favorite gasoline brands?

This has been covered many times already.
There are a couple hundreds of refineries in US. Some owned by name brands (such as Exxon, Shell, BP, others are unknown to most). Gas tankers buy gasoline from refineries and add additives to the spec of the brands. The base gasoline comes from the same pool of refineries. Your luck may vary depending on which refinery.
However, the condition of storage tanks of the gas stations plays an even bigger role in the gasoline that got pumped into your tank. Lots of debris accumulates over time at the bottom of the storage. In general, newer stations are, of course, better in this sense.

Most additives are similar in formula to jet fuel. STP Gas Treatment, for example, is basically jet fuel. You don't need the "techron" or whatever the marketing gimmicky term to have the same effect. They work similarly. Jet fuel contains cleaning agents to keep jet engine running in the air (more critical than engines on the roads).

I buy whatever gasoline that is cheaper but I take the condition of the gas station (appearance, of couse) into consideration also. One can add a bottle of STP Gas Treatment for $1.5 every two tanks of fill-up. It works as well as any "techron"-enhanced gasoline....

 

My BP card gives me 5% cash back. That's all I use.

 

+1

time to smell the coffee:

What's the difference between Shell 91, Chevron 91 and Mobile 91 gas? - Yahoo! Answers

Fact or Fiction?: Premium Gasoline Delivers Premium Benefits to Your Car: Scientific American

10 Things Gas Stations Won’t Tell You | The Best Article Every day

Regular Versus Premium Gasoline

And besides ... 'favorite' gas? Isn't that like having a 'favorite' mafia boss? ... or a favorite S.T.D. ?? a favorite drug dealer?? a favorite tooth ache? It gas! countries fight & die over its power. Favorite? um ~ silly me, I don't have one yet ... I'll have to work on that.

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What is better getting 5% back or paying 10% more?

Today I filled up at Sam’s Club for $2.39. BP was at $2.66.

BP is charging 10.15% more then Sam’s club yet they give 5% back. Sam's Club still wins.

 

We consistently use Chevron for the past 31 years and have been very happy with the consistent quality.

 

Here I get 5% back in gas rebates at Shell, or 3% back in cash at Costco. Most times they're so close in price that Shell is the same or cheaper.

 

My attempts to save money per gallon don't always pan out.

Murphy USA at Wal-Mart offers a 3-cent discount for using a Wal-Mart card at the pump. In the past, I've gotten just as good performance out of Murphy gas as I did with BP, but lately I've only seen 43-44MPG kicking around town. When I use BP, it's a touch higher. The cost differential is currently only a penny the last few weeks so there's no pressing need for Murphy, but I'm not sure I really WANT to be using it if it's not burning as well anymore. Perhaps they were using a Top Tier supplier then stopped due to price.

The car is still excellent when I'm on the road. Last weekend I was up in Lockport NY, and I averaged 50MPG most of the time I was there. I really wish the roads were as flat here...

 

Any other Southerners out there have issues with Quicktrip's gasoline. Usually the least expensive around, but I stopped using it due to several occassions where my perfomance was off.

 

The gas stations around here are all within a penny of each other. Besides, I am one of those that prefer BP so without knowing where SAMS gets their gas and what additives they use I don't see a downside with BP.

 

Sounds to me like something that important,is important enough to research and know why you buy the one you do. That's why I use BP.

 

My hypothesis (perhaps 'SWAG' is a better term): Different brands might use different detergents, which in turn might be better at removing different impurities. So I try to vary brands ocasionally, though I usually use BP for reasons other posters here have indicated. Any other thoughts on this?

Also, I haven't yet forgiven Exxon for the Exxon Valdez issue (yeah, I know, could have happened to any of them, but it *did* happen to them). And also the fact that they made Mobil rescind their domestic partnership benefit policy when they took them over iced the cake for me. Just my personal viewpoint--don't demand or expect others to agree.

Cheers
Tim

 

Here are the numbers again.

BP/Shell charges 10.15% more then Sam’s club. That is an instant 10% cash back / cash savings as you fill the tank. Why would you settle for 5% cash back or a 3% cash back that does not show up for weeks?

 

Do you have a Sam’s Club? Most the time if there is a Wal-Mart in an area there is Sam’s club close. They are owned by the same parent company.

Sam’s Club is always 10% lower then any local gas station. I have a Garmin GPS that shows the best gas prices. I use Sam’s Club as a reference.

 

Good for you.

I'm not arguing with you, just stating the facts. I guess the competition's tighter here, and there's no Sam's Club, so I'll keep doing what I do.

The two lowest price stations in this area are Costco and Raceway. My Shell card with 5% back is competitive with Costco, even with their 3% cash back. With Shell, I get the rebate back the next month as a credit on my statement; with Costco, I get a check every March.

You're happy with your situation, I'm happy with mine. Enough said.

 

I am not arguing either.

This one is close to you and they sell gas.

Sam's Club #6371
14050 Worth Ave.
Woodbridge, VA 22192
(703)491-2662

I am curios how cheaper there gas is compared to everyone else. In Northern Ohio its 10% or cheaper then everyone else.

 

That Sam's Club is near what is or was the largest tourist attraction in Virginia - the Potomac Mills outlet mall. I live on the other end of the county 45 minutes away.

It's interesting that you found that address - the Woodbridge area for whatever reason always has cheaper gas than the rest of Prince William County. As an example, Costco in Manassas has regular at $2.51, but it's $2.33 at the Costco in Woodbridge.

I can't find an updated price for the Sam's in any of the Gas Price search engines I access.

EDIT: Besides, I have an aversion to spending any money at Wal-Mart or any affiliated companies, so I'm darn sure not going to go out of my way to buy gas at a Sam's Club. But that's my own personal problem.

 

For whatever it's worth the premise of a "top tier" fuel is that you won't immedately see any difference. That is, you probably won't see a drop or increase in fuel economy if you use one tank of unbranded fuel or not. The theory as I understand it is the "top tier" fuels if continously used will due to their higher detergent additives, keep fuel injectors and intake valves clean thereby allowing slightly more efficient operation.
Hey they sold Toyota and several other automotive manufacturers on it, I believe it as well.
Top Tier Gasoline link to their website

Oh and if possible you should buy fuel from a newer gas station, one that sell a LOT of gas, and don't buy fuel while the truck is re-filling the tank. Newer should equal cleaner tanks, Selling a lot of it means it's fresh (gasoline doesn't age well) and if there is any dirt in the tank, it's get's stirred up during the re-filling process.

 

Shell Regular. Try to avoid the stations with the higher ethanol percentages.

 

I use GasBuddy on my iPhone to find the cheapest gas nearby from a brand I know...usually it's an Arco station. Right now it happens to be an Exxon at $2.82/gallon. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive gas in the area is usually around $0.30/gallon, so I save up to $3.00 per fill up. I'm driving 18,000 miles a year so that adds up to around $100 a year...not a lot but enough to factor into the gas-saving game. No idea if it has any effect on fuel economy, but it would have to make a 10% difference to offset the cost savings.