Study: Top Tier Gasoline Worth the Extra Price?

[dave1251]

Non TT is almost the same price as TT here.

 

[Duffyjr]

It's all the same price here for 87 E10 so why not use TT. I jump back and forth between Shell and 66 and can't tell any difference in mpg or butt dyno.

 

[badtlc]

The entire question is false for my area. Top Tier gas doesn't cost more than non top tier stations.

 

[Garak]

The same here, except for a few run down independents.

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by anndel

Wow, $3.35 for Safeway gas in Calf? Our closest safeway with a gas station is 12 miles away and gas is $3.05/gal for regular.

There's a gas tax in Cali, and now the Benicia Valero refinery is down due to fire - gas is now hovering around $4 a gallon. I used to never use Arco before the Top Tier certification and the change of hands to Tesoro/Marathon. My primary swill of choice is Costco or Chevron, but I'll use Arco as well, even with the debit card fee it's still cheaper than 76 or Shell.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted by nthach

Originally Posted by anndel

Wow, $3.35 for Safeway gas in Calf? Our closest safeway with a gas station is 12 miles away and gas is $3.05/gal for regular.

There's a gas tax in Cali, and now the Benicia Valero refinery is down due to fire - gas is now hovering around $4 a gallon. I used to never use Arco before the Top Tier certification and the change of hands to Tesoro/Marathon. My primary swill of choice is Costco or Chevron, but I'll use Arco as well, even with the debit card fee it's still cheaper than 76 or Shell.

Arco is kind of a shared arrangement now depending on which region. BP still owns the ampm trademark and licensed it to Tesoro. BP licensed back Arco around my region. Not sure how that affects how the Top Tier branding. The only additive requirement for Top Tier is the test results for the additive and that at least the specified concentration is used. It could be a different additive between the Tesoro and BP run stations or it could be the same.

 

[Willclark]

I find the highest prices at gas station to be right off major expressways. It doesn't matter if they are top brand or not.

 

[ka9mnx]

BP is about the only station I can get TT gas here. For those that put in a tank and say "no difference" It took my vehicles between 500 and 1k miles before I noticed a difference. And it got better the longer I used it. Our BP station is usually the same price or less than the other stations. It has a good location and lots of customers.

 

[TiredTrucker]

while it may mean something to use TT when it comes to injectors, combustion chamber, etc, it doesn't mean a thing to that which has as much of a detrimental effect on engine performance...... intake valve cleanliness on GDI engines. They get just as nasty with non TT fuel and they do with TT fuel. With no fuel passing over the intake valves on a GDI engine, and the nasty stuff coming thru the PCV into the intake and building up on valves, TT fuel seems down the list of things to get worked up about.

 

[AuthorEditor]

I switched to mostly TT gas many years ago after a couple of my vehicles were needing EGR and intake cleaning on a regular basis. I was commuting a lot at the time and purchased whatever gas was cheapest. After switching to TT gas I noticed a significant difference in crud build up to the point that routine cleanings became once every few years. Also, it may be coincidence, but around the same time I had to replace several O2 sensors on a couple of cars, and then never again despite more than doubling the mileage when I had to make the first replacement.

 

[Malo83]

Chevron,Shell and ARCO for my 3 vehicles.

 

[kstanf150]

All of us rely on the fuel dump and tanker truck driver to add the additives to the load and deliver us what we've all been told was what we pay for None of really know what we're pumping in our tanks

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by kstanf150

All of us rely on the fuel dump and tanker truck driver to add the additives to the load and deliver us what we've all been told was what we pay for None of really know what we're pumping in our tanks

I don't know if you pay more there for Top Tier but here no. TT and TT is the same price.

 

[kstanf150]

Originally Posted by dave1251

Originally Posted by kstanf150

All of us rely on the fuel dump and tanker truck driver to add the additives to the load and deliver us what we've all been told was what we pay for None of really know what we're pumping in our tanks

I don't know if you pay more there for Top Tier but here no. TT and TT is the same price.

TT and TT same price ...³ðŸ¤” What you be saying Willis ???

 

[AuthorEditor]

Read the actual report done by AAA here: http://www.aaa.com/AAA/common/AAR/files/Fuel-Quality-Full-Report.pdf Pretty convincing.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Quote

All of us rely on the fuel dump and tanker truck driver to add the additives to the load and deliver us what we've all been told was what we pay for None of really know what we're pumping in our tanks

True, but isn't it the same with a lot of stuff we buy? How do you know Shell put the right oil in the bottle you purchased? In the test study cited above they purchased gasoline from randomly chosen stations, so apparently the average Top Tier station is pumping Top Tier gas, even if occasionally the wrong gas is put in the wrong tank. In other words, if you purchase your gas at Top Tier stations you are more likely to get better gas.

 

[kstanf150]

Originally Posted by AuthorEditor

Quote

All of us rely on the fuel dump and tanker truck driver to add the additives to the load and deliver us what we've all been told was what we pay for None of really know what we're pumping in our tanks

True, but isn't it the same with a lot of stuff we buy? How do you know Shell put the right oil in the bottle you purchased? In the test study cited above they purchased gasoline from randomly chosen stations, so apparently the average Top Tier station is pumping Top Tier gas, even if occasionally the wrong gas is put in the wrong tank. In other words, if you purchase your gas at Top Tier stations you are more likely to get better gas.

If I buy a quart of Shell oil it plainly reads Shell on the label I don't doubt it for a second But if ACME Fuel Dist. pulls up to my local Shell station and fills the tanks, I have no clue or proof of what being off loaded in to the storage tank. Hopefully it's top tier but is it Shell or something else. I don't know

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by kstanf150

Originally Posted by dave1251

Originally Posted by kstanf150

All of us rely on the fuel dump and tanker truck driver to add the additives to the load and deliver us what we've all been told was what we pay for None of really know what we're pumping in our tanks

I don't know if you pay more there for Top Tier but here no. TT and TT is the same price.

TT and TT same price ...³ðŸ¤” What you be saying Willis ???

You know what I meant. TT and non TT are the same price.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Quote

If I buy a quart of Shell oil it plainly reads Shell on the label

The Shell gas station has shell on the pumps, on a huge sign on a pole, on the front of the station, etc. They brag about the gasoline on every pump you are filling your car from. Maybe some shady stations use non-Shell gasoline, but the test referenced indicated that whatever is actually put into the tanks at Top Tier gas stations, on average, produces a lot less deposits.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted by AuthorEditor

Quote

If I buy a quart of Shell oil it plainly reads Shell on the label

The Shell gas station has shell on the pumps, on a huge sign on a pole, on the front of the station, etc. They brag about the gasoline on every pump you are filling your car from. Maybe some shady stations use non-Shell gasoline, but the test referenced indicated that whatever is actually put into the tanks at Top Tier gas stations, on average, produces a lot less deposits.

Franchises are tested and if the franchisee is in violation the hammer is laid upon the offender.