Question about non-branded gasoline.

[EricF]

Where I live there's 3 refineries, shell, Chevron and Tosoro.
the non-branded gas comes from one of these 3 refineries.
You'll never know which one though. If you goto Costco and happen to get a batch of Chevron, great! You'll never know it though, and don't expect techron to be added into it. but definetely some detergency, as mandated by the epa.
Are you guarenteed to get Techron if you goto a chevron gas station? NO. You can't prove it. But we assume it's in there.
Shell is/was doing the nitrogen in their fuels, they made the dealers pay for the nitrogen equipment and pay extra to have it filled. Dunno if they're still doing that or not, but nonetheless, I stay away from shell, I don't like paying more to get less.
But when I goto Costco, I"m assuming, they're buying the cheapest gas from one of the 3 refineries at that given moment of order. my beef is, I'm not a fan of mixing additives.
Personally the gasoline is the same across the board.
it's the addtive package that makes it different.
So I like others have said, add a dose of Redline SI-1 or Seafoam or Gumout (yellow bottle). Usually it's done at the oil change, or halfway before the oil change, which is about 6000 miles.
I don't contribute to chevron's profits directly.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: RiceCake


Also Top Tier fuel has a shiney website and a ton of standards but I have yet to see exactly where the EPA level of additives are dangerously inferior and Top Tier is a thousand percent better. Most of Top Tiers requirements were met by fuels long before Top Tier came along.



Actually that was true UNTIL the EPA REDUCED the levels of detergent required in all gasolines sometime in the mid 90s. The reason AUTO MAKERS started to set up Top Tier specs was to return the levels to the old levels which BMW, GM, and others tested. Those car makers founds that the lower levels of additives increased carbon deposits, which Top Tier levels kept the engines clean.

 

[richport29]

I found this helpful..

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayn...-is-in-there%3F

 

[RiceCake]

Originally Posted By: richport29
I found this helpful..

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayn...-is-in-there%3F


Yeah, really helpful by using faulty science.

If you try to categorize gasoline types by how much of an unknown combination of additives it has in it, you may aswell say that any engine oil with low ZDDP is horrible and ruining the motor.

And you say that you'll get plenty of people telling you technology has improved and you're being ridiculous.

Another example would be to say "Techron and all PEA injector cleaners are terrible, I can buy a lot more injector cleaner and get a bigger bottle if I buy the store brand stuff."

So your gasoline reporting skills without even knowing what is being used in them is highly suspect. I mean Shell claims their gasoline is nitrogen enriched. Whatever the [censored] that is nobody even knows how much its enriched, what it does, how its added, etc...

 

[richport29]

Originally Posted By: RiceCake
Originally Posted By: richport29
I found this helpful..

http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/region/wayn...-is-in-there%3F


Yeah, really helpful by using faulty science.

If you try to categorize gasoline types by how much of an unknown combination of additives it has in it, you may aswell say that any engine oil with low ZDDP is horrible and ruining the motor.

And you say that you'll get plenty of people telling you technology has improved and you're being ridiculous.

Another example would be to say "Techron and all PEA injector cleaners are terrible, I can buy a lot more injector cleaner and get a bigger bottle if I buy the store brand stuff."

So your gasoline reporting skills without even knowing what is being used in them is highly suspect. I mean Shell claims their gasoline is nitrogen enriched. Whatever the [censored] that is nobody even knows how much its enriched, what it does, how its added, etc...


Note I said "helpful", not this is 100% fact...

Knowing the amount of detergent in the gas can be helpful to a point. The quality of the said detergent is the real key.

 

[antiqueshell]

Originally Posted By: richport29


Knowing the amount of detergent in the gas can be helpful to a point. The quality of the said detergent is the real key.


This is EXTREMELY important and can make a HUGE difference in engine cleanliness over the long haul.

Chevron Techron and all PEA based cleaners are detergents that not only clean more effectively than most other similar products BUT it is I believe the ONLY one patented that WILL NOT LEAVE ANY OF ITS OWN RESIDUE BEHIND AFTER CLEANING CARBON DEPOSITS...which means that you get a truly spotless surface. Lots of other detergents leave a small amount of their own chemical residue behind which are deposits as well.

I'm not sure why Chevron has never made a big effort to market this unique aspect of PEA detergents seems like lost sales to me. The fact is SAE test proven as well.

 

[grndslm]

Not sure how true this is, but someone told me that Texaco was the only Tier 1 gas station. Chevron and Exxon were Tier 2.

Anyway... my preference is to go to the "non-branded" station, which actually has NO ETHANOL.

 

[Trajan]

I use BP. They claim that with the Invigorate, they're as good as Top Tier.

They're also the same price as Hess/Sunoco/Giant. But I use the last when I get a discount.

 

[Ken2]

Originally Posted By: grndslm
Not sure how true this is, but someone told me that Texaco was the only Tier 1 gas station. Chevron and Exxon were Tier 2.

Anyway... my preference is to go to the "non-branded" station, which actually has NO ETHANOL.

Someone is full of something.

There are no Tier 1 and Tier 2. There is only Top Tier.
http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

Texaco IS Chevron. Chevron bought Texaco in 2001.

Ethanol in gasoline is not a big deal. Millions of drivers put multi-millions of miles on their cars burning ethanol in gas daily with no problems. Yes, slightly lower gas mileage, but it's probably a loser to drive across town to find ethanol-free gas. Yes, you don't want to store ethanol-gas without the correct stabilizer.

Tesoro is buying the BP refinery in the Los Angeles region. Tesoro will have 23% of the California gasoline capacity.

California refineries:
http://energyalmanac.ca.gov/petroleum/refineries.html

 

[Dwight_Frye]

I live in one of the most expensive gasoline markets in the country. My car requires premium fuel for the double price whammy as did the last car I owned. And the weasel Kleptocrats in Sacramento just passed an additional 4.5 cents per gallon tax that will kick in in August. I have been going to the same ARCO station almost exclusively for the last 9 years as it has the cheapest gas around. I add a bottle of Techron every 5K miles and a dose of MMO about every 2-3000 miles. The Techron for the injectors and the MMO for the fuel pump and gauge sending unit which is known to be flaky in my particular model. Never had a problem with either car, I figure the Techron is good insurance and the MMO definitely helps when the fuel gauge starts acting up.

 

[Redpatches]

Here in Northern New Jersey Exxon, Mobil and BP are priced the same as Hess, Sunoco, Gulf and LukOil. Shell usually runs 10-20 cents more. Valero, Enrite and Delta tend to cost less. That said, I usually go my local BP station here in town as it is quick, clean and convenient. I also get cheaper price if I pay cash. Have never had an issues using BP and will continue to do so.