What gas brand do you think is the best?

[Mayur]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

In Europe all the gasolines are higher octane.

[03mach1]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I like Valero gas. Never had one problem.

[Thejoyofdriving]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I wonder why they use higher octane gases in Europe?

[perkoz]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I don't really know. But imports from US still run on this fuel and don't break down I heard that octanes are not really so important in consumer fuel, but don't know the relation.

[jfelbab]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

Current Top Tier Gasoline suppliers.

QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Company
Shell-Canada
Texaco
Petro-Canada
Sunoco-Canada

I find it odd that Mobile and BP haven't seen fit to meet this Top Tier standard yet.

Source: http://toptiergas.com/retailers.html

[gb387]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

Current Top Tier Gasoline suppliers.

QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum
Tri-Par Oil Company
Shell-Canada
Texaco
Petro-Canada
Sunoco-Canada

I find it odd that Mobile and BP haven't seen fit to meet this Top Tier standard yet.

Source: http://toptiergas.com/retailers.html

That is interesting.

[fromthecoast]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I think Chevron w/ Techron or Texaco gas w/ Techron (not all Texaco's use Techron, you have to look for the sign) is much better over the long haul. However, I do generally get better gas mileage with Shell. It might have something to do with the additive package.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I don't really know. But imports from US still run on this fuel and don't break down I heard that octanes are not really so important in consumer fuel, but don't know the relation.

Octane ratings are important in consumer fuel, especially in higher performance engines or forced induction (turbo charged or supercharged) engines. Running a fuel with a lower octane rating than recommended by the manufacturer can induce pre-detonation, or knock, that can be damaging to the engine. Modern engines can, to a degree, compensate for this by retarding the spark advance via the engine computer, but at a performance loss because of it. If you run a lower octane fuel in a vehicle that requires high octane, but you drive it like my mother would, you may not notice much since mom never ever puts the engine under any real load. Drive up a mountain road on a hot summer day and you'll wish you put the high octane in.

If your car is designed to run on "regular" grade gas and is in a proper state of tune, there is no benefit from running higher octane gas. You won't gain power from using it.

As for the actual octane ratings, in most of the world the test method used is something called the Research Octane Number (RON), while in North America we use an average of the Research Octane Number and the Motor Octane Number (MON) expressed as RON+MON/2. These are simply two different testing protocols that result in different numbers, with the RON number being higher. In the long run what we in North America refer to as "regular 87 octane" gas is roughly equivalent to European 90-91 octane gas. What is sold in Europe as "high octane" is in reality a couple of points higher in RON+MON/2 than what we usually get here as "high octane". Then again, in some parts of the US you can purchase 94 octane at the pump, but in California you can only get 91 as "high octane".

[Larry A]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I use Shell and BP Amoco. Marathon now has a STP additives . I wonder how there gas is.

[RamAirV1]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

BP 93 Octane for me.

Never heard of Valero before until one opened in my town recently!

RamAirV1

[Aurora40]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

In Europe all the gasolines are higher octane.

Actually they aren't, they are just higher sounding numbers. In Europe the RON (Research Octane Number) is used as the exclusive rating. In the US, the RON and MON (Motor Octane Number) is averaged. The RON is a higher number than the MON generally. The MON is really what matters because that's the resistance to knock in an actual engine.

Do a search if you want more info, but I believe a US RON+MON/2 rating of 93 or 94 will usually be a more knock resistant fuel than a RON rating of 99.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

Actually they aren't, they are just higher sounding numbers. In Europe the RON (Research Octane Number) is used as the exclusive rating. In the US, the RON and MON (Motor Octane Number) is averaged. The RON is a higher number than the MON generally. The MON is really what matters because that's the resistance to knock in an actual engine.

Do a search if you want more info, but I believe a US RON+MON/2 rating of 93 or 94 will usually be a more knock resistant fuel than a RON rating of 99.

Look 3 posts above you.

[rammsteinmatt]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

76 or shell. 76 costs slightly more but is more power prone, shell is geographically convenient for me

in CA with 91, evos have been dynoed with more hp on 76 consistently over everyone else. there is speculation that 76 "rounds down" to 91, like 91.4 octane, where everyone else "rounds up" to 91 like 89.6 octane. just speculation though. evos can really use the extra knock prevention with 9:1 compression and 21+ psi of boost

[HagFan]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

Marathon, BP and Shell-- because they are all convenient locations for me.

As far as octane goes, I'll take Honda's word for it--for 20 cents a gallon-- that my Civic Si needs 91 or higher.

[J-Man]

Re: What gas brand do you think is the best?

I like limiting my gas to V-Power. As long as you don't use gas from those companies that tend to be the cheapest you should be fine. They buy in bulk and spend less money, but they also have less detergents.... about the octane... idk. I guess you see minimal changes; some say you don't see anything, but then again, there is a reason why rame drag cars or whatever use 100+ octane... and if im correct 91 is higher than 87, but whether the extra 8-12 cents is worth it... i have no idea