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Is it really worth it to fill up with a brand-name gas, such as Chevron with "Techron", to (in theory at least) keep the engine exhaust valves, headers, CAT-converter, etc cleaner? Why shouldn't I save a few cents burning generic, no-name gas, like down at the street corner at "Joe's Gas-N-Go"? Has anyone stripped down an engine to see if there is actually a difference? Just wondering...
The quality of gasolines varies greatly as supplied in each local market.
I've had "bad" gasoline from major name marketers, and "bad" gas from independents, too.
A lot depends upon the local marketplace and what the retailers can get away with supplying. If "Joe's Pump'n'Go" gets a reputation for selling gasoline that vapor locks folks' cars, then he'll not be selling a lot of gas in the summer months to his local clientele. OTOH, if he specs a blend from his wholesaler that satisfies most of his customers and can sell if for less than the "name brand" across the street, he might do fine.
In our area, the "off brand" fuels are definitely not good in late FI cars. The additive pack isn't there, and you wind up having to run FI cleaner through the car frequently to clean out the injection system or the fuel economy suffers. Run enough of that gas through and you'll be heading to the shop to get a system cleaning.
At the same time, traveling throughout the western states, we've gotten our share of poor gasoline from many different suppliers. My wife barely made it home from Amarillo, Texas, last year with a bad load of gasoline in her Ford Ranger 3.0 V6, hauling livestock back from an auction. The truck bucked and jerked, hardly idled, and was difficult to start. She only fueled at name brand stations after a similar experience two years earlier in Kerrville. Had to put in FI cleaner and fresh OK gas at the first opportunity when she ran the bad stuff down a few gallons, and the truck still ran badly until she'd run through several more tankfulls of good gasoline.
OTOH, my old IHC "A" and Ford 8N tractors run fine on that poor quality fuel, as does my BMW 2002. But it won't run in my Alfa w/SPICA fuel injection very long, nor my electronic injected Subaru's.
Here in Alaska, if we purchase $50, or more, of groceries at Safeway, we can get a 10-cent per gallon discount at their pumps at the next fillup. Tempting. Don't know where they get their gas though...or if it has the additives to keep engine parts clean.
Been using Shell and Chevron in my Sub Outback with no problems. There's no ethanol, or any other "oxygenator" added to the gas up here...it's straight 100% gas...
Some motors are more sensitive to gas quality than others. 10 cents per gallon is only about a 3% discount. You just have to try the cheaper gas in your car, keeping in mind if your mileage is less you may not be saving any money. In my limited experience with Subarus, they tend to be sensitive to fuel quality. At the same time, even if the no-name gas has less detergent, running a tankful now and then won't do anything that the higher-detergent gas won't undo.
Alaska is an unknown for me. I wish I had the info for you. I will always use a Ethanol blend gas, but since you don't have any. I would just do a try and see approach. If you get any pinging, try a different brand. Exxon/Esso/Mobile usually causes pinging in many cars. Plus I found out its some of the cheapest made gas out. It has very few additives to keep your engine clean. to pay 1 or 2 cents a gallon for a brand like Shell, Texaco or Sunoco, I would do that. If in question, ask and see if the station manager can tell you who provides their gasoline. Some will tell, some wont. I know this is really general info. But ou are in a location I don't know much about the distribution.
One thing you can do to be proactive is taking a good look at the station itself. Are the fuel truck drop points raised higher than the rest of the parking lot? If not, look at them when it rains.. does water gather around them? These are obviously red flags to raise concerns of the quality. If the pumps look really bad and nasty, I am betting they don't change their filters much. Which can affect quality too. I hope this helps.
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