stupid question about gas

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what if we went 2 only 2 types of gas at the pump. 87 and 93. would this cut the price of gas any. I have heard 89 is a mix of 87 and 93. but I never seen a reason for the mid grade gas. never seen a vehicle cal for it. all I have seen are vehicles that called for regular or prem. or am I way off on this like of thinking.
 
That would reduce gas station's profit margin, for sure. Mid-grade tends to be most profitable out of the three.
Many people I know use mid-grade because they want "a little better" gas for their cars. I use it in summer to get rid of the pinging. Although I prefer to mix regular and premium myself.
 
..and it's cheaper to mix it yourself ..at least traditionally.

One interesting fact ..midgrade is cheaper in the midwest where ethanol is used to raise the octane to 89. Less power out ..but cheaper.
 
Yup, cheaper and often a point higher octane if you mix it 50/50 at the pump.

But if you ever look at the gallon meters, it's amazing how many motorists fill with 89.
 
Some gas stations have 87, 89, and 93, and some have 87, 89, and 92. What gives? Why 92, and 93. These are both Shell gas stations, but one has 92, and one has 93. Does anyone know why?
 
I actually saw a gas station by the Salt Lake City airport that had 85 octane. I didn't even know it existed for retail sale.
 
Yes, I was wondering why we need the mid grade too... I believe it came on as nicey-nicey marketing ploy.

Get rid of the darn thing!

But, gee, what are they going to do with the extra pump at each station in America and what's it gonna cost to remove it...? :)
 
Mid grade MAY be profitable because of volume sales; they sell more gallons of mid grade that premium.

Premium costs about 3¢ more to make than regular, the rest of the 15-19¢ price difference is profit. Mid grade is about 1-1½¢ more to make.
 
I use mid grade in two of my vehicles.
One (efi 302 non-HO) gets better mileage with mid grade than regular. When I ran the numbers, mileage won, so I've stuck with mid grade since.
The other (carb'd & modified 350, daily driver)I went to mid grade from premium when the price of gas shot up (had to back off timing to do so).

Alex.
 
Re 85 octane: probably due to altitude. As altitude increases, octane requirements decrease. Reason? Less oxygen(higher altitude = lower air pressure = effectively less air = less oxygen) requires less octane- at least that's how they explained it to me. I was first introduced to this yrs ago on vacation to Yellowstone. Lots of gas pumps in the Rocky Mountain states were marked with a "low" octane #- & I bet lots of 'em still are. No idea what the critical altitude is, but I bet someone here knows.
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many gas stations only have two grades, regular and premium.

The mid grade is a mix of reg and prem. a 50/50 mix of 91 and 87 would give you a 89 octane.
 
In Montana and Idaho I've seen gas at 85, 85.5, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, and 93.

I don't know anyone who's able to run the 85 or 85.5. But a lot of gas stations have it as their lowest octane gas. In my opinion, gas stations offer it solely so that they can then boost the price of the 87 that most people run up above what it sells for at stations that have 87 as their lowest octane. You see that all the time. The 87 is cheaper at stations where its the lowest octane offered than it is at stations that offer 85 or 85.5 as the lowest octane. American businessmen -- they'll shaft you any way they can.
 
I remember when Sunoco 260 was 72 cents. That was splurging to put that in the GTO. Usually I filled her with Arco 93 at 64 cents a gallon.
 
My stock computer code called for mid grade 89 fuel.
It is also beneficial to those who experience knocking on 87 [too much carbon in the combustion chambers, slightly advanced intake cam timing, etc.].
 
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