Best Brand Gas
 

What is your favorite/best, brand PUMP gas and why???

Chevron: Best filtration at the distribution centers and best additive.

I too had to go with Chevron, as not only is it all I use, but I work for them. Gotta support the team ya know.

I use 76 for these reasons:
1. Grew up around the Union oil fields
2. West coast staple
3. Stations found (at least used to) around tracks
4. Can still find 100 octane at a few stations (although I think its VP)
5. Only company to give me credit during the lean years
6. Last of the service/repair stations for a major brand
7. Its a penny or 2 more expensive which I LOVE. Keeps the riff-raff away
8. Used to sponsor NASCAR. Whatever good that does. LOL

This becomes more regional than anything because stations that are privately owned can generally buy gas from wherever they want as long as it matches certain specifications set forth by the brand company. I worked at a Marathon station for some years and we never bought Marathon gas. Too expensive. We bought from another distributor and every few months, a Marathon representative would visit and do a fuel compliance test. Basically, they checked for alcohol and/or water.

The funny part was Marathon advertised 100% gasoline with no alcohol. Right down the road was a Speedway, which was owned by Marathon, and they sold gas with alcohol. You would see the Marathon tanker 2 times a week filling up their underground tank. We used to get so many questions asking why the Marathon truck is giving Speedway gas when it has alcohol.

If the Marathon station was owned by Marathon but leased to an outside person, which many were, you had to buy your gas from Marathon.

We have a local distributor who has gas with no ethanol ...when I am away from home, I do a internet search to see where I can find some....if I can't, Chevron..

same here

We have a local distributor who has gas with 93 octane no ethanol

Dwight

We have one station with 89 ethanol free. So I blend in VP110. Be aware that street legal race gas contains ethanol. You want the illegal stuff :)

Huh, no one for Sunoco? I have heard car industry guys swear they think it's the best.....

I usually always filled with Chevron.... but now I use Costco gas at these selected stations. Happy motoring! **)

Gasoline Clean Power Locations

Costco!!!
 

Just returned from a trip to Sequoia NP. Filled up the family car with gas from the Costco in Gilroy, CA which the previous poster noted has the Kirkland additive. It made a noticeable improvement in the engine performance as measured by about a 10% increase in mpg. I had noted a previous performance gain by getting Costco gas at another location which has the additive, but was not aware of the difference in the gas from other locations. I am sold on the Kirkland additive! Gotta try it on the Cobra.

I remember way back in the day when Sunoco had "dial your octane" pumps. You could go up to Sunoco 260, which was about 103 octane, I believe. back then it was my favorite gas, but couldn't afford it too often. My other was Amoco premium - lead-free before it was required. Probably was wasting money, but at $0.35/gallon, who cared?

I use Gulf premium 93 and at times Shell 93 never had a knock or any significant problems. Both stations are close to my house, hence it is convenient and taxes in NJ gas are very los compared to NY, which are outreageous.

76 station down the street still has a Racing Fuel pump, and the car likes the 100 octane when I can feed it that stuff. But always 76. Chevron 2nd in a pinch.

In California, ALL the refineries produce the same base gas fuel product, No matter what or where it is produced. It is all the same. By law.
If you load at a Chevron loading rack but it is going to a AM/PM store you just don't get the Chevron additive. Same loading racks. Just a different blend.
If your load is going to a Chevron store, then they blend in the secret mix. The low cost stores buy it where they can, But it is simply base fuel, without any additives.
What I do not know is how they deal with the etheynol issues. Do we all get that, no matter what? It is all very secret proprietary stuff no matter where your getting your gas. Or at least that's what they want you to beleive.

Diverrick is right, the base fuel is essentially the same in CA, OR and WA. The East Coast is supplied by one big pipeline from Texas refineries. All the brands use the similar base fuel. Given the cost penalties of gasoline without 10% ethanol, you may think the fuel doesn't have ethanol, but it probably does. You are mistaken if you think a different brand of gasoline will give you better gas mileage. You probably watch too much TV and are influenced by cartoon cars smiling. Really? The brands are differentiated by the additive. The additives are very similar, the more the better. The EPA requires all gasoline to have the minimum amount of additive to keep your engine clean. Additives were not used until about 1985, so your vintage 1965 Cobra never saw gasoline with additives! Right now, Costco adds 5 times the minimum EPA amount. No one else adds more than 4 times. As far as the chemistry goes, Shell has the best additive package on the market now. But the best gas you can buy now is the 5X additive Costco, the rest of the majors (ARCO, BP, Chevron, Shell, Sunoco, 76, etc) are all the same. Even the High Volume Retailers like Safeway, Wal-Mart, etc, add the minimum amount of additive required by the EPA. I wouldn't use them, but I'm biased. Most of the racing fuel has lots of oxygenates like ethanol and methanol. The reason Costco adds so much additive is related to Toyota. Many Toyota owners bought Costco gas and Toyota recommended to their owners to not use Costco gas because the Toyota engine valves were dirty. Costco didn't like that so they upped the additive to more than any other marketer. Like I say, I'm biased, as I used to manage quality of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel on the west coast for a major oil company (not Costco). Now I just like to drive my Cobra!

Interesting responses. In AZ we have so many Shell stations as they merged with the convenience store Circle K there is practically one on every corner and on every highway in the state...:o

I don't know about the best brand but it surely is a pain in the arse with different vintage cars, race cars of different eras, and modern automobiles in the garages. It use to be so simple for my grandfather. He had a five thousand gallon tank for diesel fuel to heat his home( he used diesel and never home heating oil) and a five thousand gallon tank for his cars. Now for some he had a special mixture but basically all the autos received the same gas. In the 1970's he added another tank for the unleaded cars.

Between both coasts I stay away from the pumps and rarely go near one. Only the family cars when on the road see a gas station pump.

Try to stay away from the ethanol blends. I have many friends over the years that have problems that they believe is from these fuels.

The gas he used at one time as I recall was from a facility that "cracked" as it was called from the virgin isles. The diesel was so clean and never clogged any filters on his home. He use to get a lot of fuel from companies he use to work with in the military industrial complex as we know. You don't want to know what's in that stuff!

It's all about the additive. Use this for reference.

Top Tier Gasoline

Sunoco is not on the list but they are also quality. My car likes the Sunoco 93 best.

Sunoco has gone through a few changes.. Sun Oil Co. and is now completely different from just a few years ago. They wanted to get out of the oil refinery business. Yes I think they had 102-103 octane at the pump. I don't remember but they had 5 or 6 custom blends at the pump you could dial up.

Just because of family history and all Sunoco is the fuel we get "tanked" at the Connecticut home. Like my grandfather I still have a few university students in the homes that use to house workers on the estates. Those on family university grants get free gas along with a handful of employees. A few traditions I try to keep going. On the west coast we get a different blend of fuel which is only available in Cali. The high octane unleaded fuel seems to work in most cars but not all. It's around 99 or 100 Octane I believe with certain additives.

Sunoco Race Fuels | Fuels


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