niele

Where I live there is a mandate to include ethanol at the gas pump (hopefully to be abolished soon) and so have been using Chevron with ethanol. If they go back to non-e gas will it give me any problems with my engine, gas tank, etc. when I'm able to fill up with good old gasoline minus the ethanol? Thanks for any insight provided.

theoryguy3

BP gas for me

gn87

shell 93 Premium

Zudy

Ok so I see the majority say Shell, but is it really better, like better gas mileage and runs better. What make's it better for your car. Thanks

shirosan

One of the biggest talks on all car forums and auto enthusiast sites is gas and its quality. I feel the same for my car(s) as well. But what I have learned is it's not about the company or brand...but more so the gas station, age of the gas station, when you pump your gas, etc.

Why do I say this? I was hanging out with a friend at one of my local bars a couple months ago and bumped into a knowledgeable guy on fuel and fuel tanks. He was in town from a sister state to sell services to hospitals, the Omaha police department, SAPP Bros gas stations, Offutt AFB, etc. for fuel tank cleaning. I've found out that many gas stations tend to build an extreme amount of water over time (as well as sediments) in the tank. The guy nearly pumps out thousands of gallons of water out of each tank, especially out of state, federal and hospital tanks. The water in the gas tends to be dangerous, but more so for aviation equipment.

As for Ethanol, I've grown to become a fan if the ethanol is of quality but some gas stations can carry low quality (like all of Omaha's Ethanol gas stations). I run E-85 in my built Scion FRS and she runs great. Omaha is limited to 91 octane unless you go to Fantasy's (Phillips 66) that has 91 octane w/ 10% ethanol added to be sold as 93 octane. A good ethanol is 105 octane and above. To be honest, the 93 +10% ethanol runs very smooth in the Lexus. One way to check the quality of your fuels is when you do your oil changes. Is the oil milky or runny looking? You might be getting a lot of water from your fuel or sediments. Don't be bias because of a name or some statistics. Research and experience can be your friend.

So bottom line and the take home points are:

• Go with a gas station that is well known in your area and many auto enthusiasts use
• Ask the gas station owner what maintenance has been done on their systems to prevent water, grime and sediment build up
• Never pump gas when during and after the gas station's tanks have been filled
• Pump gas early in the morning or when the ground temperature is cooler; helps gas maintain its liquid form instead of a gas and will minimize water.
• Ethanol is not necessarily bad for newer vehicles; Lexus has designed our engines to handle up to E-15. Just be careful for low quality ethanol since that can contain more water than pump gas.
• Check your oil or ask to see it or for a sample when you get your oil change (ask before your oil is changed...).

I hope this helped. I do believe that Shell and Chevron are great gas stations but I've noticed for Shell I feel that you may be also paying for the name. Thanks for reading

niele

Thank you very much for the information, Shirosan, very informative and helpful.

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

the best thing we have available in my area.. Shell 91

rudyH

In order of preference: Chevron, Shell, Unocal, Mobil. In Los Angeles in the Brentwood area there is a Unocal that sells Unocal 104 Octane. Last time I used it, it was $8+ a gallon in an old car that loved it. I tried it in new cars and saw zero difference.

jlv82

I guess I'm the only one who use sunoco

rudyH

I've never seen a Sunoco in California. I remember them in Chicago a LONG time ago. California has pretty strict standards for all motor fuels. The EPA swears they are all equally good with little variation but I just can't get used to that idea. I mean, where does Costco get gas? From everyone? A custom blend from a refiner? Anywhere they can?

ModInJapan

iTrader: (5)

A few of my friends that do car tuning professional for both dedicated race cars and street tuned cars all agree their favorite to tune cars to is Shell. They also said they liked 76, and that Chevron is good too but don't prefer Chevron during tuning because of additives messing with custom mapping but regular driving they said its great.

rudyH

Yeah they have a lot of additives for all uses, but a few to slow detonation which also just slows the combustion in general. I don't remember the detail. Flame front Control or something like that. Helps Nox emissions.

Mesh704

we only have two type of gas over here in Saudi Arabia :

Green 91
Red 95

i do use 95 !!

CobraGSF

iTrader: (2)

wow! so much good info on here thanks guys! i will admit i let my exxon tank run out and filled up with shell vpower again and honestly... i noticed a difference lol. cars smoother and for some reason the acceleration was a little jerky on the exxon gas and just felt sluggish. idk its probably a placebo effect anyway

proview3r

Chevron mostly, but probably switch to Costco since it's always cheaper.