I buy jet fuel and therefore look down upon every one of you.

RodeoSchro said:

I buy Space shuttle fuel i got u!

mirrorbestfriend said:

Dude, are you coming to the Houston Prince party?

everyone knows that super unleaded is the patron of gasoline.
classy people use super unleaded because they have better taste and want the finer things in life.

people who use unleaded plus are weirdos to me... kinda like people who use macs? WHY?
and regular old joe blow uses regular boring gasoline!

what do you think?

RodeoSchro said:

yep I will be there with 2 honeys on each arm lookin fabulous

mirrorbestfriend said:

I cannot wait to meet you. Look for the cool white dude. The dork standing next to him will be me!

Slave2daGroove said:

Fuel trucks have things called baffles that separate the different tanks within 1 tanker. They act to separate the tanks and to stop the fluid shifting around as much.
Hence 1 tanker can transport Diesel,Super,Regular and Leaded if needed all at the same time

Slave2daGroove said:

Fuel trucks have things called baffles that separate the different tanks within 1 tanker. They act to separate the tanks and to stop the fluid shifting around as much.
Hence 1 tanker can transport Diesel,Super,Regular and Leaded if needed all at the same time

mdiver said:

Thanks!

Sometimes I'm a dumbass

Slave2daGroove said:

Fuel trucks have things called baffles that separate the different tanks within 1 tanker. They act to separate the tanks and to stop the fluid shifting around as much.
Hence 1 tanker can transport Diesel,Super,Regular and Leaded if needed all at the same time

mdiver said:

I was just about to post this too. I worked at a gas station in college and learned more than I ever wanted to know about gas. Ironically, I just got a job at Shell Oil.

I grew up in the car business and still have close relatives who work in it.

There is absolutely no reason to buy fuel of a higher grade than your car calls for. (Your car won't run any better.)

And frankly, even if your manual calls for a higher grade (mine recommends 89 octane, which is Plus), it pays to compare your mileage and performance using both 87 and 89. If you don't see an appreciable difference, it is just fine to use the lower octane. It won't damage your engine.

I don't know that I'd drop two levels (I've never had a vehicle that recommended Premium), but you could probably drop back one octane level without a problem.

Genesia said:

My dad worked for GM so i've been around cars my whole life too.
IT DEPENDS ON THE CAR. PERIOD.

If you drive American cars primarily, then usually you're fine with regular. However, the older the engine that's subject to change. Once you're north of 150K miles or so, you might need a higher octane gasoline.

If you're driving a import with a performance engine (supercharged, turbo, etc) using regular CAN damage your engine AND affect gas mileage and performance.

http://www.caranddriver.c...n/(page)/1

Your Car is a Temple, so Put in the Good Stuff

BY LARRY WEBSTER
August 2005

At a local Mobil station, a gallon of unleaded regular gas goes for $2.15. Drive a mile down to the nearby superstore that sells everything from apples to swimming pools, and it's $2.10 a gallon.

Supposedly, the superstore buys gas in such large quantities that it gets a volume discount for what is essentially the same product as the name-brand stuff. The Mobils and Chevrons of the world say they include costly additives and detergents that keep your engine free of deposits and make your car perform better. So what's the truth?

To find out, I paid a visit to Andrew Buczynsky, GM's fuel guru. He says that with gas, like almost everything else, you do get what you pay for. Buy cheap fuel, and you risk coating parts of your engine with thick deposits that can dramatically affect your car's performance. There are a number of possible conditions including sticky intake valves and clogged fuel injectors.

Choked injectors distribute fuel unevenly, so instead of having a well-mixed brew of gasoline and air entering the combustion chamber, you get an intake charge with pockets of too much fuel and alternatively lean portions. If there's not enough fuel around the spark plug when it sparks, then you don't get the usual combustion that drives the piston downward. In technical terms it's known as a misfire.

Every engine misfires now and then, but misfires usually occur so infrequently that the driver never notices. The car's engine computer knows what's up, though. When the frequency of misfires reaches a certain point, the computer raises a red flag and turns on the "service engine soon" light on the dash. Uh-oh, we know what that means—a dreaded trip to the dealer. Ignore the light, and the misfires may get frequent enough that the car feels sluggish.

The repair for this type of problem depends on the severity of the deposits. In mild cases, the technician may be able to simply scrape clean the fuel injectors or sometimes a bottle of fuel-injector cleaner will do the trick. In some cases, though, the fuel injectors will have to be replaced. If the deposits have formed on the intake valves, then you're looking at a cylinder-head rebuild. The cost of the repair will depend on the severity of the problem and whether your car has a warranty in effect. The worst case, however, could mean a bill of more than $1000.

Buczynsky says the exact cause of engine deposits is not known. Gasoline contains over 200 different molecules, and so far, no one has isolated a particular brew that is more likely to cause engine deposits. GM and other manufacturers, however, noticed there were regional concentrations of fuel-system warranty claims and traced the problem to the fuel.

Gasoline is gasoline whether you're in Florida or California, right? Wrong. There are different concentrations of elements like sulfur, for example, that change the chemical composition of a batch of gasoline.

Since it's not known what causes these deposits, gasoline retailers can't be penalized for selling defective fuel. So to keep the deposits from forming in the engines, you need detergents added to the fuel.

But how do you know which brands have the right kinds of detergents and additives to keep your injectors clean? Until recently, that was a tough question to answer, but in 2004, representatives from BMW, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota got together to specify what makes a good fuel.

They called their agreed-on standard "Top Tier" and published it for the various gasoline retailers to voluntarily meet. So far, eight companies currently sell gas that meets the Top Tier standard. You can read about them at www.toptiergas.com. At some point there will also be a Top Tier logo on the pumps like the one pictured here. For a company to receive the Top Tier seal, it has to certify every grade of fuel, not just the high-octane stuff.

Now, if a certain brand of gas doesn't meet the standard, it doesn't necessarily mean that one tankful will harm your engine. And Buczynsky was quick to point out that using non-Top Tier gas won't void your warranty. But, he says, using Top Tier fuel will keep your engine cleaner. That will not only lower the chance of the "service engine soon" light coming on but will also improve your fuel economy and reduce emissions.

As for the various engine-cleaning additives available at auto-parts stores, Buczynsky says they should be used with caution. He said some work but most don't and declined to identify the ones that do. You also have to be careful when using these additives because some may contaminate the catalytic converter. Also, if you use too much, the additive may cling to valve stems and cause them to hang open.

The message was pretty clear: Stick to Top Tier fuel. It's the only way to know you're getting the right amount and type of detergents to keep your engine clean.

I didn't forget to ask the question we all want answered: Is there a brand or type of fuel that produces more horsepower than the rest? The short answer: no. That's not news because in November 2001 (Tech Stuff: "Regular or Premium?") we tested a fleet of cars on regular and premium fuels and the results are worth repeating. If your car specifies premium 91-octane fuel and you run regular, then the engine computer automatically detunes it to avoid the detonation that low-octane fuel can produce. (Detonation, you'll remember, is erratic, uncontrolled combustion that can seriously damage your engine.) In most cases, we're talking about very small horsepower losses, but if you want your car to produce all its beans, put in the recommended octane.

For horsepower freaks who've cranked up the boost in their turbocharged cars or modified their engines and need higher-octane fuel, VP Racing Fuels recently introduced 100-octane unleaded, called StreetBlaze 100, that's street legal in every state. You can find retail locations at www.vpracingfuels.com.

One of the many things Buczynsky said made particular sense: "If you have a highly sophisticated car like the type we have today, the fuel has to keep up."

I have a friend that owns MANY high performance cars, including a Viper, 2 SL500, BMW 650 and a Porsche 911 Carrera 4S . He only uses Shell gas in his cars because they've committed to ensuring that their fuel has an appropriate and consistent amount of additives. He says that his cars run significantly better.

SCNDLS said:

I use only BP gasoline, and so far so good.

93 octane.

It's what my Audi needs.

Engine timing is based on the octane, and I were 2 use lesser, like 89 octane, it would probably start knocking.

premature detonations

everyone knows that super unleaded is the patron of gasoline.
classy people use super unleaded because they have better taste and want the finer things in life.

people who use unleaded plus are weirdos to me... kinda like people who use macs? WHY?
and regular old joe blow uses regular boring gasoline!

what do you think?

I don't even know if they still have super here anymore I'll have to check next month when I fill up again

ZombieKitten said: