What Brand of Premium Fuel Do You Use?

[beigg]

It takes more quantity of ethanol to meet the equivalent energy of gasoline. The higher percentage the "E" the more quantity of fuel is needed. You may not see "kr" but you'd see lean conditions if nothing was scaled to reflect the fuel usage change. Hence the OEM put's a 20-30% variation embedded in the calibration.

[jantt]

use Shell 99 V-Power

[j-dawg]

I use the stuff they sell at HEB, a Texas grocery chain. It's on my way home from work. I swipe my points card and get discounts on groceries.

My take on anything that's got regulations or standards associated with it - medications, chemical products, motor oils, etc - is that the generic is as good as the branded version at the core, with perhaps fewer frills. You can trust that the core product is acceptable because it must meet a quantifiable standard. I feel the same about gasoline: my car will not run better on Shell, Chevron, or other "Top Tier"-compliant gasolines, because the EPA already has standards regulating gasoline quality, and every car I've owned has run just fine on gasolines that meet that standard and no more. (Incidentally, I've also never had trouble with gasoline being stagnant in the station's tanks, buying gasoline in winter, etc. I've heard lots of stuff on the internet about how buying gas from the wrong station at the wrong time will mess you up, and I've experienced none of it ever.)

Now, though they're not necessarily worth the cost or effort, some of the frills associated with Top Tier-branded gas may not be total frippery. Top Tier gasolines are required to contain detergents beyond what is mandated by the government. I do believe that, in the long term, those could make some difference in the cleanliness of engine parts. Is it enough to go out of my way for? I doubt it. I could just pour a bottle of fuel system cleaner in the tank after every other oil change. But I wouldn't call it baloney.

[polskamafia mjl]

It takes more quantity of ethanol to meet the equivalent energy of gasoline. The higher percentage the "E" the more quantity of fuel is needed. You may not see "kr" but you'd see lean conditions if nothing was scaled to reflect the fuel usage change. Hence the OEM put's a 20-30% variation embedded in the calibration.

Correct. Which is why if I were to run E85 I would have the car tuned for it. Not only to protect the engine but also to extract all of the performance advantages of that sweet, sweet corn juice.

I didn't mention it since I don't use E85.

[j-dawg]

And to be clear, when I say Top Tier I mean this stuff. It's a standard for gasolines that mandates higher content of certain detergents. I do not mean higher-octane fuels; it's mostly anecdotal, but it seems like many of the burnt valves on this forum come from tanks of 87 or 89, and I never put less than 93 in my T5.

[cn90]

I usually go for Shell or BP Octane 91.

[oragex]

Less the brand. What I want is an honest gas station owner who doesn't mix 89 in the 91 tank.

[erikv11]

Less the brand. What I want is an honest gas station owner who doesn't mix 89 in the 91 tank.

I often consider this as well. It's why I sometimes prefer (alas) the massive outlets for fuel like Costco or Sam's, or even the gas station hooked to the larger chain grocery store - the company truck driver comes, fills the tanks, and leaves. There is no single person who would benefit from incrementally increasing profits with a cheat. The tank filling is likely all standardized process and you know what you're getting. As long as you can trust the top of the management chain ... yikes.