Mobil vs Meijer

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My wife and I have two gas credit cards. A Meijer card and a Speedpass from Mobil.

I tend to go to Meijer because it is about 90 seconds from our house. It is also usually the cheapest gas in the area, but since neither of us drive to work we tend not to be driven by price.

My wife drives 2.5 miles to the Mobil station that she likes. She is convinced that the cars run better on this gas. I can't seem to tell the difference.

We use the 87 octane at both stations.

The cars are a 2006 Honda CRV & a 2006 Dodge Caravan.

So I have three questions:

Which one of is crazy?

Does a discount store like Meijer get the same gas all the time or is it like the independents use to be where they shopped around for cheap wholesale gas?

Does Mobil have better quality gas/detergents than Meijer?

Thanks
 
There may be more/better detergents from the mobil gas, but that is a big ? and more than likely the two stations source the actual gasoline from the same stream at the same refinery. The mobil could have higher turnover, or the meijer could have a water issue with their tanks, among other things... That said, most of the time drvng feel and butt dynos are just imagination. You might want to do a few tanks on each and log fuel economy to see if that gives you any insight.

Does one put more ethanol than the other???
 
The way I understand the business, is that the station blends some additive on the spot. Base gasoline is the same, as it is driven by need to keep the transportation cost low. That means gas in one area comes from one refinery, and oil companies swap gas and save on transportation costs.
 
I would guess that Mobil probably has better/more consistent additives.

But I wouldn't worry about water in Meijer gas -- if your stations are like mine, there's enough traffic that I doubt the gas sits in the tanks very long.

I've been using Meijer gas for years now, in everything but the Cobalt, and so far I haven't noticed any problems. And I've seen the same tanker company's trucks in the Meijer lot as well as local Shell stations.
 
I almost always use Meijer gas and I've noticed no difference in economy/power when compared to other gas stations, such as Mobil or Speedway.
 
I personally think the lower octanes usually are the same amongst most stations in the area, its just the high octane that may get different additives depending on station.

Since you're using 87 it should not be a problem which station you go to.
 
It depends....the major brands tend to have a better detergent package and in quantities that exceed the EPA minimums. In many areas depending on pipeline connections, the terminals do store different brand fuels in seperate tanks that are leased or owned by the brand. (easier quality control) It is routine for pipeline operators to send multiple product through a single pipe.

The generic gasolines often contain "transmix" re-refined product. Transmix is where the products touch each other in the pipe ie: jet fuel/diesel/regular/premium/regular/diesel etc. The "in between" mixed fuel is pulled and seperated.

Pipeline Batching

The generics are usually unbranded teminal product and are pretty much the same, the branded fuels are often a different product from a dedicated storage. Just because the same carrier delivers to differnt stations, doesn't mean the product is tthe same. (Like UPS)
 
I can only write about my local stations here that I frequent - In my experience the Meijer near me has the best premium gasoline in town. BP has the worst of any grade.

You ask about 87 octane. The only difference I have noticed for that grade is that BP is the worst. Yet people will drive by a Speedway (that sells pretty average swill) to pull into a BP and pay more for gasoline there.

There are no Mobil stations here.

I wouldn't drive out of my way unless the difference is clear and repeatable.
 
It sounds like that BP station has a problem or the dealer is pulling something funny. BP is Amoco fuel, and has always had a excellent quality reputation. My Tribute runs the smoothest on BP regular, then Shell, worst on Sunoco, Citco or Hess.
 
On the West Coast, BP is ARCO gasoline, and that is the only brand that gives a clearly noticeable reduction in mpg. All the other brands, including the lower cost store brands, give mileage that takes several tankfuls and paper & pencil to figure the difference.

That said, a good fuel additive like the FP products improves the junky fuel more than the good fuel and can give a lower total cost per mile (fuel + add = total cost).
 
Ken2, I am not on the west coast, but my experience is the same: BP is the only big brand that gives a clearly noticeable reduction of MPG.
 
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