I was just wondering if any of you guys have a preference on what gas you put in your rangers? And do you all put 87 octane in them or do you go with something higher? Up until now, I've pretty much put in whatever is closest to me when the tank gets near empty. I do avoid the gas stations that seem to be "generic", but I have put in anything from Sunoco to Sheetz. Is there a big difference between any of them? Is there a particular brand of gas out there that's better than the others or are they all pretty close to being the same?

 

I have a 2.3 and I stick with 87 octane, I try to stay with Shell.

 

I run BP gas, ford also recomends running BP as it states on the gas cap and in the owners manual. BP gas meets all fords requirements. Well, I guess BP is actaully Amico gas now.

 

I work for one of the major independent oil company's at there product terminal. You guys would be very surprised at what gas is actually at the pump when you by it. All of these company's do exchanges with there gas when its put in the pipeline. As for Sheetz, they buy on the open market, there gas is what ever is the cheapest wholesale that day. ( they don't refine there own gas)

 

Well as I understand it, the Govt mandates the base unadditized fuel recipe.

So the differences between gas brands at the pump will be mostly in the fuels ad pack & how much is in it & the octane we choose to use & how clean the fuel is.

As for fuel brand, the way their formulated in my area, I have had better performance with Chevron, Texaco, Sunoco, BP, Citgo, EXXON & Shell in that order.

Now that Shell has recently changed it's fuel ad pack recipe, I'm trying 5 tanks of it in my 94 Taurus 3.8L, to see how it's city mpg will now perform.

I just came off a almost 400 mile trip in the Taurus this past weekend, using E10 BP & got 30.28 mpg, all highway at the posted speed limit, mostly between 55-70mph.

The all city driving mpg on the BP fill up before the trip was 21+, also on E10 BP. Not bad for a 15+ year old Taurus 3.8L with 107K miles on it!!!! It's EPA rated mpg is 18city/28highway

I've made this same trip trip twice in my 99 Ranger 4.0L, using the specified 87 octane Chevron or Texaco & got 24.8 mpg on both trips, not bad for a 4X2, 4.0L, 5spd auto, 4dr Ranger, thats rated at 21mpg highway.

I prefer to use a "Top Tier" gasoline, as their fuel ad pack is higher than the Govt minimum & my Ranger suffers from CCDI, so it's mighty pesnickety about the fuel it gets, to keep the CCDI at bay.

You can check out "Top Tier" gasoline requirements, it's recipe & distributors here & which brands qualify. Top Tier Gasoline

Our "Owners Manual" advises against our using other than 87 octane in our engines, as the factory tune is optimized for 87, so our valve & ignition timing isn't right for the slower burning high test gas, so our engines don't get all of the thermal energy from high test because of incomplete combustion.

As such premium fuel can leave behind troublesome deposits, or cause downstream cat converter over heating problems.
So I use the designed for 87 octane, of good quality!!!!

Fuel thoughts for pondering.

 

That's just an advertising deal that was struck between Ford and BP Amico a few years ago.

I usually use BP because it is on the same side of the road when I go to work. I have noticed that when I rarely stop at a United Dairy Farmers station that uses Mobile I get about 1 mpg more for some reason.

 

Top Tier Detergent Gasoline
TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline is a recently established new standard for gasoline performance. Four of the world's top automakers, BMW, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota recognize that the current EPA minimum detergent requirements do not go far enough to ensure optimal engine performance.
Since the minimum additive performance standards were first established by EPA in 1995, most gasoline marketers have actually reduced the concentration level of detergent additive in their gasoline by up to 50%. As a result, the ability of a vehicle to maintain stringent Tier 2 emission standards have been hampered, leading to engine deposits which can have a big impact on in-use emissions and driver satisfaction.
These automakers have raised the bar. TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline help drivers avoid lower quality gasoline which can leave deposits on critical engine parts, which reduces engine performance. That’s something both drivers and automakers want to avoid.


TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline Retailers
Gasoline retailers must meet the high TOP TIER standards with all grades of gasoline to be approved by the automakers as providing TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline.
In addition, all gasoline outlets carrying the brand of the approved retailer must meet the TOP TIER standards.
Additional gasoline retailers are added to the TOP TIER list as they meet the standards. The retailers known to be on the TOP TIER list are shown below.
TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
QuikTrip
Chevron
Texaco
MFA Oil Co.
Conoco
Phillips 66
76
Entec Stations
Shell
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Kwik Trip / Kwik Star
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Co.
Turkey Hill Minit Markets
Mileage Stations
Chevron Canada
Shell Canada
Petro-Canada
Sunoco Canada

 

Here's a good link to read:

Your Car is a Temple, so Put in the Good Stuff. - Column/Larry Webster/C/D Staff/Columns/Features/Car and Driver - Car And Driver

 

Back in the day I use to love texico gas, however there are no more texico stations left a round here. We have a citgo and BP in town, so I use BP since citgo is owned by that commy down in south america.

 

Citgo has been looking for a buyer for about 6 months now. No takers yet, wanna buy it Wendall!!!! lol

 

Shell and BP are the two main brands wher I live. I tend to use BP as I find them in more places than Shell when I travel. (I use pre paid cards from our church to support the private school)

 

Sure I'll buy citgo, let me just cut them a check he he.

 

My rule of thumb is to try to buy American gas (Sinclair, Maverick, etc. do a search and find who is American and who isn't. ). I don't buy Exxon on principle (wheres the oil they promised from Alaska. That permit was conditional that the oil was to be shipped to the states). I do not buy from Phillips-Conoco, and if you value your gun rights, you should not either. Phillips fired employees because they had registered guns. I find that disgusting, and I think they should feel that where they understand it most.

 

Where i live in Wisconsin in a town of 10,000 we have 3 Citgos, 1 BP, 3 Marathons (4 if you count the one a little out of town), 1 Qwik Trip, and 1 station called the Ohio-Vista. Typically in my 97 escort i get better milage from the Vista or Marathon stations. havnt owned the ranger long enough to fill up again.

 

Back in 89, Texaco proved that a well designed fuel ad pack could clean up a dirty engine, when it began to market it's "Clean System 3" fuel ad pack.

Out of desperation I rediscovered Texaco in 97, while looking for a fuel to WAKE UP, my 94 Taurus 3.8L.

It couldn't get more than 17.2 mpg around town & had lost it's throttle response & was really lazy off the line & felt like it couldn't get out of it's own way!!!! I had tried after market fuel addiives & every other brand of gas in town, to no lasting avail.

So I fell for Texaco's ad, that said "give us 5 tanks & we'll guarantee you'll feel the difference".

I hadn't used Texaco for many years, as it hadn't run well & would "Ping" in most of my rides, but in 97 I was desperate.

Anyway, after the second tank in the Taurus 3.8L I could begin to feel the difference in throttle response & city mpg was up from 17, to over 20 by the end of the second tank & by the 5th tank that 3.8L WOKE UP, throttle response was fully back & the city mpg was running between 21-22 winter to 23.5-24.5 in the warmer months of spring, summer & fall, more than I had ever gotten on it.

I had never used a gasoline that would make THAT much diference in how any of my rides would perform.

BTW I check my mpg with EVERY fill up, so I have a lot of historical data to average, on both of my rides.

In the late 90's Chevron came to town with a good reputation. I had never used Chevron in any of my vehicles, but they were advertising their then new ad pack "Techron", so I began to try it in the 99 Ranger 4.0L & Taurus with very good results.

So every 6 months I'd switch between Texaco & Chevron, to keep my engines deposits down & performance up, as back then those two hadn't yet merged their businesses, so both had different fuel ad pack recipies & one would clean up the others deposits, even in the combustion chamber, which I later found out, not all fuel ad packs will do.

Some will actually add to the combustion chamber deposit load & the 4.0L Rangers engine proved it wih it's cold start CCDI knock!!!!! lol

So those of us with engines that are very sensitive to intake side & combustion chamber deposit loading, be aware that a fuel with a really good ad pack can WAKE UP your engine!!!!

Since Texaco & Chevron merged & are now both using the same fuel ad pack, I've been trying to find a second "go to" fuel, that'll keep the Rangers CCDI at bay & the Taurus throttle response & mpg up, by cleaning up the both the intake side, as well as the combustion chamber.

Remember it'll take about 5 tanks, or 1000 miles of driving, for one fuels detergents, to clean up the others deposits. So when you switch brands, give the new one at least 5 tanks to do it's thing, before you give up on it.

As I said previously, I'm now going to re-try Shell, as they say they've now changed their fuel ad pack, so maybe it'll become my other 6 month go-to fuel, to keep my Ford rides AWAKE!!!! lol

More fuel deposit thoughts for pondering.