Anyone here brand loyal to any particular brand of gas?

The other day while getting my oil changed at the dealer, the service writer and I had a few minutes to talk. He noticed that my lie-ometer said 18.5 MPG's when he was recording my mileage.

He made the comment that the ecoboost engines respond better to tier 1 fuels. Since owning the truck, I've always bought what ever where ever. I do normally buy gas from BJ's wholesale store (like Sam's club) because it is less expensive and there is a cash cage in the middle of the fuel island. Really convenient for those of us refuse to swipe a CC/DC into a gas pump.

In the summer I'm getting 19+ mixed and 22+ on the freeway.

Any thoughts on this?

 

I try to avoid Wawa but do fuel there when I have to. I prefer the Hess 1 mile further than the Wawa here usually the same price with Hess being much less busy, Sunoco or BP also. Mostly any but the quickie mart. Recently with work being slow I have used up our Giant food store gas points a few times. Hey man, its hard to turn down anywhere from 60-90 cents off a gallon when money is tight in the winter Now for the Harley, mower and chainsaws they ONLY get Sunoco 93
EDIT: I'm avg'ing 12.2 right now. Not worried- winter fuel and the job I've been on is only 10 mi with a Wawa stop on the way in. I've gotten high 18's hand calc'ed with my current set-up summertime hi-way mpg

 

I think he's referring to Top Tier gasoline.

It's recommended by several vehicle manufacturers such as BMW, GM, Volkswagen, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi. Top tier gas adheres to a higher standard for detergent additives and is supposed to keep your engine cleaner. I fill up with top tier gas when I get the chance, but I've never seen any kind of fuel economy improvement with it.

Definitely don't buy your service writer's assertion though. There's a certain amount of energy per gallon in gasoline, nothing in top tier gas affects that. In fact top tier gas does even less for a direct-injected EcoBoost engine because the design makes it impossible for the gasoline to clean the intake valves.

 

My wife has an Audi Q5 2.0T. It gets the better gas, usually. However, it has seen its share of mid-grade Giant bonus card gasoline also

 

Remember that higher octane isn't "better" gas at all. It simply has a higher knock resistance, and it is sometimes required in high performance engines. The EcoBoost, and likely your wife's Audi, makes more power on higher octane gas. Not every engine will though.

Truth about octane ratings - Los Angeles LA | Examiner.com

Feeding 93 octane gasoline into an engine not tuned to take advantage of it is doing it no favors, it doesn't help with anything.

 

When I purchased my truck, I filled primarily at Shell, as with a stop and shop card, you get 10 cents off for every hundred dollars in groceries purchased. I would usually have 40-60 cents off per gallon by the time I needed to fill up.

Since I purchased my house, we no longer have a stop and shop locally so I don't buy gas from Shell. I now have a Cumberland farms gas card, which gives 10 cents off per gallon with every purchase (caveat is that the money is debited directly from a checking act.).

The Shell gas would have been considered "Top Tier" per the list HERE, however I can't really speak to a difference in mileage from switching to a non-tier 1 gas. When I made the switch, it was a seasonal change (winter fuel) and a change in commute.

 

I know. It usually gets Sunoco and has a min requirement of 91 but sometimes it just gets the cheap stuff at Giant. Robb thanks for that link

 

Interesting reading, thanks to everyone.

This coming Friday we're going to Sarah's college for a day trip, 400 miles round trip. They have a station there sell ethanol free gas, I'm going to fill up on that and see how it does on the ride home.

Not unhappy with my mileage or performance, I just figured this may be a thought provoking discussion.

 

Wish I had one of these around, I would fill the motorcycle with ethanol free prior to winter storage. I stabilize the fuel and start the bike every month or so during winter but still....

 

Theres an Ethanol free station about 20+ miles from me. I'm looking for an excuse to drive up there and fill up. If the Gov't makes us go to 15% instead of 10 I will have no choice because I can't run my chainsaws on that. Stihl sent out a press release it will void warranty for using it

 

I'd love to put ethanol free in all my engines but cant afford 4.09 gal. It only goes in my boat..I tend to fill up at name brand, newer stations..Shell,Sunoco,Chevron..I just go the new stations with high volume and new tanks, this way its not stale..

 

I use Shell premium. When I'm camping or out of state, I try to use a name brand gas station. Ford recommends premium when hauling or towing, but I have been using it all the time. It may be just me, but it seems to have better throttle response using premium gas.

 

You're not the first to report better throttle response with premium gas; somewhere there's a dyno video demonstrating a ~10 HP increase with a stock truck on premium gas.

My truck has only seen one or two tanks of premium, and the overwhelming majority of my towing has been with regular 87 octane gas. Doesn't seem any the worse for wear, and it sure tows great.

 

I wouldn't waste any time worrying about it. in fact, i don't.

as we speak, my 79 f350, loader tractor. all the lawn mowers the plow truck, and the generator, are sitting full of e10. my 83 k20 sits most of the summer with e10 in the tank, and it has never been a problem. I do use stabilizer before i store them, but only to keep the fuel from going bad while sitting for months on end. I have ZERO worries with letting a vehicle (or other) sit full of ethanol blended fuel. it just isn't a problem, not for me anyway.

the last time i filled my generator was before last winter. i put 6 gallons of e10 in the tank, plus a double dose of sta-bil, and let it run for about 30 minutes. This fall i pulled it out and it fired on the first pull (once i remembered to set the choke). I was going to change the fuel out, but after it started up so easily, i felt pretty confident that the fuel is fine.... it is just not a problem IMO.

i do try to fill up the t-bird , boat, and crown vic with premium when i fill those. not for any other reason than the premium fuels have a better preservative package. the stations sell less premium gas, and don't want it going bad in their tanks, so a better additive package is part of the game plan. so with my additives on top of theirs, i don't have much problems with cars even if they sit for a year or two.

Before our local Shell station went out of business, we would always fill up there. we consistently got better fuel mileage on Shell gasoline. back when i was driving 160+ miles per day, i tried them all i figured gas was gas. at that time i drove my 94 escort, and I checked my mileage every tank (just because i always do), and i always got 34mpg. except one time i filled up at Shell and i got 36mpg. i figured it was a fluke, but filled up at shell again just to see, and i got 36mpg again. so i tried an experiment and i went for 2 weeks filling up ONLY at shell, and then went 2 weeks filling up anywhere except shell.

the end result was that every tank from shell got me 36mpg, and every tank not from shell got me 34mpg. that made a believer out of me, and from that point on i filled up only at shell. it was a few cents more per gallon, but it was cheaper in the long run because the mileage was always better.

as for the premium giving you better throttle response, i don't doubt it one bit. my 2010 at work has a TON more more power and throttle response in the low rpm's when using e30 or e85. any vehicle that has the ability to advance the ignition timing to take advantage of the higher octane should feel more responsive in the low rpm's with the increase in spark lead. to me the difference is much more noticeable in the low rpm's than it is in the upper band.

just my thoughts .....

 

I typically fill with either Speedway or Costco 87oct in my 5.0L which has been getting me approx. 13.5mpg mixed this winter. Last fill up was from under 1/4 tank and I used the 87oct from Mobile. My meter is showing over 14.0mpg at the moment and if anything its been more stop and go and harder driving!