Fuel quality in the US (1 Viewer)

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Toronto
Hello,

I have always used SHELL premium 91 in Canada for my previous bmw becuase i it has no ethanol.

But since i got my lx470 5 months ago, the manual said 87 or higher, and i tried 87, 89, 91 and not much difference in mpg, but pick up is better with 91, so i said stick to 87 since i dont live on high hills

Since i crossed the border from washington (now in California) i noticed shell is always more expensive than other stations like 76, fredymayer, chevron, arco (no mobil yet) and i tried all of their 87.

I feel the engine is bogged down. It doesnt perform well and needs to be revved more. It is like it is being choked going uphill.

I tried 89 chevron 2 days ago and after quarter of a tank the car performs like canadian 87 grade from shell ...

What does that tell me about gas quality here?

Is 89 chevron the best of al 89s?
I plan to stick with it


Premium cost less here in Santa Monica than regular gas in Toronto but i try to save anyway i can :)
 
I’ll just say there are plenty of assertions you can read on the net that are not true about pump gas and octane. My advise is that if you are going to study gas is to find a credible source and dont waste time reading goofy stuff.
 
Stick to Top Teir stations and you'll be fine.
There IS a difference in fuel quality, Top Teir fuels are better hands down.
All gasoline in the US will have ethanol in it unless stated on the pump otherwise, that is recreational fuel and is not supposed to be used in cars. It is for lawn mowers and boats, but people do use it in cars.
I have used it in my cars to no gain in MPG but a huge price difference per gal.

Home | Top Tier Gas
 
Some fuel stations have ethanol free gasoline and sometimes the price is same as 10% ethanol blended gasoline and sometimes it is about 0.30 - 0.50 cents more. Where I live ethanol free gasoline is 0.50 more and I am currently in Amarillo TX and there are places selling 100% gasoline for $2.33 a gallon!

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

Like Spike said stay with top tier gasoline
 
E Zero fuel is the way to go for carbureted engines. I like the idea of keeping corn out of gasoline and using it for food instead.
 
1-Altitude. Basically anywhere in CA outside of LA, SD, SF, is higher than Toronto.
2- Yes, get top tier gas. But between Vons, Costco and Shell, there isn't going to be too much difference. You aren't running race fuel as the 100 was designed with 3rd world areas in mind.
3- Change out your fuel filter?
 
Gasoline is a commodity. It’s all the same. Gasoline from different refineries goes into the same pipeline. The trucks that supply all the gas stations in a given area fill up at the exact same fuel terminal (where the pipelines end). They load the exact same fuel into every truck. The only difference is that the trucks going to the Chevron station get about 10 gallons of Chevron detergent additives added into their 30,000 gallons of fuel. The trucks going to the Shell station get 10 gallons of Shell detergent additives. Same for Exxon. Etc. etc. for every major band. The additives are mostly the same too. They all have a proprietary tweak,or two just so they can advertise that they are unique. For all practical purposes, they are identical.

bpe3
 
Some fuel stations have ethanol free gasoline and sometimes the price is same as 10% ethanol blended gasoline and sometimes it is about 0.30 - 0.50 cents more. Where I live ethanol free gasoline is 0.50 more and I am currently in Amarillo TX and there are places selling 100% gasoline for $2.33 a gallon!

Is that supposed to be expensive? Try living in the pacific northwest!!!

Blaine Gas Prices - Find Cheap Gas Prices in Blaine, Washington

And even those prices are substantially cheaper than we pay north of the border. I cross to Washington to get those prices because it's saving me about 30% compared to buying in Canada.
 
Is that supposed to be expensive? Try living in the pacific northwest!!!

Blaine Gas Prices - Find Cheap Gas Prices in Blaine, Washington

And even those prices are substantially cheaper than we pay north of the border. I cross to Washington to get those prices because it's saving me about 30% compared to buying in Canada.

I paid less for gas in Haines AK and Skagway Ak then i paid in Seattle and they aren't even connected to mainland USA. When i was living in Whitehorse gas was 112.9 and everyone laughed at all the people down south in Van with the painfully high gas taxes.
 
X2 what @bpe3 said above. The only real differences is at the individual station location and the transportation company. Many stations have issues with water entering the underground storage tanks. If the fuel has ethanol in it, the water will mix with the ethanol lowering the quality and octane in which you will purchase. If the fuel has no ethanol then the water will not mix. Another difference is the in the filtering of the fuel at the dispenser. Are the dispensers/pumps equipped with filters? Hydra-sorb (stops water and particulates)? Particulate (stops dirt/rust only)? or just bypassed? Some states have laws about using filters but not all stations do so. Lastly, the transportation company might cross dump the wrong octane or product in the tank. Ooops...drivers would never do that and not tell anyone.
 
SHELL is the worst gasoline in USA . One day I was traveling to CA from IDAHO and I always was stopping to get gas at one and only one gas station in Jordan Valery - Oregon, the gas station was SHELL for the last 50 years - not until my last stop . I was surprised that instead of SHELL it was Sinclair. I asked mechanic on the gas station why they went Sinclair? He told me that local people that was always using SHELL, because they had no others option start complaint about engines problems, anyways short version that SHELL is using a lot more ethanol more that 10% and some cars can't take that.
 
X2 what @bpe3 said above. Lastly, the transportation company might cross dump the wrong octane or product in the tank. Ooops...drivers would never do that and not tell anyone.

Happens all the time. I was a dispatcher for a large fuel supply company for a couple of years. It is common practice for drivers to 'dump' any extra fuel into the next highest octane tank. For example....IF a customer orders too much 'regular' for their tank, the driver isn't going to haul that fuel (sometimes 500-1000 gallons) back to the hub or their own facility. They dump it into the mid-grade tank.

This is illegal of course, but happens all the time. Some 'customers' routinely order more fuel (usually regular) than their tanks will hold, knowing the driver will dump the remainder in their mid-grade tank. Whenever we could establish a 'pattern' of this...we would no longer supply that customer.
 
I only use HARLEY OIL......:worms: Actually fuel varies all over the country. I try to only use CORN FREE gas, less issues and better performance.
 
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Happens all the time. I was a dispatcher for a large fuel supply company for a couple of years. It is common practice for drivers to 'dump' any extra fuel into the next highest octane tank. For example....IF a customer orders too much 'regular' for their tank, the driver isn't going to haul that fuel (sometimes 500-1000 gallons) back to the hub or their own facility. They dump it into the mid-grade tank.

This is illegal of course, but happens all the time. Some 'customers' routinely order more fuel (usually regular) than their tanks will hold, knowing the driver will dump the remainder in their mid-grade tank. Whenever we could establish a 'pattern' of this...we would no longer supply that customer.

Well that will not do much harm to the engine. So short story if you take 87 suppose half the tank and add 91 the result will be as 90+/-, the only thing that you as (customer) will pay more .
 
Well that will not do much harm to the engine. So short story if you take 87 suppose half the tank and add 91 the result will be as 90+/-, the only thing that you as (customer) will pay more .

Not suggesting any 'harm' is imminent. Our engines have a knock sensor, so if 'pinging' were to occur the ECU will adjust engine operating parameters to guard against it.

But poorer performance is the result, whether recognized by the driver or not. And that was the point the OP was making.

The reason for cross dumping (when done on purpose and in significant amounts) is higher profit for the vendor. Small amounts of one fuel added to another are of no concern. Large, high volume retail sellers are almost never guilty of cross dumping (they order accurately). Its the small convenience store fuel sources that are most apt to over-order and cause a cross dumping scenario.
 
I worked at all major refineries in California, the gas formulation is the same and the only difference is their detergents. Those are proprietary and are used for advertising say Techron for Chevron etc.
 
I worked at all major refineries in California, the gas formulation is the same and the only difference is their detergents. Those are proprietary and are used for advertising say Techron for Chevron etc.

Based on what you are saying, i should go for the cheapest 89 then ,,, correct?

The thing is that the difference between all 3 grades is very small here in the US!! Sometimes i tell myself just pay $3 or so extra per tank and drive!! :)
 
Based on what you are saying, i should go for the cheapest 89 then ,,, correct?

The thing is that the difference between all 3 grades is very small here in the US!! Sometimes i tell myself just pay $3 or so extra per tank and drive!! :)


All gasoline as piped to the hub/rack is the same. Doesn't matter if it is 'branded' or unbranded. All gasoline MUST meet certain minimum standards. What makes one fuel different from another is what 'additives' are mixed with the fuel at the distribution hub (as it is being loaded onto a tanker truck).

The major 'branded' fuel companies all have their proprietary mixtures (detergents, etc) that 'allegedly' are better for your vehicle than straight unbranded gasoline. But the 'base' fuel is all the same as it comes from the refinery. ONLY at the hub, does it become something different.
 

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