For 2-3 dollars a tank full stick with the best, because your driving the best.
Fuel Performance
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 173
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From: Johnstown NY
I put 87 in my new '07 when it first came in. I experienced loud spark knock and at 1600 miles I changed to 93 and it made a big difference. I the manual chevrolet recommnds 91 octane or higher....It's worth the few extra bucks to use the good stuff. I used 93 in my last four vettes, i guess I thought because it was a new car that I could test 87.. i know i state the obvious, but i had to add my 2 cents.....
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Wantagh,L.I. New York
Thread Starter
Race Director
Joined: Dec 2006
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From: JawJa
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Torquay Devon
Here in the U.K. the cheapo gas is 95 ron. thats the very least octane rating we have.thats what I run my c6 on and it's great. difficult to imagine that the vettes can run on 87ron. No wonder they were pinging, not good for the engine. Can't you buy petrol additives to put in the 87 ron if thats the only stuff you can get.
Team Owner
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 41,732
Likes: 1,718
From: Springfield MO
Our city is like that too, with one big fuel terminal that all the stations get their fuel from.
My question is about ethanol. The Sunoco stations here all say on their pumps that the fuel contains at least 10% ethanol. The Petro Canada stations don't say anything about ethanol. I try to avoid using fuels containing ethanol whenever possible, so is it possible that Petro Can doesn't have ethanol even if they're getting their fuel from the same tank farm? Or could Sunoco be adding their ethanol from a different tank and blending it there?
My question is about ethanol. The Sunoco stations here all say on their pumps that the fuel contains at least 10% ethanol. The Petro Canada stations don't say anything about ethanol. I try to avoid using fuels containing ethanol whenever possible, so is it possible that Petro Can doesn't have ethanol even if they're getting their fuel from the same tank farm? Or could Sunoco be adding their ethanol from a different tank and blending it there?
Safety Car
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From: Wantagh,L.I. New York
Instructor
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 189
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From: San Diego CA
Maybe that's why Arizona consistently has some of the lowest fuel prices in the nation? 
But seriously.....
As a practical matter it is virtually impossible to find 93 octane rated fuel in Arizona. My car is tuned specifically for 91 rated octane and I've never had any problem with the "crap" gas in Arizona...my C6 never pings....it 'zings. '
I will use Exxon or Mobil but I try to stay with "top tier" stations. I don't recall seeing any locally but I will never use Citgo gas for political reasons.
But seriously.....As a practical matter it is virtually impossible to find 93 octane rated fuel in Arizona. My car is tuned specifically for 91 rated octane and I've never had any problem with the "crap" gas in Arizona...my C6 never pings....it 'zings. '
I will use Exxon or Mobil but I try to stay with "top tier" stations. I don't recall seeing any locally but I will never use Citgo gas for political reasons.
I will never buy any Citgo products.For some reason, I've had bad luck with Shell products - ping, ping, ping!
Chevron, Mobil, Texaco, and Union76 seem to work very well.
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Brett Foote
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
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From: Toronto, Canada
C7 of the Year - Unmodified Finalist 2021
I'm really confused about this Ethanol thing - Sunoco Ultra 94 contains up to 10%, should I be using Shell instead? Does it have no Ethanol?
Instructor
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Gilbert Arizona
http://www.toptiergas.com/
I would only put top tier gas in your vehicle. I prefer Chevron only because all levels of their gas is proven to reduce buildup. Shell only claims their 91 (or 93 if you live back east) will do so. I also prefer QT gas because they are a top tier gas, their stations are very clean, have restrooms, $.99 cent big gulps, etc. etc. etc.
Who cares if all gases comes from the same spigot. The additives are what really matters.
I would stick to higher octane in the summer.
I would only put top tier gas in your vehicle. I prefer Chevron only because all levels of their gas is proven to reduce buildup. Shell only claims their 91 (or 93 if you live back east) will do so. I also prefer QT gas because they are a top tier gas, their stations are very clean, have restrooms, $.99 cent big gulps, etc. etc. etc.
Who cares if all gases comes from the same spigot. The additives are what really matters.
I would stick to higher octane in the summer.
Safety Car
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From: Wantagh,L.I. New York
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Torquay Devon
Just a thought from across the pond. With your gas being so low in octane how can you run say an impreza, skyline, evo's, ferrari etc. etc. The ecu will adjust I know but at 92-93 octane it's well below M S's and you could get problems. Here we use 'premium' at 98 ron which I put in my gtr r3 so Just wondered how you get round it.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,216
Likes: 1
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14, '16
Just a thought from across the pond. With your gas being so low in octane how can you run say an impreza, skyline, evo's, ferrari etc. etc. The ecu will adjust I know but at 92-93 octane it's well below M S's and you could get problems. Here we use 'premium' at 98 ron which I put in my gtr r3 so Just wondered how you get round it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 5,635
Likes: 4
From: Orlando Floriduh
Yes... We use RON + Motor Octane divided by 2. So one blend of 93 could be 96/90 while another is 90/96. That's why all 93 is not the same over here. European gas is consistent because of that fact.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 10,089
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Here in the U.K. the cheapo gas is 95 ron. thats the very least octane rating we have.thats what I run my c6 on and it's great. difficult to imagine that the vettes can run on 87ron. No wonder they were pinging, not good for the engine. Can't you buy petrol additives to put in the 87 ron if thats the only stuff you can get.
Our 93 is roughly equivalent to 98 RON, 91 is roughly equivalent to 95 RON. These are only approximations and will vary with varying motor and research numbers (all 93 isn't the same RON or motor, some may have a higher motor and a lower RON, or vice versa depending on the exact formulation coming out of the pipeline that day). The ratio of RON to motor also changes seasonally as gas is formulated to be more or less volatile.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 126
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From: Torquay Devon
Dreamrak/larry. That is one compicated business with your gas. Just don't understand why the powers to be in the states don't sort it out so when you buy your gas you know what you are buying, whether it be 87 all the way through to say 95 ron. Looks like by a lot of postings that you have to go to a certain gas station to hopefully get the stuff you want. Seems like a lottery for quality over there.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 2,208
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Drifting
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,587
Likes: 90
Do you have any idea of how gasoline is sold?
Traded, exchanged, swapped, bought?
Basically, think about it. Does every brand you see driving down the street have a separate supply available in every area where they have a station?
NO!
Almost all gasoline in a certain area will come from one or two suppliers. Whoever has the nearest pipeline and terminal on that pipeline. A pipeline can carry multiple companies product, but in most cases, a certain location cannot economically support more than one or two wholesale terminals and their distribution network.
All gasoline coming down that pipeline is the same. Coming probably from one refinery. If not, it is all still either just 'regular' or 'premium'.
When the gasoline is loaded into a tanker for delivery at stations, an 'additive package' defined by the brand of station it it going to is added to the gasoline.
And, most additives are about the same. There are octane boosters, detergents, and vapor pressure modifiers mainly. 'Common' chemicals in the gasoline business. But the government has added a mess of regulations in the last 10 years or so, and there are all kinds of stuff that have to be put into it to meet some 'local' regulations. (You people in California have most of this. But large metro cities have also passed laws that pertain to gas sold inside their city/county/etc limits.) All of these are about the same.
Federal law sets specifications the detergents have to meet, and this law has been in place for about 20 year. Just after fuel injected motors came into common use, and some of the detergents in use were not good enough to keep injectors clean, and caused problems. After the Fed specifications, any gasoline should have enough detergent that its use should not cause injector clogs.
Now, there can be water in tanks and if the owner of a set of stations wants to be cheap, he can scrimp on the additives.
But overall, most gasolines are about the same.
And talking about water in the gas. A single pipeline will carry all kinds of different product down the line. Regular, premium, diesel, fuel oil, aviation gasoline, etc, etc. And how are these separated? By a big 'slug' of WATER! So, if the water is not separated out well in pulling the product from the line and pumping it into the specific holding tanks, you could have a lot of water in the gas right from the wholesaler's terminal and loaded into the tankers.
I just have to giggle when I read all the posts about 'I always buy XBrandO gas! Alway have and always will!' You may have NEVER gotten gasoline out of a XBrandO refinery!
(And, in the 'old days' of leaded gas, there was only one kind of gas coming down the pipeline, regular. Premium was obtained by just increasing the lead and butane content, both octane boosters. Without lead, there now is truly regular and premium coming out of the refinery, because the available octane boosters cannot alone reach premium level.)
Traded, exchanged, swapped, bought?
Basically, think about it. Does every brand you see driving down the street have a separate supply available in every area where they have a station?
NO!
Almost all gasoline in a certain area will come from one or two suppliers. Whoever has the nearest pipeline and terminal on that pipeline. A pipeline can carry multiple companies product, but in most cases, a certain location cannot economically support more than one or two wholesale terminals and their distribution network.
All gasoline coming down that pipeline is the same. Coming probably from one refinery. If not, it is all still either just 'regular' or 'premium'.
When the gasoline is loaded into a tanker for delivery at stations, an 'additive package' defined by the brand of station it it going to is added to the gasoline.
And, most additives are about the same. There are octane boosters, detergents, and vapor pressure modifiers mainly. 'Common' chemicals in the gasoline business. But the government has added a mess of regulations in the last 10 years or so, and there are all kinds of stuff that have to be put into it to meet some 'local' regulations. (You people in California have most of this. But large metro cities have also passed laws that pertain to gas sold inside their city/county/etc limits.) All of these are about the same.
Federal law sets specifications the detergents have to meet, and this law has been in place for about 20 year. Just after fuel injected motors came into common use, and some of the detergents in use were not good enough to keep injectors clean, and caused problems. After the Fed specifications, any gasoline should have enough detergent that its use should not cause injector clogs.
Now, there can be water in tanks and if the owner of a set of stations wants to be cheap, he can scrimp on the additives.
But overall, most gasolines are about the same.
And talking about water in the gas. A single pipeline will carry all kinds of different product down the line. Regular, premium, diesel, fuel oil, aviation gasoline, etc, etc. And how are these separated? By a big 'slug' of WATER! So, if the water is not separated out well in pulling the product from the line and pumping it into the specific holding tanks, you could have a lot of water in the gas right from the wholesaler's terminal and loaded into the tankers.
I just have to giggle when I read all the posts about 'I always buy XBrandO gas! Alway have and always will!' You may have NEVER gotten gasoline out of a XBrandO refinery!
(And, in the 'old days' of leaded gas, there was only one kind of gas coming down the pipeline, regular. Premium was obtained by just increasing the lead and butane content, both octane boosters. Without lead, there now is truly regular and premium coming out of the refinery, because the available octane boosters cannot alone reach premium level.)
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,939
Likes: 448
From: CHOCOWINITY NC
BTW, "Top Tier" is marketing hype. A friend of mine busted this myth years ago by showing that the "Quick Trip" brand (conicidentally at the top of the list). had the exact same business address and legal contact as the mythically independent "Top Tier". I'll try to find the screen shots.
http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 5,835
Likes: 6
no 93 here or withing a thousand miles probably. E85 holds some promise for higher octane fuel ....it is much higher and hp is higher too BUT mileage is lower I have heard.
we have 92 tops here with plenty of water added usually it seems. Eventually the 92 will go away and perhaps all we will have only 87 in the future. I understand that you get less gas from each barrel of oil the higher the octane you produce.
GM sells the Z06 with the recommendation that only 93 octane be used I believe. But this octane is unavailable on the entire west coast so far as I know and lots of other places as well. just a matter of time IMO before our present "high" octane pure gas goes away for good.
bring on the alcohol I guess except that current c6s cannot run on E85.
All these thoughts bring back memories of the demise of leaded premium and what it did to performace cars. The old muscle cars are very valuable now but it beats me what people put in them if they actually want to drive them like when they were new.
we have 92 tops here with plenty of water added usually it seems. Eventually the 92 will go away and perhaps all we will have only 87 in the future. I understand that you get less gas from each barrel of oil the higher the octane you produce.
GM sells the Z06 with the recommendation that only 93 octane be used I believe. But this octane is unavailable on the entire west coast so far as I know and lots of other places as well. just a matter of time IMO before our present "high" octane pure gas goes away for good.
bring on the alcohol I guess except that current c6s cannot run on E85.
All these thoughts bring back memories of the demise of leaded premium and what it did to performace cars. The old muscle cars are very valuable now but it beats me what people put in them if they actually want to drive them like when they were new.