Just wondering what type of gas that you guys would prefer over the next. Any experience or news with the different gasoline would be greatly appreciated too.

 

Gasoline is made to government specifications, and no refiner is going to spend any significant sum on making their gas better than their competitors. All the money is spent on advertising hype, while the refiners trade gasoline back and forth behind the scenes. The gas you pump at a Chevron station may well have come from an Arco refinery, or vice versa.

The biggest difference between fuels is cleanliness and contamination. Basically, if a station looks dirty, the gas may be dirty too. Another source of contamination is debris being stirred up when the station's tanks are filled. If the tanker is there filling the station's tanks it is not a good idea to fill your car there for a half-hour or so afterward.

Gas is a commodity. Buy it at the cheapest price you can and keep the price down for everyone.

George

 

Also, you NEVER know what brand gas you are pumping at any given station. Why? Well, I have a friend whos dad is convinced that Arco makes their gas with water, otherwise it couldnt possibly be so cheap. (He's not a rocket scientist) Well, my friend, after hearing this for years has grown to believe it. Well, I happened to run into an Arco executive a couple years ago and mentioned this to him. He said that first off, the whole "water" notion is absurd, but aside from that, there are quite often supply shortages in CA from various refineries and in the even of a shartage, one refinery will but gas from another refinery and sell it at their stations. So Chevron may be running low and buy some from Arco and then Chevron customers are really getting Arco gas. So I like to think that when my friend and his dad are paying $.25 too much at Texaco, they are actually getting the same Arco gas I'm paying less for.

All that said, I actually trust Arco's engineering more as they were the last company - at least in CA - to carry Regular, LEADED gas as a result of their better chemistry. They carried "EC-1" leaded gas for about 2 years after all other refineries regulars couldnt pass the pollution standards.

Not a big deal, but something that has stuck with me.

As for where I fill up, Arco if I'm paying cash or debit, Mobil if I'm using my gas credit card. It's about 50-50 between them. Haven't noticed any difference between them as I could very well be using the same gas at both stations.

-Gage

 

Well let's say that a majority of the time when the gasoline companies actually have there own gas. Which would you prefer?

Also wouldn't it be false advertisement because some of these companies claim to have additives (i.e. techron and stuff) but yet they sell you gas from other companies that have no such claims of additives.

 

It is only a rumor that Arco uses water in it's gas, but it IS doing something differently than the others. When I had my Civic and used Arco gas there was a notable lower idle than any other gas. This was a BAD thing because that car idled aroun 800-1000 RPM normally and on Arco gas it would idle at aroung 500 or so... very rough.

This is true, but what about the other way around? Wouldn't a refiner sacrifice the quality of the gas just to make more money? I think so! (Arco?)

I would love to hear the truth about Arco gas...

 

An interesting quote from the internet:

 

So much for a poll.

So basically from what you guys are saying is you are screwed because chances are you are getting either other's companies' gas (according to Nano) and since it was some other's companies' gas then it's bottom-of-the-barrel inferior.(according to Darren)

Well I'm going to the meet now but before that I'm going to gas up. I'm going to gas up at my brand name station of which I will pay my extra $.10-.15/gallon so that they can continue marketing the gas as a good one and I will have the "sound of mind thinking that I'm getting the best" when in fact I'm getting the worst. Thank goodness for marketing.

 

one of the women i work with has a husband that works at the pipeline where all the gas (yes all) comes into las vegas and she told me that he will use any gas but texaco. I asked why and she said the extra price is there for a reason because they use an additive thats at best worthlees and at worst damaging. I take this with grain of salt but the extra expense seems unecessary. In my maxima i noticed that it ran MUCH better on chevron than costco gas. But these are far from sciontific statements.

 

Chevron, cause it's only a matter of time until they come out with xA and xB Chevron Cars :)

 

I am a diesel mech , i service several major name brand fuel co's truck's. when i ask these drivers about where there fuel comes from they (the drivers) all say the same thing. the fuel comes from the same place , the only diffrence is addatives like chevron techroline etc..... which are brand specific.

 

Just tried Chevron with Techron...it's still half there, sitting in my tank...I think all the benefits of that techron stuff is psychological--but hell, it's working for my brain!

 

Pretty much ANYTHING except ARCO!

 

I use chevron w/ techron. To me it seems my xA runs better with chevron than when i use to get arco gas. I don't mind to pay an extra .7 -.10 cents a gallon on gas which i think is much better. Even on chevrons' website it tells you why techron is good for your engine.

 

just so ya know: ALL gas is the same ... there is only one pipeline so when a company puts gas in one end there is NO guarantee that it's there gas they get on the other end. The only difference is the additives, and they make a negligable difference.

 

I know I'm not a scientist, so I can't say those so called "additive formulated" claimed by major gas companies really work their magic. But I have a customer who owns sevral gas stations and he says that Arco is top supplier, which means Arco is providing their gas to who ever is short. I guess to me, they're all the same, but I would never goto some ghetto unknown gas station, they might be mixing what ever gas they can get. And I wouldn't care if it is specially formulated, I'd rather just add a octane booster or additive my self and i can feel the slight difference when I pour some fuel additives. (I use lots of additives for my other car with racing fuel and they work great! )

 

imma stick with chevron, those commercials got me. ha
<img src=https://www.scionlife.com/forums/images/smiles/icon_twisted.gif width=45 height=45>

 

i go with the lowest price, with the exception of arco. Costco gas is so damn cheap, i love it

 

i use whatever is cheapest, so long as it isn't some weird fly-by-night indie operation and as long as it's not ARCO. ARCO, from what i understand, skips a few steps in the refining process, which is one reason why their gas is so cheap. i remember ARCO even had a series of commercials a few years ago that basically stated, "our gas is no different than anyone else's, except it's cheaper." in the past when i put ARCO in cars, there was a noticeable difference in how it ran over time--this was when i was putting in ARCO religiously because it was so cheap.

now, i just fill up at whatever is cheapest. the unocal on vanowen and topanga in woodland hills/canoga park is dirt cheap at about $1.699/gallon for 87 octane (the scion xB ONLY gets 87 octane--no reason to put more expensive gas in a car that isn't designed for it and which only puts out 108 hp!). in sherman oaks, where i live, there is a shell station on burbank and woodman which is about the same price. there are a few others, but since i work in calabasas and live in sherman oaks, those are the two ones i hit all the time.

another cheap place is the exxon on santa monica blvd. between sepulveda and veteran for all you west LA/UCLA people.


john

 

I'm hooked on Chevron's marketing, also. :oops:
I've also noticed the rougher idle with cheaper gas years ago,
so I've stuck with Chevron and 76 for 99.9% of the time.

 

my fiance was all hooked on that "watered down gas" business....


punch me if im wrong, but if you have water in your system you get vapor lock...right?

second, it all came from the same dead dinosaurs...

I prefer 102 Octante with 27lbs of boost....*word*