Different Gas Station.. More Power?

wythors · Oct 4, 2004

I was talking to the guy that owns the Texaco distributorship here in the Seattle area a couple of years ago. I asked him about "cheap" gas vs. "brand name" gas. North of Seattle there are three refineries. They all pump their gas through the same pipeline (you may have heard about when it ruptured and exploded killing 3 kids a few years back) to Harbor Island in the Seattle industrial area. All the gas in the Puget Sound area comes out of that pipe. A Texaco driver pulls his truck up to the pump and slides his key card through the reader. The dispenser then fills his truck with gasoline and a proprietary additive package for Texaco. The driver for Union 76 comes next and swipes his card. He gets the Union additive package. The driver for AM/PM pulls up and gets a tank of gas laced with cat urine. And so on. It all comes from the same place, just with different stuff in it. About 8 years ago I stopped buying gas from AM/PM and other discount places and switched to Union 76. I didn't notice any increase in power, but I did start getting better mileage immediately. It's all in the additives.

Michael Yount · Oct 4, 2004

I worked for about 16 years in the pipeline business. Liquid lines have the ability to flow different product in the same line. They can place plugs often referred to as 'pigs' between two different batches of product. These move along with the product and are inserted/extracted to keep batches separate. So just because it all comes out of the same physical pipeline doesn't necessarily mean it's all the same product. Also, most tank farms have many different companies storing their product at distribution centers. It's a simple matter of selecting the proper valve/manifold piping to get different product to come out of the same 'nozzle'. Lastly, based on my experience in college working at a plant where we had a big tank farm with both truck and rail car distribution capability (loading and unloading), the owner of the facility (who I also knew) couldn't have loaded or unloaded a truck if his life depended on it. So the fact the someone owns the distributorship doesn't necessarily mean that they know the nuts and bolts of how to operate the facility.

Daggar · Oct 4, 2004

crunchie12268 said:
I have been going to Dillions to get my fuel because it is cheap. I get 91 octane every time. Two days ago I was almost out and just decided to pay the extra 17 cents per gallon. I put it in and notice more power, then over the next day I noticed my car would start easier and it just feels really nice. Is this possible, maybe Dillions has diluted fuel so it is cheaper??

One other possibilty is that the gas you're getting from El Cheapo Filler'up and Suck is that they're selling some ethanol or methanol swill at the pump. By law, it's supposed to be indentified at the pump but all that means is some small sticker with fine print that reads "methanol". It would explain the 17 cent price difference as well as poor performance. Stangers beware; 5 ohs run like ass on ethanol and methanol gas. You tend to find allot more of it in rural areas than in the cities but it's spreading fast due to all of the emissions hype.

crunchie12268 · Oct 4, 2004

Yeah maybe I was just being paranoid about the gas. It does get better mileage though. My girlfriend has a V6 mustang and she said that getting gas from the dillions brought down her mileage. Ohh well... it does seem to run better, maybe it is the cooler air.

myroc · Oct 4, 2004

up here in Canada the best gas is Chevron

Bullitt69 · Oct 4, 2004

A very interesting Thread...

It's such a coincidence that I decided to read this thread today. Scott from Jersey who shouts Exxon Gas is crap - man can I relate!!!

Perhaps it is the change in seasons, and gas formulations are being altered, but for the first time EVER I experienced detonation with my supercharged Muzzy.

I surely can't blame the cooler temps, could I? I would think if anything, an improvement would occur with the denser air. Doing a third gear pull on an expressway entrance ramp yesterday, I heard it about 4500 rpms. A kind of chiming metallic burp rattle if you will..... Terrible sound... I'm scared to get into now...

Well, I managed to burn up the rest of the Exxon super in there, and now have Sheetz gas in'er, so I'll see what happens this afternoon.

Mr. Yount, I live in the northeast (pittsburgh), and would imagine our gasoline may be going under some changes with winter coming & all. Would you know where I could find additional info about this?

scarless · Oct 4, 2004

crunchie12268, just go to QT and get the 93 octane.

crunchie12268 · Oct 4, 2004

im gonna try it, because my gas mileage gets better the higher the octane

Michael Yount · Oct 4, 2004

"cooler air" - probably hit the nail on the head. I forget it every year. 1% HP increase for every 10F decrease in intake air temps. There's a reason they feel quicker on those crisp, clear 30F days. They're making more HP -- on any kind of gas.

Michael Yount · Oct 4, 2004

bullitt - yeah, the seasonal reformulations ought to be hitting about now. I guess if I were gonna investigate it, I'd start with the EPA's website. Alternatively, you might bounce around some of the high performance sites and see if you can hook up with someone that actually works at one of the major oil company's refineries. They can probably tell you how that all works.

There are something like 130 different formulations required (all of that has to be kept separate in the pipelines and trucks) all over the country, and it adds a significant amount of cost to the product just from a logistical management perspective.

Michael Yount · Oct 4, 2004

Oh - as for the occasional one bad tank of gas ( detonation issues) - more often than not, a new or replacement tanker driver simply got the octane/tanks mixed up and dumped his load of 93 into the 87 tank or vice versa. I've gotta think it happens at least as often as the decaffeinated 'orange' pot gets put under the regular caffeine laden coffee drip machine at restaurants.

mustangramair · Oct 4, 2004

Daggar said:
One other possibilty is that the gas you're getting from El Cheapo Filler'up and Suck is that they're selling some ethanol or methanol swill at the pump. By law, it's supposed to be indentified at the pump but all that means is some small sticker with fine print that reads "methanol". It would explain the 17 cent price difference as well as poor performance. Stangers beware; 5 ohs run like ass on ethanol and methanol gas. You tend to find allot more of it in rural areas than in the cities but it's spreading fast due to all of the emissions hype.

I only run BP Amoco gas i heard it has good detergents in it. I have also run 89 ethanol in my 5.0 and it seems to run exactly as it does with 93 octane . Did you have a bad expierence with ethanol?

crunchie12268 · Oct 4, 2004

I don't know if there was any enthanol in it... but I am still driving on my tank I filled up with a while ago, and that is alot better than I ever did with the cheap gas.

Daggar · Oct 4, 2004

mustangramair said:
I only run BP Amoco gas i heard it has good detergents in it. I have also run 89 ethanol in my 5.0 and it seems to run exactly as it does with 93 octane . Did you have a bad expierence with ethanol?

yep... VERY poor performance and my fuel mileage went totally to hell. It was a difference of about 60 miles to a tank of gas during in town driving on the Mustang. My Suburban is designed to run on an ethanol mixture and I get pretty poor gas mileage with it versus regular gas as well. For the suburban it's just not worth it. Even though it's supposed to be ready to run on that type of gas, it's not cost effective. The gas is cheaper but is more than offset by the mileage pendalty. In other words: The cheap ethanol gas ends up costing me more money than the regular gas.

Scorcher2005 · Oct 4, 2004

FrdMustangCpe said:
they dont charge 17 cents extra for no reason IMO. I use name brand wherever i get gas. and about every third tank i get high octane Shell with that 'good stuff' in it. Shell has been around awhile and i think there is something to the way they do their gas. them and chevron too. the only time i will ever get gas from a 'no name' station will be if i really need it. just my 2 cents.

I noticed in my old car (69 Mustang 250 6cyl) that I used mobil because it was convient at the time and it ran rough and just wasnt right. well, i went to shell and put high in there and it ran right. cuz the gas?? was it just a coincidence?? i have no clue

well then y do they charge $150 for a pair of Lucky jeans and i pay $30 for my Levis?

Bullitt69 · Oct 7, 2004

Oh - as for the occasional one bad tank of gas ( detonation issues) - more often than not, a new or replacement tanker driver simply got the octane/tanks mixed up and dumped his load of 93 into the 87 tank or vice versa. I've gotta think it happens at least as often as the decaffeinated 'orange' pot gets put under the regular caffeine laden coffee drip machine at restaurants.

Michael, what an idea! You know, you may be right on the nose here.

This store is close to my house, so I'm in&out of there all the time. I HAVE noticed a new truck driver delivering the fuel. You should see this guy! He fits the stereotypical "truck driver" image to a T: Big guy with a potbelly, beard, southern accent (no offense to you southerners ), and just all around "country yahoo" look. (for lack of a better description). Seems lately, I'll be checking out at the register when he's stumbling in to give the clerk their gas receipt. He always has this dazed look on his face, like there's a few loose screws upstairs for sure. One can barely understand a word he's saying, it's almost as if he missing a tounge or something. (ever see the assistant coach on the "Waterboy" - the guy who would always wear the overalls?) "Baba leep bap, lerouy cant too feeda bouch"

IndyBlk5.0 · Oct 7, 2004

Bullitt69 said:
Michael, what an idea! You know, you may be right on the nose here.

This store is close to my house, so I'm in&out of there all the time. I HAVE noticed a new truck driver delivering the fuel. You should see this guy! He fits the stereotypical "truck driver" image to a T: Big guy with a potbelly, beard, southern accent (no offense to you southerners ), and just all around "country yahoo" look. (for lack of a better description). Seems lately, I'll be checking out at the register when he's stumbling in to give the clerk their gas receipt. He always has this dazed look on his face, like there's a few loose screws upstairs for sure. One can barely understand a word he's saying, it's almost as if he missing a tounge or something. (ever see the assistant coach on the "Waterboy" - the guy who would always wear the overalls?) "Baba leep bap, lerouy cant too feeda bouch"

LOL! I just busted out laughing in the middle of my college "quiet" computer lab. HAHA. I'm allitle imbarrassed now, but that was halairous!
I run 87 octain. I don't run 93 because it is a waste of money. Especially when I didn't notice any performance increases. Also, the lower compression ratio keeps detonation away it seems.

Bullitt69 · Oct 9, 2004

LOL! I just busted out laughing in the middle of my college "quiet" computer lab. HAHA. I'm allitle imbarrassed now, but that was halairous!

Glad I could brighten your day (or night). Isn't it always intriguing when you see someone burst out laughing while they're sitting at a computer? I'm notorious for it myself, I always have people asking what the heck's so funny? I just wave them off and try to regain my composure.

Legendary · Oct 13, 2004

So with my timing at 14* and MSD ignition, I can get away with runnig 87 ?

The gt40s and cam shouldn't matter right?

StreetDreamsGT · Oct 13, 2004

DAMN EXXON!!!! I've been trying to figure out what the best gas would be to run in my car for a while, and I ended up going with them because they were a big name. I feel so betrayed!! How do you know what octane the gas is? I mean I know there's regular n super n all but I'd heard different companies had different octane for each option. And what would be a good brand to go with?

Different Gas Station.. More Power?

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