I really don't want to turn this into one of those "which is better...Zaino or Adams" posts, but have ran into an interesting situation.

I have been running BP and Sunoco 93 octane gas and have been averaging about 16.5+ mpg.

I recently have tried Shell 93 octane gas which has up to 10% ethanol in it and my gas mileage dropped down to about 15.2/3. Thinking this was a quirk, I filled up the tank again with Shell and had the same results.

After that tank was empty I filled up with BP again and my mileage went up to 16.7

I don't think this is a Shell vs. BP difference but an additive difference. I am wondering if anyone else is experiencing the same drop in gas mileage.

Norm

 

I think that ethanol increases the octane rating, but decreases the MPG. You will burn more gas, but at least you are burning a fuel that is not dependent on oil.

 

I use Chevron for the Tectron additive.

 

FWIW,

My around town MPG dropped by almost 15% when we switched to the 10% ethonal blend here several months ago. (on my daily driver also)



Barry

 

Had best luck with Chevron with Techron. Shell fouls everything - everytime I use it.

 

 

Shell is a Top Tier fuel, not sure on the others. The 10% loss in mileage is common, I used to see an increase every time we left our area and fueled at stations that don't have the required additives in New England.

 

forget the Top Tier stuff, Marketing.

Sunoco 93 is by far IIRC the best fuel to use. Cleanest buring and normally the octane is on the high end of the rating scale.

any time we can put Sunoco 93 in the track cars we do, results in more power.

Not found of Shell, tend to have a little too much sulfer and can be smelled in the exhuast and the cars just dont run the same.

High or so called quality fuels tend to have more additives. Our un official test showed to us that more additives does not burn as clean and fowls things up. But then again 3000 to rediline on the track burns a lot out.

The other thing to think about is, doesn't almost all fuels come out of the same pipe line to the distrabution centers? Colonal Pipelice comes to mind.

 

If they all come out of the same pipeline (which they don't) then they would all have the same sulphur content. This isn't true. Light sweet crude in the Atlantic is lower in sulphur than the crap from the middle east.

Its funny I have the opposite results with Shell vs Sunoco. My car runs like crap on Sunoco and smell's like surphur while the Shell runs fine. All fuel in CT is blended with 10% ethanol, we don't have a choice. However I agree that it does reduce fuel economy considerably.

 

FWIW, the use of ethanol does not reduce oil consumption for the US.
The energy consumed in planting, producing the fertilizers, harvesting, and converting the corn to ethanol etc. makes it's use something of a wash as far as conservation is concerned.

The use of ethanol has far more to do with some EPA reg's than it does the conservation of oil.
The conservation aspect has been conveniently and incorrectly highjacked by our politicians...

IMHO

 

Most of the Oil / petrolium we use here in the US is from the Gulf of Mx, Chavis Land in South America.

Each state has there own sulfer content requirenments, with TXs allowing he highest sulfer content.

 

The 10% ethanol is the cause of the drop in milage, assuming the other fuels did not have ethanol.

BP Amoco Ultimate CLEAR gasoline is the best, if you can get it in your area. I have seen the scientific test results at the research center.
I am working on projects to widen the distribution of clear gasoline.
No, it does not come in the same pipeline. It cant.
It's not additives or "marketing" as people think.

Better gasoline does not necessarily mean improved milage or power. The better gasolines are designed to keep your engine clean, typically with additives, and to provide higher octane. If your engine is gunked up, cleaner gas may help it. If its already clean, you likely will see little difference if you see any.

As for which brand is second best, I would refer to AU N EGL since he seems to have some experience.

 

I have found the same thing as well. As a matter of fact, a friend and myself both filled up on Sunoco at the same time and within a week we both had the dreaded fuel gage problem. Switched back to Shell and the problem went away in both cars. Top tier fuels are supposed to have lower sulphur content. I have never run Sunoco since, nor will I based on that experience.

 

In my last car, I was running Nitrous and was fighting a knock retard problem. To prove it was fuel related, I ran a tank of race gas in the car and the problem went away. I then proceded to test numerous fuel brands to find the fuel that had the least amount of knock in my car. The best was Chevron 93. The second best was Amoco 93. Then the other name brands made up the next block with little diffrence in performance. By far, the off brands (notably Racetrack) were the worst. This test was done 2-3 years ago so I am not sure how relivent it now is but figured I would share my results.

 

your gas smells worse than my gas?
now what gas are we talkin' bout?

the source of your gas depends on where you live in the US. there are serveral pipelines that serve different parts of the country. In some cases product is co-mingled, but if you live within a refinery orbit, then you may ( depends on secondary terminals) get gasoline manufactured at solely at one refinery.

There are differences in driveability driven by the specific blend used to achieve government standards and the additive packages selected to smooth combustion and clean the engine.

Power is inversely related to octane, since a higher octane number retards combustion.
Ethanol increases ocatane but also has less BTU's meaning using it to increase octane drops both power and fuel economy.
Additives aid in giving a more even flame front, increasing efficiency and maximizing the power available from the combustion process.
In additon they are used to keep engine components clean, aiding in cooler running( increased HP), less friction ( engine life), maitaining combustion chamber volume and geometry( reducing power robbing knock)

Among manufacturers of gasoline , Shell is recognized as the best gasoline.
However, the public believes that BP(AMOCO) gasolines are best, but I get a check engine light when I have used it in the past.

What works best for you may not be best for anyone else...
www.toptiergas.com
promote brands that ensure consistency in quality. Consistency is important to me...

 

I've seen it in all three of my family cars, about a 10% drop (1-2 mpg) whenever I loaded up with ethanol blended fuel. Went back to traditional gas, and mileage recovered within two tanks.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

 

I try and use Shell exclusively and have had no problems. Around here it's 100% gas with no ethanol (tested it myself).

 

Well we in Louisville have to us that reformulated gas during the so called hot months of the year. Talk about milage going down. On every car we have owned, from 4 cyc, 6 cyc, 8 cyc, and performance cars, foreign and American the mpg drop 2 to 3 mpg.
Of course the wacko environmentalists say we are improving our air quality, but at what price, and how much actual improvement. Todays modern cars run extremely clean and lean. The problem has been and will be for a few years, the old clinkers still on the road.

 

We also don't have either Chevron or Amoco in the northeast, at least I have not seen it. We do have Hess, not sure if that is seen in other parts of the country either. And Valero is a relatively recent addition in our area, but has been going away too.

 

I try to get to a Chevron everytime I get gas. The car just seems to run better with it and gets great milage. 93 with no ethanol crap.