Which gasolines have the best additives?

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I usally use Exxon-Mobill but woudering if Chevron is better to avoid deposits.Exxon-Mobill wasn't on the list for top-tier gas so was woudering what other people use here.I like to use the same brand all the time but when i drive up north i can't get Chevron gasoline anywhere.
 
I almost always use BP/Amoco, sometimes Shell, unless on a road trip and need whatever is closest. No reason to change, although it would probably do just as well to buy whatever is least expensive on any given day. What list are you refering to for top-tier gas? And why wouldn't Exxon-Mobil be on it? Is the list Florida-specific or more general?
 
quote:

Originally posted by Alcibiades:
I almost always use BP/Amoco, sometimes Shell, unless on a road trip and need whatever is closest. No reason to change, although it would probably do just as well to buy whatever is least expensive on any given day. What list are you refering to for top-tier gas? And why wouldn't Exxon-Mobil be on it? Is the list Florida-specific or more general?

If you go to toptiergas.com they have a list.Can't figure out why Exxon/Mobill wasn't on it.I was really surprised.I used to have problems with BP.But being they merged it might be ok now.
 
I asked a fuel truck driver if all the fuel is the same,and he said it was and very little additives go in,they haul for at least nine different brands,in west wis.,and some stations add a bit if water inhibiter (isopropal),no wonder people want and use fuel adds.BL
 
One thing to remember is that the TOP TIER requirment is that ALL grades (not just premium) at ALL stations that display the brand signeage (company and independant stations, and in all parts of the country) must meet the standard.
 
Interesting. I'd never heard of that before. Neither Exxon-Mobil nor BP-Amoco is on the list. Where is Top Tier Gas coming from? I.e., what is their motivation, or angle on this situation? I guess it's no secret that the EPA has been more and more friendly to oil company interests in many respects, so how do Top Tier's standards compare to the EPA's? To whom does Top Tier answer? (The car makers mentioned on the website? Are they independent? For- or non-profit?

Not trying to be overly suspicious of anything, just wondering what the deal is with this new thing which is totally unfamiliar to me.
 
I recently found this bit of info regarding ExxonMobil and Top Tier Gas:

TheCarConnection

quote:


Q-- I have conflicting information on the need for Top Tier gasoline. According to the official site, the gasolines that meet Top Tier Standards contain significantly more additives (detergents) than required by the EPA. The approved gasoline brands include Chevron, Shell, and 76. Further, and the Top Tier Standard is backed by GM, Honda, Toyota, and BMW.

Interestingly Ford is not backing this standard. I contacted Mobil to ask for their feedback and they said that their gasolines all exceeded the Top Tier standards. Mobil also objects to the qualification process required to advertise their gasolines as meeting the Top Tier Standard.

So, my question is: Is Top Tier gasoline a valid enhancement or is it simply a marketing ploy?



A-- Both. Mobil is not the only company that has balked at climbing on the Top Tier bandwagon and Ford is not the only car company. Our advice? Buy a well-known brand of gas and you can't go wrong.


 
even non top tier gas is usually good enough. the epa sets minimum requirements and every gasoline at every station in the usa has to meet these minimum requirements. i realise that there are occasionally slipups, like the shell sulphur fiasco, but generally speaking, even the cheapest generic gas is good enough for 99% of the population.

also, in its most basic form, probably 90% or more of gasolines are the exact same thing. the only real difference (and it is generally small) is the add pack which gets put into the gas after it leaves the filling station. most gasoline companys use a community pipeline, where brand a puts in 5000 gallons in texas, and brand a gets out 5000 gallons in new yortk, but the 5000 gallons brand a put in is NOt the same 5000 gallons they get out, its 5000 of brand b, or maybe bcde and f mixed in.

the only difference is the additives, whiah again are ALL good enough to satisfy epa minimum requirements. and the minimum requirements are not all that bad either.
 
Ok.Thanks everybody for your response.

The reason i asked this in the first place was i always seem to get carbon deposists on all my cars for some unknown reason.Most of my driving is highway and the car gets serviced regularly and i aways use a brand name gas.So i was just woudering.

BTW i drive a 4.6 05 Ford Crown Victoria with 30k miles.
 
Guys, the answer to this question is easy. The best fuel is the one without water in it, AND with the recommended volume of Fuel Power added to it.
 
Well, fuel is fuel. In No. Va., we feed off a continental gasoline/petroleum pipeline out of Texas, via Louisiana. Traveling through the pipeline, they send 100K gallons of diesel, then 100K of unleaded gasoline, then, maybe heating fuel, then some quantity of JP for the airports that get shunted off to pipelines bound for Dulles International and Washington National, both of which have their own fuel dumps. Each product being separated by a plug that travels with the product called a pig. First few hundreds of gallons of each product change isn't so pure, they call it slops and store that for solvent production, and other stuff. Each run is made to order according to demand, and of course, there are stops all along the way between here and there that draw from the pipeline, too.

Point is, it's unleaded gasoline, generic. Here in this area of Northern Virginia we have two big dumps, one in Fairfax City, Va. owned by Star Enterprises (Texaco), and another out by I-95 in Springfield, Va. owned by a conglomerate that stores and mixes adds per spec the gasolines for Shell, Exxon/Mobil, BP, etc, etc. From there, tanker lines distribute to filling stations in No. Va., Washington DC, and D.C. metropolitan Md. stations. It's all underground, and it's ALL generic until it gets to the loading stand for each company's over the road tankers. Only diff is the additives.

So, a gas is top-tier, or it isn't. Do they spec what's in a top-tier fuel, and what's lacking in non-top tier? Or are these deep dark secrets?
 
I add Lucas UCL and dont worry about it.
smile.gif
 
Way back in the 80's I knew a Shell station owner in California who was buying/selling more gas than his "allotment". In those days gasoline was still being sold on a semi rationing basis to the stations. Anyway, this owner bought gas from several "independant" sources. Shell sent some chemists to sample his gas, and thay could not tell that it was not their gas. This makes me suspicious of the claims about additive packages. We all know that California gas all comes from the same distributors with different brands all drawing from the same well. Additives are put in by the distributor for seasonal changes. I would have to ask a truck driver if they add anthing to the gas.Where would they carry an additive? I know the station owners do not add anything.
 
I'm really suprised by the somewhat negative comments towards the Top Tier gas certification and the comment that EPA minimum detergent levels "are not all that bad".

Here are quotes from a 2004 article Carmakers Steer Towards Cleaner Gasoline

Quote
General Motors, Honda Motor Co., Toyota Motor Corp. and BMW AG ruffled some oil industry feathers in May when they kicked off the movement, called the Top Tier detergent gasoline program. They believe the quality of fuel had declined, even though the federal Environmental Protection Agency established a minimum standard for gasoline detergent additives in the mid-1990s.

That standard, called the lowest additive concentration, "is not sufficient to keep engines clean," GM says on its Web site in explaining why it supports Top Tier.

"Over time, people have figured out how to pass (the EPA detergent test) at lower and lower concentrations," said Lew Gibbs, chairman of a fuel committee for the Society of Automotive Engineers. The result, says Gibbs, a mechanical engineer at ChevronTexaco Corp. in California, is that some gasoline marketers today use detergent additives in lower concentrations than they did 10 years ago.

End Quote

Also, a good read is this Car & Driver Article.

Also note that the Top Tier standard applies to all octane grades. Some brands such as Shell V-Power premium grade & BP's Amoco Ultimate premium grade claimed to surpass the EPA minimums by 4 or more times, but no mention is made of the detergent levels in the 87 octane grades.

And lastly, GM supports the Top Tier program at it's website - GM Top Tier Webpage
 
Personally, I wouldn't use 87 octane all the time. I've had several mechanics that I trust tell me that running a tank of 91 octane now and then usually keeps everything clean if you stick with 87.

Still, on my 220 mile drive to and from work - I get several MPG more with 91 octane than with 87 (knock sensor, who knows) - and the engine sounds much better at idle/running.

I don't see the problem w/ dumping some Chevron w/ Techron (or your favorite fi cleaner) every 3,000 miles. I do it with Amsoil's PI and Chevron's FI.

As for gas stations here in California... I fill up all the time with my 220 mile trips to work - so lots of experience/comparison here. Best results with Chevron, 76. and Shell's V-Power. Medium/good results with Shell and Mobil. Bad results with Arco and other cheap brands (hard idle).

In Iowa/Wisconsin - Really liked KwikStar/QwikStar, car ran really well on their 89 octane Ethanol blend.
 
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