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Premium fuel - does brand really matter?

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angelfj1

angelfj1

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I have always used premium fuel in the TR250. As a matter of convenience I was using Exxon's highest grade. The station was less than 1 mole from the house. However, the station has bought by Valero. It's time to fill up. Does brand matter, or are most formulations all the same withing a region?
 
Brand matters on cleaning agents around here. The cheaper ones don't have as much. If your car is a fueley than yes it matters. My wifes old Bonneville(96) wouldn't run with out cleaners.
That said if you add a good cleaner to the tank every oil change you can probably run the cheap stuff.
 
We burn premium in our TR6 and have kept a log of all fuel stops during the last three years, with location, brand, miles on clock, miles driven, price and other things. Admitting that how I drive makes a difference on mileage it has also become apparent that where we fill up does also. MPG range since the engine build last year and 10,500* miles ago, has been from just over 20mpg to over 28mpg.

*Just checked the log book. Did not realize it was that many miles.
 
There are 4 oil refineries in my area and they 'blend' gas for whatever brand station they are delivering to, supposedly mixing to a specific formula for each brand of gas. I have always had my doubts about this because it seems like brand 'x' would not want to tell brand 'a' what their exact formula is.

And, aside from cleaning agents, there is lately a wide range of 'oxygenation' in different brands which can cause a rich/lean variation in your motor. In a computer controlled car it probably doesn's matter because the computer will 'compensate' for these differences, but in our kind of cars it can have a bigger impact.

I have a tendency to stick to one brand in the hopes that it will be consistent, but who knows?

Dave Phillips
 
In my cars, yes it matters. The TC runs poorly on Shell. It loves Chevron as do the rest of the cars. 76 also burns well in them.

Valero does not actually make gasoline or sell it to stations. It's just a name for the cheap off-brand stations to use in order to make customers more comfortable, as if they are getting a known quality of fuel. The name is merely leased, and the owner can sell whatever kind of gas he wants, including the really bad stuff.
 
I get better gas mileage out of Chevron/Amoco premium...Exxon gives me less gas mileage...Texaco's second.

And Chevron/Amoco seems to burn cleaner & cars seem to perform better with it.
 
I used to almost always fill up at the station next to the airport. Citgo, for years, the Miata peaked at 30mpg (it's rare for me to stray from 29-30mpg). They changed to BP and the mileage was the same. Sometimes I use "RaceTrac" and the mileage is the same.
 
I use Sunoco 93, it's the highest octane we can get here. No Chevron available here, not much available besides off-brands, Mobil and Sunoco.
 
Awhile ago a local Orlando TV crew set up at a station to ask people about gas prices. They caught a guy in a Lamborghini filling up with 100 octane at $7/gal. He said it was a fancy car and would only run on "the best".

Um. Hmm. OK.
 
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