So I thought I'd post this up just because you might want to know.

Over the past few months I've compared gas prices and gas mileage and this is what I've discovered.

Regardless of gas station that I've tried (shell, petrocan, super store, esso) my CITY mileage seems to be 12-13L/100km.

so here is the cost break down in savings:

Cost to upgrade from 87-91 Octane:

Superstore has the cheapest upgrade from 87-91 octane at 8c per litre, where shell, petrocan and esso are at 11c per litre.

At the pump savings:

Petro can seems to always offer 5.5c/L if you have a citi bank MC and a petropoints card
Some Esso and Shell stations offer 5c/L to all customers (be careful some offer NOTHING)
Some Shells offer 3.5 c/L
All superstores offer 2.5c/L or 3.5c/L
Some Essos offer 1.5c/L

Extra Savings:
Superstore is at the top with 7-11.5c/L in superbucks
Shell is next with Airmiles
Petro/Esso have their own points cards

So in total we can see this savings as filling with 91 octane)
Superstore with: 3+2.5 to 3.5+7 to11.5c/L = 10.25c/L to 18c/L off the advertised pump

PetroCan with 3.5 to 5.5c/L
Shell with 3.5 to 5c/L
Esso with 1.5-5c/L

*note superstore gets an extra 3c/L savings because the cost to upgrade is cheaper than the other stations.

use this information however you wish...

 

I always look for the lowest "spread" of Regular to Super, anything over 10 cents/liter is a rip-off, it costs maybe 5 cents for the extra processing for higher octane.


S

Oh, and I get my gas at Superstore!

 

The Shell near my house (on Old Banff Coach Road) often runs out of Bronze, so they'll charge Bronze price for Gold gas!

 

If anyone would know the costs of extra processing it would be you =)

I actually didn't realize the "spread" was higher until over a few days I went to two different gas stations that advertised the same price (one was shell and the other was superstore) and noticed at shell I was paying more for gas.

I've also noticed using cruise control even for normal city driving, I'm actually getting better gas mileage (based off visual data aka fuel gauge and trip computer)! I will do this for a couple weeks and see the effect.

 

So this is what I've observed so far with using cruise control inside the city. With mixed 5th/6th gear cruising gears (I'd say 60% 5th and 40% 6th as my commute is not through very fast roads)

Using the old looking at fuel gauge and trip computer...at where the fuel guage is now I'd normally have traveled 140-150km...right now it's at 183km.

This is roughly a 22-30% improvement in gas mileage (if all proves to be right) I will know by the next time I fill up with my gas tank.

My driving habits have remained the same, except now I am using cruise control to maintain cruising speed. I haven't noticed any difference in travel difference. If there is any, it's most likely very small.

 

Thanks for the info Daemos. I was always kind of afraid of Superstore gas though. StealthTL - I suppose the gas quality is comparable to the big brands?

 

I assume because I premix and add carbon cleaners it should be comparable...since I always pre-mix.

but using Cruise Control so far has made the biggest difference!

 

okay so here are my results after one tank using cruise control in the city (but still with similar driving habits)

Before using Cruise Control I was getting on average 12.5L/100km

On the first tank using CC I did 11.5L/100km. Although it doesn't sound like a huge difference...I was able to do an extra 50 km at the point at where I normally fill up

I went from 18.8 mpg to 20.5 mpg

 

Here in the lower mainland, some gas stations offer 3.5c/l discounts off advertised price too.