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Old 11-30-2018, 07:45 AM
 
6 posts, read 12,160 times
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So many experts here. Just wondering, why can't anyone stop the stupid, foolish Ethanol hoax? It's just government pushed, right? And it's consuming part of the food supply, making prices higher than they would be otherwise. I never hear a positive word about Ethanol. Why can't we get rid of it altogether? Because it's FORCED on us.
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Old 12-01-2018, 06:04 PM
 
59 posts, read 61,882 times
Reputation: 78
I Buy gas at Shell, Exon, BP or QT. Racetrak I won't use, in the past I've felt my car didn't run as good on their gas.
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Old 12-01-2018, 08:14 PM
 
Location: Sarasota FL
6,864 posts, read 11,999,380 times
Reputation: 6743
Every drop of gasoline in my area at EVERY brand station comes from the same tank farm. [and in your area also] 87 Octane is 87 octane at every station. The only difference is the amount of ethanol added. Sticker on pump that reads 'may contain up to 10% ethanol' means that if the tank is low, you may receive 3-4-5 % If the tank is full, you will get 9 or 10% So, NO there is no difference in brands.
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Old 12-01-2018, 11:13 PM
 
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,695,178 times
Reputation: 3203
Quote:
Originally Posted by d4g4m View Post
Every drop of gasoline in my area at EVERY brand station comes from the same tank farm. [and in your area also] 87 Octane is 87 octane at every station. The only difference is the amount of ethanol added. Sticker on pump that reads 'may contain up to 10% ethanol' means that if the tank is low, you may receive 3-4-5 % If the tank is full, you will get 9 or 10% So, NO there is no difference in brands.
Absolutely right. They also come through the same pipelines from the refineries.
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Old 12-02-2018, 08:34 PM
 
Location: Sarasota FL
6,864 posts, read 11,999,380 times
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^^^^
There are no oil refineries in Florida. Almost all fuels are delivered by pipeline. In the Tampa and the Ft Myers area, fuel is delivered to the tank farms by ship/barge from AL, LA, TX
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Old 12-03-2018, 08:25 AM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,701 posts, read 79,330,237 times
Reputation: 39408
Quote:
Originally Posted by d4g4m View Post
Every drop of gasoline in my area at EVERY brand station comes from the same tank farm. [and in your area also] 87 Octane is 87 octane at every station. The only difference is the amount of ethanol added. Sticker on pump that reads 'may contain up to 10% ethanol' means that if the tank is low, you may receive 3-4-5 % If the tank is full, you will get 9 or 10% So, NO there is no difference in brands.
Close but not exactly correct. The base gasoline comes from a single source, but then each brand adds a proprietary mix of detergents and other additives (Techron; Invigorate; V-Power; etc). The detergents mixes are similar, often nearly the same chemicals, but the balance of different chemicals differs a little bit. Some companies also add additional detergents to the premium gasoline so they can continue to claim premium gas "cleans your engine better" in the hopes people do not realize that premium gas is only useful for very high compression engines and otherwise, it just a waste of money.

Companies that prove their detergent mix actually does something to help keep engines a little bit cleaner are allowed to bill themselves as "top tier" Companies that are not billed as "top tier" do not necessarily have lower quality gas, they just do not have or do not allocate the resources to prove their detergent mix is as good as anyone else's. regardless, detergents in gasoline are not going to make a huge difference in how clean your engine remains. More important is how clean an individual station keeps their tanks and maintains their filters. Usually, a filter will plog up and the pump delivery will slow until the customer complaints = replacement filters. Eventually a filter may begin to come apart and let particulates through, but that is not common. So that leaves water in the tanks as the primary difference you are likely to encounter with gasoline. most stations are very good about keeping their tanks clean. Very rarely, tanks will begin to leak with puts gasoline into the soil as well as putting dirt into the gasoline. Conceptually, that cannot happen anymore,but it still does happen.
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Old 12-03-2018, 03:10 PM
 
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,695,178 times
Reputation: 3203
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
Close but not exactly correct. The base gasoline comes from a single source, but then each brand adds a proprietary mix of detergents and other additives (Techron; Invigorate; V-Power; etc). The detergents mixes are similar, often nearly the same chemicals, but the balance of different chemicals differs a little bit. Some companies also add additional detergents to the premium gasoline so they can continue to claim premium gas "cleans your engine better" in the hopes people do not realize that premium gas is only useful for very high compression engines and otherwise, it just a waste of money.

Companies that prove their detergent mix actually does something to help keep engines a little bit cleaner are allowed to bill themselves as "top tier" Companies that are not billed as "top tier" do not necessarily have lower quality gas, they just do not have or do not allocate the resources to prove their detergent mix is as good as anyone else's. regardless, detergents in gasoline are not going to make a huge difference in how clean your engine remains. More important is how clean an individual station keeps their tanks and maintains their filters. Usually, a filter will plog up and the pump delivery will slow until the customer complaints = replacement filters. Eventually a filter may begin to come apart and let particulates through, but that is not common. So that leaves water in the tanks as the primary difference you are likely to encounter with gasoline. most stations are very good about keeping their tanks clean. Very rarely, tanks will begin to leak with puts gasoline into the soil as well as putting dirt into the gasoline. Conceptually, that cannot happen anymore,but it still does happen.
'Top Tier' is a pretty solid branding campaign. Using GasBuddy, I can't say I have found a single outlet anywhere near me that isn't Top Tier. And most of the gas stations, whether Costco, Shell, BP, Sunoco, or Marathon, all seem to be served by the same independent fuel delivery trucks.
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Old 12-03-2018, 07:39 PM
 
Location: Sarasota FL
6,864 posts, read 11,999,380 times
Reputation: 6743
^^^^
Correct. That's because all the stations are getting their gasoline delivered by Billy Bobs fuel delivery service where they fill their trucks from the same tanks at the same tank farm that come from refineries that use the same formula to refine oil to gasoline.
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Old 12-03-2018, 08:00 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,701 posts, read 79,330,237 times
Reputation: 39408
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stonepa View Post
'Top Tier' is a pretty solid branding campaign. Using GasBuddy, I can't say I have found a single outlet anywhere near me that isn't Top Tier. And most of the gas stations, whether Costco, Shell, BP, Sunoco, or Marathon, all seem to be served by the same independent fuel delivery trucks.
The gas is put into the truck at the same refinery, but then a detergent package is added for whatever company the gas will be delivered to. Thus billy bob will put a package of V-power detergent in when he is delivering to shall and a package of Techron detergents when he is delivering to Chvron. Billy Bob is getting gas from the same refinery and taking it in the same truck, but the gas is a little different becuase different detergent mixes are added. Gas that is not top tier may not have any added detergents, just the standard minimum. Some brands may have extra detergents added, but cannot afford or do not want to spend the money to obtain top tier rating.
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Old 12-04-2018, 11:46 AM
 
24,503 posts, read 17,956,220 times
Reputation: 40189
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
The gas is put into the truck at the same refinery, but then a detergent package is added for whatever company the gas will be delivered to. Thus billy bob will put a package of V-power detergent in when he is delivering to shall and a package of Techron detergents when he is delivering to Chvron. Billy Bob is getting gas from the same refinery and taking it in the same truck, but the gas is a little different becuase different detergent mixes are added. Gas that is not top tier may not have any added detergents, just the standard minimum. Some brands may have extra detergents added, but cannot afford or do not want to spend the money to obtain top tier rating.

I live in a 10% ethanol state. The problem is ethanol is hygroscopic so you can rust your fuel injection system if you have water in the fuel and the car sits around for a while. It kills outboard motors all the time. That varies station to station, not so much by brand. If you're ranking problems, water in the gas is a 10x bigger deal than the additive package they dump into the fuel truck as they're filling it at the tank farm.
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