Top Tier gas - USA Today article

[Quattro Pete]

Today's issue of USA Today had an article about gas quality. An abbreviated version can be found on their site.

Shell, among others, claims to be selling "better gas".

Quote:

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Shell, a Top Tier brand, bases its claims on a test by Southwest Research Institute. The laboratory ran an engine for 5,000 hours, using Shell fuel on half the cylinders, an unnamed fuel in the other half. The Shell cylinders didn't have deposits, and the others did, the lab report says.

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Obviously, they need to justify their higher gas prices (compared to less well-known brands of gas). They claim their gas contains more additives/detergents, more than the minimum mandated by EPA. How big of a difference does it really make for an average engine? I would think that cleanliness of a particular gas station's gas tanks would be more important than a difference betw. the amount of additives.

Anyway, not sure what to think about all this. I buy Shell sometimes, but most of the time their gas (in my area) is much more expensive than others like HESS or Race Track.

 

[Master ACiD]

detergents are a very low cost part of the gasoline price you pay. even though shell v power has 5 times the ammount of adds required by the epa, it doesnt justify the extra cost (although they want you to believe it does).

i was watching a show on the history channel that showed how pertty much all brands of gas are the same, exact same. the only difference is the additives they put in at the end of the line. i guess thats how shell gas can have 5 times the adds as another brand.

also, whenever i run hess gas, i get about 5% lower fuel ecnonmy. i have a suspicion that hess gas has ethanol in it. anyone know if a gas brand can have ethanol in it yet not advertise that?

 

[01rangerxl]

I really think it comes down to individual gas stations more than anything else. I have had tanks of gas from expensive gas stations that made my truck ping, and tanks from cheapo gas stations that the truck seemed to love. I'm not sure what the deal is there.

I'm fine with buying cheap gas with fewer additives since I have started buying Techron concentrate to dump in the gas anyway. Right now I am getting gas at some "Eagles" gas station because it is one of the few places with gas below $3 here.

 

[surfstar]

Terry has made a couple posts about the new Shell gas and it sounds like its some good stuff. BUT, how do you know if thats the same blend they serve in your area?

 

[Anduril]

Shell in my area is on the cheaper end of the scale.

 

[Rlc2500HD]

Same here, Shell is about a nickel lower than everyone else. BP running closely in second.

 

[CivicFan]

In my area the cheaper gas is found where there is more than one gas station around. So Shell or BP are usually the same price. Citgo or Speedway usually are a penny cheaper.

 

[sxg6]

Interesting article, thanks for the link

 

[Master ACiD]

civic fan, same here with citgo being cheaper, but i refuse to support terrorist gas so i dont buy citgo gas no matter how much cheaper they are.

 

[CivicFan]

Mister Acid, so it's you who drives up the price of oil!

 

[CBDFrontier06]

I'm not entirely convinced that 'the most' additives is any better than 'good' additives. I've been given plenty of reason over the years to believe that Techron is one of the best, if not THE best cleansing additive found in gasoline today. I don't think Shell is doing anything that's light years ahead of Chevron, and considering their price difference in this area my preferences are Chevron, QuickTrip and Racetrack.

 

[Quattro Pete]

In my area, stations like BP, Shell, and Chevron are betw. 5 and 10 cents higher on the gallon than Racetrack. That's close to $2 difference on a full tank. Then again, if you're spending $60 on a tank, that extra $2 doesn't seem like a whole lot.

 

[CBDFrontier06]

LOL that's why I seldom run my tank below 1/2 anymore. I ran my car completely to "E" earlier this week, filled it up, turned around to hang the hose back up and nearly had a heart attack. $43. I know it's all psychological, but that HURTS.

 

[Racerjk]

Shell is always the highest around here, but my vehicles just don't do well on it.

 

[badtlc]

Shell gas might keep my engine the cleanest but it sure does give me the worst gas mileage of any of my local brands.

 

[Racerjk]

Well, the last tank of Shell I ran gave the best mileage ratings I've had in a long time. My car didn't run as well though!

 

[MarkC]

My Jeep runs on Shell 90% of the time, Chevron the rest. Can't see any difference. But if I run Arco, I see slightly less gas mileage, and the engine doesn't feel as smooth. May be my imagination.

 

[Challenger71]

Shell does not have higher fuel prices than anyone else around my area, most important thing to consider is location-if they are located by themselves with no other competition nearby they can raise their prices by a nickel or more if they desire. Same thing applies if they are located right off of a major interstate. I use Shell and that particular gas station is near to a Sheetz and their prices are identical. I use Shell because I know their gas is higher quality and because usually it is alot less clustered with foot traffic unlike Sheetz. But if I had to I would use Sheetz without any heartburn as well.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Shell is known for keeping fuel lines cleaner - plus smoother running engines using their premium grade, but Speedway gas gives me the best mileage fillup after fillup.

 

[Quest]

in my area, pretty much every national brand name gas are of same pricing so no difference whether you choose that 10% ethanol Mohawk/Husky, or PetroCanada, or Shell VeePower, Chevron or Esso.

Also knowing that independent brands like Superstore gas bar, Turbo, Supa-save, Thrifty, etc. pretty much buys off the excess inventory from one or more of our local distillers (we have Esso and Chevron hydrocracking facilities closeby), you can be certain that their base-gasoline should be of decent quality to begin with.

Here in canuckland, pretty much boils down to personal preferences..