S14 n Tsx

I was watching the news on T.V. and found something very interesting. They were investing why arco gas was so cheap. They were saying that its because of the advertisement. The arco corp. spends less money on their ad to keep their price down. They found out that arco oil is no differnt from all other top brand like 76, shell, and chevron. They all came from same place and same oil. I don't know if this is true or not.. I couldn't believe this statment.
is this true ? or BS?

PixelHarmony

I'd figure that most gas is gas, it's all a matter of how comfortable you feel putting in certain gasses with certain addatives. I believe the difference is also what % ethanol and also how long the gas sits (more popular stations cycle gas faster, no namer stations hold gas longer).

calgary2800

I pump depending on location. I wont go an extra mile for Cheveron Techron.

The Shell is close to my work and I always fill there.

Been driving for over 20 years. Never noticed brand difference.

Benz_05_TSX

iTrader: (1)

I just only stick to one brand...

i thought there were rules on can't going too cheap on gas...don't know..

twigglius

iTrader: (6)

www.toptiergas.com

most of you have probably seen this but it's an interesting read.

SoCaliTrojan

From what I heard long ago, arco gas is the cheapest because they have their processing plants here (in cali). (By the way, cali's gas market is separate from the rest of the nation...ie: in the middle of the desert, gas in Vegas is quite a bit cheaper). I heard that the other companies process the oil somewhere in the east, and have to deliver it to the west coast. I guess maybe the oil gets offloaded at west coast ports or something?

Anyway, I've also heard that alot of mechanics here recommend that people avoid arco gas. My sister's friend brought a car in for repairs, and the mechanic was able to tell what kind of gas she uses just by looking inside the engine.

I usually don't notice any difference between the brands. I usually go with mobil on my old car, but I remember the one time I put chevron in, the car behaved totally differently. Now that I have my TSX, I might go for chevron. Out of all the gas companies listed in the title, only arco isn't listed at www.toptiergas.com.

In my area, most of the ads for gas was for Arco (I guess they have problem with people coming in to their stations?)

Oil is oil no matter where you get it (U.S., middle east, etc.) The difference is in how the company chooses to refine the oil into gas (additives, etc.) Since Arco's the cheapest here, they probably save money by not adding alot (or perhaps lower quality) additives?

I sorta pump depending on location, although I avoid certain stations. I was pumping gas at one 76 station, and this guy became irate at the clerk, and he started throwing trash cans at the booth...(not that it has anything to do with the gas that's pumped out).

The other station I avoid is another 76 station. In high school, I gave $20 so I could fill up the tank, and the guy pumps out only $10 and says I gave him a $10. From then on, I only used a credit card there, and that's when I noticed that every time I'm there, there's always someone screaming at the clerk. I told my dad about it since he buys cigarettes there, so he wrote something on the bill, and sure enough, the clerk tried to rip him off. My dad told him that he wrote something on the bill...lol

Oh yeah, and for that same gas station, I always pump 87 octane into one of my honda accord's, and one time right after leaving the station, the engine was knocking so much and so loudly. Surprisingly I don't see anything listed at the BBB for the station

Jeff The Pianist

I think all the gas around here is all from the same place anyways....there might be a little bit of difference, but not enough to damage a car.

I do believe the reason why Arco is cheaper is because they don't accpet credit card!

Jack Slate

Well, I'm not planning on going to Arco or Rotten Robbie any time soon. All my fill-ups have been Chevron 91.

VroomVroom

Gas is gas. If you're ever bored, you can follow the delivery truck as it goes frome one branded station to another. The difference is in the additives added at the station, and what...if any...maintenance is done on the tanks, how often the filters are changed, etc.

nub

I believe ( not 100% sure) that Arco gasoline/petroleum is pumped mainly in Alaska. Due to geographic reasons, there is sulfur in the petro. They go through processing to make it as clean as possible, but it's not all removed. With sulfur, i believe arco gas burns faster, thus causing less performance. Most other companies get their petro from I believe Venezuela, or somewhere around there.

Not QTF, but that's what i've heard.

juan619

Costco gas

goddsmack

I totally agree, back in the old days yes there was a difference. Today's standards pretty much dicatate, especially for California, a minimum amount of refinment and additives necessary.

You're better off to fill from Costco gas and just putting a bottle of Techron in the tank every 3000 miles. As Costco being typically a busy station makes for frequent gas cycling and leaves a lesser chance for extracting deposits that form from gas settling.

My personal dilusion is that Arco and Chevron gas flys right out of the tank, even though I am not getting any changes in mileage. Again, it's my own personal dilusion

minkl81

iTrader: (2)

Arco is cheap because they don't take credit cards and profit by selling more gallons than others like Chevron, Shell, etc... Most Arco stations sell average of 11,000 gallons a day and gets gas delivered almost once a day.

randomthought

I think Arco station near my place takes cards, although they charge extra for using em. It also happenes to be the cheapest gas in my area too, comparitively. I try to go for whatever is the cheapest, but if I can find a 76 for the same price, i go for it. Arco 92 seems to burn faster when I put it in my tank, but thats probably just my imagination.

duckwing89

All gas is the same essentially. It all comes from the same place, and even gas lines dedicated to a particular brand, like Shell, gets mixed up with gas from other lines. The only differences lie in the additives each brand adds (techron, etc.), which in the long run help keep your car in good shape.

gsrthomas

I use all brands except for ARCO.

Some of my friends always used ARCO gas cuz it was cheaper but when they switched brands their gas mileage increased significantly.

I also hate that ARCO charges you $.35 to use an ATM/Debit card.

Havent used ARCO for about 5 years now.

jpt

Gas is gas. I don't know if it is true that gas stations add extras to the gas locally (the one I have worked at did NOT and I suspect the answer is none do) but the gasoline delivered to the various stations is ABSOLUTELY the same (like VV said you can follow the truck around).

On the other hand the price difference between gas stations is so small there's not much point in shopping around either. I always just stop at the first one that's convenient once I notice I'm low on gas. I am extremely pedantic about measuring and tracking my gas mileage and have NEVER, EVER seen a difference correlated with gasoline brand.

nub

an interesting read...

http://vettenet.org/octane.html

SoCaliTrojan

I wonder...if people go to Arco because of their cheap prices...then they'll probably be the ones getting 87 (while Arco's higher octane fuel just sits there). And suppose that the people who avoid Arco are the ones who care about their cars, so they use higher octane fuels elsewhere. Wouldn't it be correct to assume that if gas has a short shelf life, then it would be better to buy premium octane at a better gas station, and the cheap stuff at a cheap station? I haven't bought fuel at Arco in at least 9 years (nor does anyone else I know).

blacktints

I too have been doing my research and I find that Costco GAS gives me the best MPG here is Los Angeles. I tried 76, Exxon, and Shell. In addition Costco gas is the cheapest, but the lines can sometimes be crappy.

rugbybrado

Im from oklahoma and i have friends who work for conoco/phillips. Those "additives" that everyone always rave about literally come in a unmarked oil quart bottle and it treats a semi tanker of gas, they arent expensive to produce.

JTso

iTrader: (2)

I didn't follow the tanker truck but I have done my own tests of using Arco, 76, and Chevron using the same car (94 Toyoto pickup), same grade of gas, driving the same distance, same path from home to work, and during the same season. I was getting better mileage and acceleration performance from Chevron than the other two. I always fill the tank when it's completely empty.

jpt

Not to be a dick about it or anything, but do you have recorded measurements to back that up, or was it just a gut feeling?

JTso

iTrader: (2)

The recorded mileage measurement is simply the trip odometer that I reset everytime I fill up the tank, and divided by the amount of gas put in. The performance measurement is simply my personal driving experience.