Oh CRAP.....wrong gas

Agreed - the worst were a while back, in a couple of country towns, where there was one isolated diesel pump away from the petrol (gas) pumps, away from the sun shelter designed for trucks. The pavement had the remnants of spilled diesel on the ground, the nozzles were greasy.

Nowdays, with more cars using diesel, and pumps interspersed with the petrol pumps it is much better - but now I've left diesel probably for good, and gone back to petrol. Blame the DPFs (Diesel Particulate Filters) which have been $$problematic$$, I'll stick with petrol.

 

Dang it, I meant to see if the diesel nozzle fits in today...was down to one pip flashing so I got in a hurry

 

That's good to know & very interesting considering the price premium Chevron & the like charge for their "premium" gas in California. I have seen surcharges as much as .90/gal but more typically around .30/gallon.

 

50 cent spread up here on the various grades of gas. By my house this morning it was 2.65, 3.15 and 3.65.

 

We have typical higher prices for premium gas (which aren't of interest to me), but station-to-station price for regular gas is pretty uniform.

 

In this context, 'premium' meant the price differential between competing branded and no-brand stations selling the same fuel grade, not the upcharge for higher octane blends.

 

That doesn't seem to happen up here. Brand name and independent stations price the same.

Guess it's not really "up" lol, just over a bit.

 

From my map perspective, you are 'up', but your capital of Victoria is less 'up' and more 'over'.

U.S. border security officers claim special police powers, not held by other police, within 100 miles of the border. That covers my neighborhood which is more than 100 highway miles from the Peace Arch crossing, but barely over 60 air miles from Victoria Harbor. I might live closer to your Parliament than you do.

 

Correct.

 

It doesn't work that way.

Premium brands, such as Chevron Techron and others, add detergents to their gasoline formulations which definitely help keep your engine cleaned and better-running. But these additives are the same no matter the octane rating.

The octane rating defines how much resistance the gas has to ignition. In larger, higher-compression engines, you need higher octane to prevent the fuel from detonating (pinging) from the pressure of piston compression. Gas stations have two gasoline formulations, with low and high octane. When you pump the medium grade, it mixes the medium and low.

It won't hurt your Prius to use a higher octane fuel, but it may slightly reduce your mileage because it may be that some fuel doesn't fully burn. In my limited tests, high octane fuel slightly reduced my mileage. But more tests would be needed to be conclusive about that.

 

Is this really true? I've always thought that it is but Shell really advertises their 91 octane (premium here) at the pumps as being better cleaning, but it only says against the competition. However from Shell's website it sounds like their premium has more detergents than their regular. Maybe I'm reading their pumps wrong but I'm sure it shows regular (85 octane), mid-grade (89 octane), then Shell V-Power NiTRO+ for their highest octane (91 octane).

Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline FAQs | Shell United States

 

Oh, I didn't know that they put more detergents in their high oct gas, but if you're at a Shell or other station when they fill the tanks, you'll see they only supply two grades, which are mixed to deliver the intermediate grade.

I have no idea at all if the additional detergents matter.

 

Premium Gas: A Waste of Money? | Gasoline Pricing, High Octane - Consumer Reports

 

Previous discussions have suggested that this varies by location. Some places have separate tankage, others mix.

 

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It does sound like Shell is saying more detergents in their Premium (7x minimum). That's a bit of a surprise because for the last decade or so, U.S. oil companies have not been pushing Premium.

None of my cars need Premium, so I wonder why Shell says 40% of new cars now need Premium? But this potentially represents a "new" marketing strategy, maybe with the 54 MPG CAFE rules we are getting turbo charged cars etc that requires higher octane.

 

List of vehicles where Premium is required.... some might surprise you like the Smart forTwo.

http://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/pdf/premium.gasoline/premium.fuel.required.031816.pdf

And a list of "premium is recommended"..... you would likely notice no difference running regular in these.

http://static.ed.edmunds-media.com/unversioned/img/pdf/premium.gasoline/premium.fuel.recommended.031816.pdf

 

Do note that fuel economy and performance can take a huge hit in a vehicle where premium is "only" recommended, if you run regular - and that will hold true even in cases where you're driving gently, for automatics, as they'll want to go to higher load, at lower RPM - where the higher octane may well help.

 

Right I agree...as people buy cars that get better MPG, we want to see the 50 MPG or whatever up there in our eyes. We want to get as good MPG as we can get, which EPA and Cons Reports have yet to catch up with that max MPG idea.