SUNOCO is back on list for Top Tier gasoline brands

SUNOCO site .
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Filled 1/2 tank of the '18 Accent with winter blend Top Tier ( ? :unsure: ) SUNOCO Ultra 93 w/E10 . Calculated gas mileage was 41.3 m.p.g. ( 216.6 (mis.) / 5.246 ( gals. ) , display was 43.8 . I believe it was slightly underfilled .
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I fuel at our local co-op, they have 24/7 pumps and there’s usually not even a building. Just a card kiosk where you select pump number. I have never focused on TT gas and never had a problem. Bought a bunch at Loves and Pilot stops the last couple weekends as I’ve been running to Oklahoma to buy a low boy trailer.
If your Coop is associated with MFA, then you are getting Top Tier fuel.
 
jimbrewer...it was the vehicle manufacturers that demanded Top Tier, not the gasoline manufacturers that demanded the vehicle manufacturers use it...why would Ford get a bribe to promote something they demand of the gasoline manufacturers???
 
jimbrewer...it was the vehicle manufacturers that demanded Top Tier, not the gasoline manufacturers that demanded the vehicle manufacturers use it...why would Ford get a bribe to promote something they demand of the gasoline manufacturers???
Well, that was my point. Since the manufacturers exercise some measure of control I should probably say “ skim” instead of “bribe” although I suspect TopTier is somewhat autonomous by now.

That Ford didn’t specify it by name while making it clear that they really meant it means to me that they were motivated by mechanical rather than marketing considerations. They certainly could have specified it. As you mentioned it was the manufacturers who started it.

My guess is TopTier is at least self-supporting by now. Licensing fees and compliance costs must be significant for brands like Sunoco to temporarily dump it and for Marathon to create a non-TopTier sub-brand. If the licensing fees are being kicked back to the manufacturers in any blatant way that would be a problem.

I know from my work that Top-Tier and non-Top-Tier comes from the same refinery.

The TopTier trucks stop at a small tank on the way out the gate and picks up a few gallons of PEA is all. Costco used to, and maybe still does, add the stuff at the point of sale. No way does the cost of a few gallons of PEA justify all the gyrations to avoid the TopTier licensing fees.

With fuel injection ubiquitous, but with regulations lagging, the EPA regs should catch up to the 21st century.
 
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sure but Top Tier wouldn't pay vehicle manufacturers to tout Top Tier when it was the manufacturers who demanded it...perhaps the vehicle manufacturers might pay Top Tier some fee but then why isn't "top tier" a certain package...it isn't...it is a specification and why so many gasoline companies can call themselves "top tier" while using many different additive packages to reach that specification...

in any event...for me at least...when I can get Top Tier rated gasoline for less than I can not Top Tier rated gasoline all the while at least knowing I'm getting some level of a specification for detergent additives works for me...

as always...YMMV ;)

Bill
 
The TopTier trucks stop at a small tank on the way out the gate and picks up a few gallons of PEA is all. Costco used to, and maybe still does, add the stuff at the point of sale. No way does the cost of a few gallons of PEA justify all the gyrations to avoid the TopTier licensing fees.

I don't believe all Top Tier detergents use PEA. It's not a requirement - just meeting the testing standard.

Costco adds at the point of delivery. They have a metering system where the number of gallons for each delivery is entered, and it's dropped from their additive tank into their fuel tank. I'm not sure what the deal is when people are fueling at the same time that the delivery is happening. When it's done at the terminal, I supposed it's supposed to be completely mixed by the time it gets to the gas station for delivery. Costco gets the detergent delivered a few times a year. The filler cover is supposed to be lavender colored.

Someone here found a chart from Chevron for how much detergent to add at the point of delivery, if their additive wasn't available at the rack. It was several bottles where there was a certain number of bottles assigned to each range. So it could be a little bit more or less concentrated.
 
The TopTier trucks stop at a small tank on the way out the gate and picks up a few gallons of PEA is all. Costco used to, and maybe still does, add the stuff at the point of sale. No way does the cost of a few gallons of PEA justify all the gyrations to avoid the TopTier licensing fees.
I don’t think Top Tier should be automatically assumed to have PEA. Chevron has gone on record and stated that they are not aware of any brands with PEA added to it. They stated this around 5 years ago. I doubt that has changed. I’m sure that video is still on the Techron website.
 
Good to hear that Sunoco is back to Top Tier. An attendant staffed Sunoco station that I used to stop at a lot is the lowest price in that area. We used to have a lot of Exxon stations ( TT) but they are all gone. Mostly Convenience store chain brands now. Luckily, there are a couple of large Rutter chain stores which is TT. Zero Ethanol available to boot. Most Wawa stores have zero Ethanol as well but not TT. One former Speedway dive became a real Marathon (TT). Most all were sold to 7-11 by Marathon.

I believe that the whole TT thing started decades ago when BMW ate the cost of pulling many cylinder heads for walnut media cleaning. They then insisted on fuel meeting their standard.
 
Have gone into convenience stores and asked if it's Top Tier and look at you like you're from another planet . :alien:
A new Circle K opened up near me and I was very pleased to see they have multiple pumps of non ethanol 90 octane. I read online that Circle K,s that used to be Dairy Marts in Ohio anyway buy fuel from Marathon. When I asked the worker about this he gave me a *** look lol He didn't know, and could care less about my question.
 
Starting to see some Sunoco's here in north Texas. But not cheap enough for me to use. I already knew it was top tier from a NASCAR promo years ago


I was also VERY surprised when I recently saw a 76 fuel stations in DFW !! Haven't used that fuel since when I lived in California 😳 :cool:(y)


Dave
 
Just because it's top tier,didn't mean their all add pack same.

...and the amount of an additive package is no guaranty that the amount is better or worse...20mgs of one additive is not necessarily better than 16.2 of another...all Top Tier guarantees is that it meets or exceeds a standard that many engine manufacturers prefer...

Good luck with your choice,

Bill
 
good news as they are common in my NE PA area. wonder if like Citgo using the minimum to be top tier as posted "somewhere" a while ago. rare shell + exxon were on the top + what i use if available. i do a grocery raw milk run weekly to bloomsburg + theres shell + exxon in the area so i fill up whatever i am driving + have several 5 gal containers to fill with regular, my TT a summer fun roadster requires 93 octane + use it in my motorcycles as well. the above looks like info i seen Exxon was better in reg BUT shell was better for 93 + reflected in a higher price! lots of Turkey Hills around BUT not top tier anymore i believe! my "enhanced" 2001 1.8T wolfsburg jetta always run better on shell + when it got a rare shot of Sunoco it idled rougher!!
 
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Starting to see some Sunoco's here in north Texas. But not cheap enough for me to use. I already knew it was top tier from a NASCAR promo years ago


I was also VERY surprised when I recently saw a 76 fuel stations in DFW !! Haven't used that fuel since when I lived in California 😳 :cool:(y)


Dave

76 is just another Phillips 66 brand. All they would need is the same additive at the fuel depot used at Conoco or Phillips 66. It’s like the reemergence of Mobil or Exxon around here.
 
76 is just another Phillips 66 brand. All they would need is the same additive at the fuel depot used at Conoco or Phillips 66. It’s like the reemergence of Mobil or Exxon around here.

Correct. All the "New" 76 stations are former Conoco stations


Dave
 
Correct. All the "New" 76 stations are former Conoco stations


Dave

Really? That doesn't seem to make much sense. That's just brand realignment even though they're both well known brands.

Around here we had Exxon and Mobil stations but those brands mostly went away in the 90s. I saw them in other parts of California, but they basically left most of our area. Then they started coming back about 2015. Also Texaco started going away except for the occasional station. It was kind of weird that there were barely any (pre-Chevron merger) Texaco stations when it was very easy to find in the 70s. I remember one in a very prominent location in Oakland next to the freeway. They had this really tall sign that was hard to miss. It's not an independent. Also for some reason a lone Texaco station well into the interior of the campus of Stanford University. That eventually rebranded to Valero, but it was odd how it stayed a Texaco station for so long. Now that station is gone. But a few Texaco stations have popped up. Kind of odd too since Chevron is so dominant.
 
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