the ignorant statements that some people make?
Your coworker has no idea what he's talking about, yet he continues to spew forth sophomoric statements.
Several years ago Pat Goss from Motorweek talked about this. Here is the transcript:
http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/goss/2531.shtml
http://www.mpt.org/motorweek/goss/2531.shtml
For our cars its RaceTrac gas plus a bottle of Redline once a year.
I appreciate the responses; it's obvious that opinion is somehwat divided. The pragmatist in me suggests that if there may be a difference, it's worth the small price differential to buy top tier. One final question then is whether BP/Amoco produces top tier quality gas even though they haven't sought the certification? BP is pretty prominent in our market.
All gas today is fine because of EPA mandates. If its Top Tier, you know you are getting better much cleaning agents than what the EPA mandates. BP with Invigorate 'claims' to be as good as Top Tier however its up to you whether you believe them or not. I tend to be somewhat skeptical.
I doubt BP spends the extra money for the extra additive package and thus may not meet TOP TIER fuel standards. They certainly don't seem to spend any more money than they deem necessary as witnessed by their poor environmental and safety record on land and in the Gulf.
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