I really haven't notice any difference the few times that I have purchased Shell gas and I have used Shell occasionally in all of my bikes and cars over the years (Which have included a wide variety of vehicles and performance options). The reality for me is that I buy my gas at the cheapest station I can find that I know sells a lot of gas. I've done it that way for years and have never had a problem.

The problem I have with Shell is that the vast majority of their stations are either filthy or their restrooms are "Out of order" or "The key is missing". I don't use the restrooms very often but I refuse to do business with anyone who is so lazy as to shut down the public restroom so that they don't have to clean it at the end of the shift. It happens often enough that no one can convince me that corporate Shell doesn't know about it and still allows it to happen. I have yet to find this with other stations (Even the cheap independants).

Norm.

 

I would have to dig up my dyno graphs but on my brand new gsxr 600 that was broken in on the dyno, Sunoco fuel made the room stink like there was no tomorrow and everyone there knew it right away that i was using sunoco. They told me to go fill up with shell and come back. I ran a full tank (spent 40 mins on the highway going bansai) of shell, then topped up with shell again and re-dynoed about 2 ours later.

Sunoco 101.3

Shell 104.7

The smell was different and I 'thought' I could feel a noticeable little more kick in the throttle.

 

i guess i am lucky, i have no shell stations near me. i use chevron in both of my cars.

 

Had some bad experiences with Shell years back, and haven't used them since...

 

Vaild question always makes me wonder if this is just another snake oil additive.

 

 

Up date on check engine light.
The next day after disconnecting the battery the check engine light came back on. I still haven’t added gas. After returning from vacation I went out for a spin. The light stayed on. Last night I added about ¾ of a tank of Sunoco 94 and drove home. This morning about half way to work the light went off.
My plan is to run another tank full of Sunoco and switch back to the Shell.
More info to follow
Mike

 

The same thing happened in Louisiana in 2004. http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/...60/detail.html I knew many people who had damage to their cars. I was lucky and didnt use these gas stations at the time. I believe the refinery picked up the bill for the reapirs.

I currently just use whatever big name gas station is closest when I run low. Shell, Chevron, or Exxon 93 Octane only.

 

I worked for Shell Oil a few year back and was the chemist who blended the additive and who was responsible for the quality of the gas produced at the refinery. I no longer work for Shell and the refinery I worked at is longer a Shell refinery. I am not a spokesman for Shell or anyone who make gasolines but I have retained some knowledge of how gasoline is produced.

Gasoline is a combination of hundreds of hydrocarbons that must pass specific analytical tests as defined by the government. The most important of these is vapor pressure and octane value. If you look at the pump the next time you fill up you will see that the octane value is an average of motor octane value and research octane value. This means the gasoline you are pumping has passed specific tests in a "knock engine" or similar test. In short it assures your that the gasoline that was produced actually ran in an engine and did not "knock" at a specific rpm. The other requirement is RVP or Reid Vapor Pressure. This requirement varies with location based on climate. In short it assures you that your gas cap will not blow off when you open your gas tank. Butane is a great octane increaser but has a high vapor pressure. It is abundant in crude oil but because of its high vapor pressure, to much of it cannot be added in the summer. Other poly-branched hydrocarbons (more expensive to produce) are added in the summer to reach the needed octane value.

All gasoline sold must pass these tests and also others to comply with federal regulations. This means that all gasoline is pretty much the same as it leaves the refinery. However, once it leaves the refinery, usually by pipeline, things change. The two additive are an oxygenate and additive. The most important IMHO is additive. The combustion of gasoline in any engine builds up crude that needs to be cleaned out. The additive package added to gasoline makes sure your engine will stay relatively clean. Each major, BP, Shell, Conoco-Phillips, etc., has their own additive package. When they add it to their gasoline it is called "branded". The difference between the major branded gasolines is minimal. It is like trying to distinguish between the cleaning ability of a laundry detergent such as Tide or All. I can not say this more emphatically. THE BEST ASSURANCE OF A WELL OPERATING ENGINE IS SCHEDULED TUNING/MAINTENANCE AND USING A BRANDED GASOLINE. All the major come up with "better" additives and according to their research they are better that others. This is good as it keeps our gasoline getting better for our engines. However, they leap-frog each other so any branded gasoline is good.

The other item is oxygenate. A few years back someone decided that if you could get more oxygen in your gas it would burn cleaner, ie, less unburn hydrocarbons. The jury is still out on this one and your can find spin-doctors on each side of the issure. There were many oxygenates at first, but most have gravitated to ethanol because it was politically correct. Ethanol is OK but it is terrible on MPG. It simply does not possess the BTU's of gasoline and reduces the MPG you will get from you gas. If you look at the pumps you will sometimes see a higher octane gas with ethanol more expensive than a lower octane gas without ethanol.

In summary, I repeat, THE BEST ASSURANCE OF A WELL OPERATING ENGINE IS SCHEDULED TUNING/MAINTENANCE AND USING A BRANDED GASOLINE. If you pull up to a gas station and find a tank truck unloading, go on to the next station. The tanks are rialed (sp?) up by the trucks and even though there are filters on the pumps, crap can still get through. Stick with the majors and use at least mid-grade gasoline. Remember that your HP is based on your engines displacement and not the octane value of the gasoline. High performance engines usually need the increase in octane value to keep from knocking.

Shell's new additive package is probably good as are BP's and Conoco-Phillips (I used to work for them also) and others. I have invested thousands of dollars in my Corvette. I am not going to feed it cheap gasoline.

Happy Trails,
Don

 

Good Post

 

Here in the midwest it is practically impossible to buy fuel without ethanol in it.

 

I'm not trying to hype or promote Shell here I'm just stating the facts as they apply to me.

For I don't know how long I've had this lope at idle. I've replaced just about every sensor there is on my LT1 in hopes it would fix it. Checked and rechecked for vacuum leaks. Took apart and cleaned the TB until it was clean as a whistle. BTW, I'm a FSM dummy so I just did it my way. Well, my way wasn't good enough.......the lope never completely went away, it would come and go. I'm on my fifth or sixth tank of Shell (I fore get how many) now and the lope has been gone for about a week and a half. This is the longest time it has been gone.

Like many others have posted here Shell used to be a gas that didn't perform well and I was one of them. IMO it was crap gas! I'm going to keep running the new stuff just because of this lope issue. If it comes back I guess it wasn't the gas.

 

Dang I forgot the sequence for resetting your Idle Air Control but you might want to do a search for it as I found it on this site.
Likely tech & performance.
Any time you disconnect the IAC you have to perform this ritual.

 

Thanks Larry, been there done that already.

 

i hate that ****. So according to Don, if I put mid grade in my DD (4 cylinder) instead of the 87 it will run better and make more power? I thought a tune was required to change that.

 

As long as it is 93 octane I am good! No problems yet. Although I do avoid no name gas stations. But not sure if it is necessary or not.

 

i know that marine mechanics are very happy now b cuz of the ethanol in the gas.....something about it deteriorates fuel systems, carbs & injection.

 

Interesting. I add a quart of ATF in my Ford F150 to the crankcase only. Never thought about using it in the gas tank. What are the affect on the catalytic converter and other fuel parts?

 

No detrimental effects whatsoever. Won't harm 02 sensors, catalytic converters or any other fuel system components.

Just be sure and add one quart of ATF to a FULL tank of gas and run it all the way to empty as you can (without running out of gas, of course) before refueling to avoid prematurely diluting the mix.

 

ive used several stations around arkansas 66,shell,marshall,and in my experence anything with ethanol makes my c-4 run like crap.in fact one time at a marshall aka wal mart i was filling up a very empty tank and i actually started to notice my car was running rougher and rougher as i put the gas in.needless to say i ended my refuel then.and on another point ethanol only has 70% of the stored energy by volume compaired to gasoline.ethanol is only a way to water down fuel imho.and 10% isnt going to have anything more than a miniscule effect on the environment cause youll have to refuel more often.