I was wondering if anybody here has to have a certain type gas in there car (amaco, exxon, shell, ects). Do you think there is a difference between name brand gas and non-familar brands

 

It's pretty much known that all of the gas companies (even the off brands) get their gas from the same big tank at the refineries. However, the individual companies do put their own additives in the gas.

Personally, given the same octane rating, I've never noticed any difference with gas from any company.

 

not really. pretty much all the gas in the US comes out of the same pipeline... some companies put in a few additives, but the base fuel is pretty much the same.

if you do a SEARCH, you will find some more info... it has been talked about before

 

The above responses are correct - for a given region, all end product usually comes from a common refinery, with additives (detergents, etc) added to 'brand' the fuel.

The best advice is to get fuel from a station that is frequently used. If you buy fuel from a station that only gets three customers a day, you risk getting old fuel which can be a problem.

That being said, I do generally use major brands (Mobil, BP/Amoco, Chevron, etc). I specifically avoid Citgo (political reasons, and history of bad fuel in the Milwaukee metro area). I also add a bottle of Techron to my tank about twice a year to cover for any variance in fuel additive quality.

 

I burn Amoco (would also avoid Citco for the same political reasons). I have noticed that my Ford Ranger truck idles more roughly with Mobil than with Amoco (different additive packages, I presume).

While on vacation a few weeks ago further South of here, I met a couple from North Carolina. The man drove a gasoline delivery tanker truck and told me that he gets his load for the different stations from the same tank farm. The only difference he told me was the additive package he put in for a given brand of fuel he was delivering. I have heard this from others, too.

If you stop and think about it, it does make all the sense in the world. The US is covered with gas pipelines which travel from refineries to tank farms. If all of the various (major) brands of fuel had their own refineries and tank farms, they would also have to have their own system of pipelines. Not reasonable to think that Exxon/Mobil would ship fuel from, say, Texas to Tennessee from 6:00AM to noon and then shutdown so that Shell could ship from noon to 6:00PM. What would happen with the fuel still in 800 miles of pipeline?

The only time I can say I actually experience a VERY noticable difference between fuels was in 1966 with my 386/360 Chevelle. My two fuel choices for that car, in order, were Sunoco 260 and Chevron. One night, I got stuck in a parking lot in the snow and by the time I got out, I was very low on gas and the closest station was an Amoco. Amoco was unleaded even back in those days and shortly after leaving the station, my car started bucking and surging and really acting up. I felt very similar to what you might get if you removed a spark plug wire. As soon as I could, I filled up with Sunoco 260 to dillute the Amoco and things started to return to normal.

 

if your car was meant for leaded gas and you put in unleaded, the octane difference would be huge... as such you would get all the knock and misfire that you experienced

man if we still had leaded gas (like they do in japan) our turbo cars would be so much more efficient at high boost but oh well.

 

^^WHAT? I owned a 1964 Chevy Bel-Air that required leaded gas. When leaded gas was taken off the market in the late 80's or early 90' that car had ZERO problems running on unleaded. Where is your info coming from?

 

I usually pump @ Amoco/BP, Chevron or Shell. I always make sure I got to a newly remodeled location also. Many of these gas stations have leaks in their lines so when it rains...guess where some of the water goes. Also, I never go to a Citgo gas station.

 

As I recall, Amoco didn't post their octane ratings for unleaded fuel 40 years ago. The Sunoco 260 was rated at 104, though by today's ratings, that would pass for around 10 points less I understand.

Lead was added for two reasons back then. As an anti-knock measure and as a lubricant for valve stems and seats. Now granted, I was running the intial advance up a few degrees which certainly would add to some of the pain of running Amoco through that engine. But it was pretty bad. Even backfired a few times through the carburetor.

 

Its either Sunco or Shell, I think Shell that has its own pipelines. Everybody else shares the same.

 

i use Shell whenever I can. My car does feel more responsive and drives smoother w/Shell gas. Not that it doesn't already, but a slight difference to me makes a difference.

 

damn... backfired through the carb, now thats pretty bad did you run amoco more than once? maybe it was just a really bad batch of fuel... contaminated or something?


Fast-TL, Lead in fuel raises octane value... maybe your car's engine had really low compression?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraethyl_lead

 

I've used BP/Amoco since I've been driving. My old Z-28 wouldn't run on anything less (had to be 93, too). If BP is unavailable, I'll use Shell, or maybe Chevron if I must. However, I'll run out of gas before I'll put in exxon, mobil (pay for the valdez cleanup already) or citgo (political reasons).

 

Neither have I. And I have gotten a lot of gas from all different stations back to back. I've driven upwards of 20 3K mile road trips in the last 10 years(FL to NY & back), & in all sorts of cars & trucks.
I never noticed any difference.

 

The most convienent station next to my office is a Chevron, so that's what I'm usually rolling on. Otherwise I use strictly Shell, but not for any quality reasons. Their stations are usually the most well-lit and clean.