FernandoVenezuela

What premium gas is better? Is there a difference? If you have a costco card, in my area, costco gas is WAAAY cheaper, and they have premium grade.

My mechanic friend though, who goes to UTI, which he says is the "harvard of tech schools" haha yeah I know...I couldn't tell you....says that I should not use costco gas. He says the best premium is shell/bp. He says that costco "waters down" their gas, whatever that means. I think it is because we both drive sports cars that require premium, but he doesn't have a costco card...and is just jealous of my good fortune. either that or he really knows what he is talking about.

so is there big difference? A difference worth paying a premium for? a premium on top of a premium in other words? what do you bros think? what is better for your engine or is the diff negligible?

1.3_LittersOfFurry

iTrader: (4)

I only put Chevron and Shell Premium in my tank. They add additives to their fuels. Not sure about costco.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

Costco buys gas from whichever company that can sell it to them at the lowest price.

Does that mean the gas is bad? nope. reason why is that all gas came from the same of refinery

what makes them different is the Additives they put into the gas. my opinion is that most of these additives are just hype and it's not really worth a damn. Costco in NYC does not sell gas. if they do I probably fuel it up there too. Gas is ... Gas, 93 Octane is 93 Octane. They all gotta meet the same Standard to be able to sell them, and mind you the "standard" has been lowered over the years cuz the "big names" does not want to spend so much into making Gas more "pure" ... and with Ethanol garbage in the gas. it doesn't really matter what we use, we get those garbage either way.

FernandoVenezuela

yeah thats what I kind of feel like too man. I mean I get that costco doesn't have the additives...but what do those additives really do? I mean srs now? If they were so great wouldn't they be indispensable?

Station Equation

Prevent carbon deposits. Some people think that's a pretty valuable property for the RX-8.

FernandoVenezuela

here check this out, did some digging, found this on the costco site. apparently they DO use detergents:

"Since gasoline formulations are specified by government standards, base gasoline is a fungible commodity with little difference between brands.

There are two aspects of fuel quality that depend on the gasoline brand and the individual retailer: detergent additives and station maintenance.

Detergent additives
Since 1995, Federal regulations mandate that all gasoline contain an EPA-approved detergent additive. These additives are designed to minimize engine deposits that can affect vehicle performance and emissions. The various proprietary detergent additive formulations are the main difference between brands of gasoline. All Costco gasoline, both regular and premium unleaded, contains detergent additives.

Station Maintenance
Good station operation and maintenance assures the fuel is filtered, and that no contaminants, such as sediment and water, find their way into our members' vehicles. Costco gas stations are well-maintained by our capable attendants so that only clean gasoline goes into your car.

• Costco uses fuel filters to catch any particles or debris larger than 10 microns in diameter. For comparison, the average human hair is seventy microns thick.
• Our attendants check the nozzle flow rate frequently to assure that our filters are fresh. When the flow rate falls below 8 gallons per minute, we change the filter.
• Costco uses ethanol-compatible filters designed to catch sediment, water, or phase-separated ethanol and water mixtures.
• Costco's electronic sensors continuously monitor our underground storage tanks for water.
• We physically sample our tanks at least weekly to confirm there is no contamination by both visual inspection and chemical detection." end quote.

monchie

I only use Chevron with Techron. If you asked me which one I would choose for my car, I would choose the Shell gas. I like well known brands, than generic brands.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

I work for BP at the Indiana Refinery. I have talked to the people that blend the gasoline. BP sells gasoline to other companies. There are standards that have to be met. Costco and other non-premium brand gasoline will meet that standard. The premium brand gas exceeds that standard. Each customer has a different blend.
There is also a standard called "Top Tier". This is a group of companies that meet a higher level of gas quality. They have a website and you can look up those that belong to this group. Just remember that this is a marketing tool. Other companies, while supplying a high quality gasoline, may not have paid to be a part of that group.

I live near the UTI Chicago campus. My ex-wife lives in the apartment complex adjacent to it. Are they the "harvard of tech schools", I don't know. But, in this case, he is right.

ken-x8

The Top Tier web site has a discussion of additives that has an amusingly different spin from what Fernando found on the Costco web site.

Personally, I'd never buy a car from one of the manufacturers listed on the Top Tier site. Not that I really know anything about it, but there has to be something inherently wrong with a car that needs all that extra stuff.

Ken

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Oh and they also work to keep your fuel injectors clean. There's no need to use Gum-Out once every quarter.

nycgps

iTrader: (1)

does it really help? no one truly knows, almost all info came from the oil company's "quote"advertisement"quote".

it might help a bit but i believe it to be 90% hype

gasoline is actually pretty dirty, and they lowered the standard so they don't have to spend as much to make it cleaner. more crap = more deposit, so they can sell more of these so called injector cleaner to make even more money!

ninjajim4

iTrader: (4)

ya know, when you write things out you can just use actual quotes...

RotaryP7

I only put Chevron & Shell.

supergoat

Kangaroo gas is ****. At least the one on the island I live on.

I drive 5 miles out of the way to get Shell. The Shell station there does not have any ethanol in their premium.

Arca_ex

iTrader: (10)

First off, UTI is a ****** joke. I had a guy come into my store that was a licensed AC tech from UTI and he couldn't find the AC compressor in a Chevy pickup. Its right on top of the engine...


Anyways, I only use quick trip gas. They have the lowest ethanol content here in AZ at E8. Everyone else is E10 to E13.

BigMikeATL

I think Chevron and Shell are the best.

FernandoVenezuela

you know its kind of an overlooked thing though when you think about it. because lets be honest, your not really going to notice the difference on the day to day. Whats terrifying is that you are secretly killing your engines performance in a way that you will never notice because it is so subtle.

I was on a site that had a lot of good suggestions for getting better MPG. One was drive in 5th or 6th between 2-3k RPM. The other was that ehtanol KILLS gas mileage. And costco does put ethanol in their gas...but then again so does BP and a lot of other people.

seems like the consensus is that Shell is undoubtedly the best, if there is such a thing.

Grace_Excel

iTrader: (5)

I get $0.20 off every gallon I buy through SHELL whenever I have 100+ points using the RALPH'S card.

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

Illinois law requires a ethanol blend. It doesn't matter where you buy your gasoline. This was to "aid" the state corn farmers (if you know what I mean).
We aren't allowed to talk politics.

New Yorker

I prefer Shell premium. I'd like to believe their "nitrogen" claims, but if it turned out that that's just marketing hype, I wouldn't be surprised.

olddragger

iTrader: (3)

different stations also put different levels of ethanol into whatever gas they carry. Ethanol is the killer. less gas milage, less performance, but the gas itself is dependent on it to get the advertised octane.
Ethanol has a higher octane rating than pure gas.
There is a way to check the %of ethanol at the pump. Look it up on Google--its not hard nor complicated. We do it in my hometown and have found ranges between 5-15%!
I try to buy pure gas when i can get it. it does give me much more mpg and the engine "seems" to run better. I have a station that is fairly close to home that sells pure gas because they are close to a lake and boats require no ethanol.
So not only is it what brand of gas--its also about the individual station's management of their gas.

Are-Ex-Eight

iTrader: (1)

BP Lies

alnielsen

iTrader: (4)

We have a drive-by shooter. What is this lie? I'm interested to know. Especially since they, or anyone for that matter, don't make too many statements about their gasoline.

ken-x8

That's why I usually avoid no-name stations. No telling how they take care of the tanks and pumps. I generally feel comfortable about outfits like Costco, since they're big enough to have policies like the ones Fernando found on their web site.

But I can't help remembering those cute Exxon commercials where they touted their detergent content, and the "o" was the window on a washing machine door. So I go for the hype and usually fill up at a name brand oil company station.

Ken

Joe-the_tattoo_artist

Individual filling stations can and do vary in fuel quality due to a number of factors such as: maintenance, fuel tank storage location (above/below ground which affects temperature and hence water condensation inside of the tanks), age of tanks, condition of pump filters, etc.

Water and sediments are two of the things that should be monitored for to ensure that your fuel of choice is contaminate free. All filling stations are equipped with fuel inventory status monitoring devices from which a fuel inventory status report can be printed to verify amounts of fuel and water in the tanks measured in inches. A newer filling station will have fewer sediments in their tanks than older filling stations. Also, busier filling stations may have less water in their tanks than less busy ones. Avoid, if you are aware of and can, filling up shortly (within a few hours of) after a tanker fuel delivery. A fresh delivery of fuel will disturb both the sediments and water that settles to the bottom of the storage tanks.

A fuel inventory status report can be done at anytime and (depending on the monitoring unit) will show fuel levels in gallons and inches, fuel temperature, water level in inches and time of last delivery.

Here are some examples of what a basic fuel inventory status report looks like: