Sometimes its cheaper for a reason. I always used 1 chevron gas station for my car. its like 4 miles away from my house but its worth it. theres actually a closer chevron to my house, but the one that i always get, i always notice the added horsepower that comes with it.

 

Coscto, I hear if you cut down your protein intake your gas doesn't smell so bad.

 

Costco premium here, works the same as the brand name

 

Please, please, please tell me you are not using that propaganda website for any information. It is owned by GM and paid for by the large fuel companies. That would be like asking Sunoco if Sunoco gas is better then Costco gas... then linking to the information on Sunoco's website as an independent source...

 

The OP is nuts.....just like dan.

 

Noticeable?

Chevron giving you +20 more ponies per tank?

Did the vtec sticker give you added horsepower as well?

 

Exactly. It's all marketing. Whoever wants to pay the marketing fee gets their name put up on the site.

Back in 2007, Exxon and Mobil didn't pay the Top Tier listing fee.



But a few years later, they did (screenshot from 2012)



If you look at the current list, you'll see that BP and Scheirl Oil have been added while Rebel Oil and Severson Oil have been removed.




Maybe Rebel Oil and Severson Oil didn't see any noticeable increase in fuel sales and figured the listing fee wasn't worth it?

 

Dude, I swear when I debadged my mazdaspeed3 emblem in the back, I noticed a slightly increase in boost.

 

Interesting and I'm sure you're correct in your assumption. Kind of reminds me of the FDA and most other government run organizations.

 

 

Orly? then changing your shift knob must've for you

 

YUP

 

Great follow-up to mine and thanks for posting

It always amazes me when I see people quoting that site as a reference. I'm guessing it works b/c most have zero idea what that site is truly about...

 

 

I use Wawa gas.

 

used wawa gas when I lived in NJ and when I traveled from NC to NJ and back. Wish there was wawa's in NC.

 

their coffee is like crack. I dont know what it is, but it's probably the best coffee I've ever had.

 

So are there any gas stations we should be avoiding? Or more specifically, choosing?

 

 

Look who's Top Tier now? Costco. Guess they decided it was worth the marketing expense? The same goes for SuperAmerica... whoever they are.

 

^

Hello? Anyone moderating?

 

I looked into the detergents after I bought the TL and Shell and Chevron are what I came up with. They have good but very different detergents in their cleaning mechanisms. Shell looked to have good cleaning in the combustion chamber and possibly post combustion in the PCV and intake tract. Chevron also looked good in all areas with what might be the best fuel system cleaner. I figured by alternating stations from time to time I should get the best of all worlds and at 113,000 miles my intake tract, intake bowl area, and combustion chambers were unbelievably clean.

All of my research died with my old computer so I've been meaning to look into it again for my own knowledge and to see if anything has changed which i doubt it has. I don't know the people I used to know so unfortunately I'll have to sift through the Google garbage.

 

They didn't test Chevron, but Shell, Exxon, and BP were all shown to have high levels of cleaning detergents per 100 mL of fuel.




Note that Exxon and BP at one point were not on the Top Tier list even though their fuels are shown to have high levels of cleaning detergents. Why?

A lot of it is marketing.

 

nope , but i avoid Arco.

 

I love V-Power (Shell's 93 octane)! That's one reason I only fill up at Shell.

 

I would avoid Lukoil like the plague... they always cost more, have crappy fuel, and depending on your politics, they're Russian owned and I've seen a lot of people call for boycotts of Russian business. I also heard from a few people their gas was watered down/caused knock. It's a last resort for me.


Also I see Costco paid up I guess, they're listed as "Top Tier" now. I'd probably use it if it was closer to me, I've been running Sam's Club 93 the last few years with zero issues, no issues with their 87 in my wife's car either.

 

I don't know anyone who fills up at Arco.

 

Now you do.

I've used them before, up to 3 tanks consecutively, and never noticed any performance or MPG decline (I log my MPG at every tank). They were owned by BP once and BP is a Top Tier brand.

But I haven't used Arco in over a year since I found a Shell station that's usually (though not always) priced similar to Arco. And since BP sold them to Tesoro last year (June 2013) I don't know if their formulation has changed or not.

 

I think it has been said a bunch of times here, but really all the major brands (including Costco) are the same. If they are all in your area, they all get the same bulk RBOB/Gasoline from the refinery closest to you. This is one of the reasons Exxon no longer owns any gas stations and only franchise. The really money is in discovery. Brand doesn't matter, especially when compared to Octane.

That being said, maintenance is definitely a factor, and for that reason I stay away from Silver anything. Go regular or go premium. Silver just doesn't get used as often as the other two.

 

My hubby owns 6 tankers here in Atlanta and the best stations are:

Chevron- Great additives that are mixed at terminal after loading
Shell-same as Chevron with additives
Texaco-same as Chevron with additives
Costco- what's so great about Costco are their computers. Their computers are monitored 24/7 for sediments and other things. We load the same gas for Costco as Walmart, Kroger, etc. What makes them different are their computers that watches for water and sediments in tank. When we drop gas at the locations, Costco have their additives already in a separate tank on their property instead of mixing at terminals when loading. Very smart IMO.
QuikTrip- Quik Trip uses the same plain gas as Walmart, Costco, Kroger etc. The great quality about QT are their computers that reads sediments and water.

One of the reason why Costco, Walmart and Quik Trip gases are cheaper because they purchase their gas in bulk. Their rates are locked in vs independent stations that only get gas as need and whatever the price is.

 

Octane is octane but different brands have different additives so they're not all the same.

That's really good info, thanks!

 

Arco is now listed as a Top Tier gas.

I guess they, like Costco, decided it was worth paying the marketing fee.