Walt White Coupe

Essentially gas is gas. As shopdog basically said they are all the same. Buy by price and convenience and save some money along the way.

PappyTinker

In order to make the list of "Top Tier" brands, all grades of a brand of gas must meet the "Top Tier" standards. It does not mean that all grades of a particular brand do not meet the "Top Tier" standard for a particular grade. Without further testing of the grades of gas that are not on the "Top Tier" list we can't be sure that any particular grade does not meet the standard. The premium grade might make the standard and the regular might not; or vice versa.

In other words, if you don't buy a "Top Tier" gas brand, its a crapshoot.

HOTSOSS

Ever since the Shell gas fiasco several years ago (excess sulphur and broken gas gages), I never run just one brand, I like to mix it up, even Sams and Walmart gas, but include top tier stations too. Haven't had a problem doing that.

gordonb50

It's well known that most retailers buy from a variety of suppliers. It's the additives that make the difference. When I worked for Phillips 66 in the Texas panhandle, I would see tank trucks from other companies filling up there daily.

When I had my C5, it was very important to use Top Tier gasolines. I tried the "others" for a while and my gas guage started going crazy. I would fill up and 10 minutes later, the fuel guage showed empty. One thing I was told was the sulfer content in the non-Top Tier gasolines affected the fuel guage and fuel system. I followed advice from forum members, went back to Chevron, and the problems went away.

cvp33

Many retailers, even top tier purveyors, will use a common refinery. Afterall, there are a limited number of refineries. But this does not make all gas the same. Shell, Chevron and the others use additives and detergents to qualify for Top Tier status.

Here's the deal. If you plan on trading every year, than probably no big deal, run whatever you want and let the next poor bastard worry about buildup on his valves. But if you drive a lot of miles (I do, approximately 33K per year) and you want to ensure that you car is top running condition than top tier gas is another piece of insurance.

If you want to save a few more cents, than just run regular oil vs. synthetic. And don't change every 3K to 5K, when it's already been proven that oil is still doing it's job at 10K miles. There are lots of ways to cut corners and save pennies on your $40K to $75K investments.

Cruncher

Pinging is due to low octane levels. So, whether you use Exxon or Joe's gasoline and both have the same octaine rating, there shouldn't be a pinging problem due to the brand of gasoline. The only difference between Exxon and "Joe's" gasoline would be the additive package; some packages are more aggressive (i.e. more expensive) than others.

There are only a few companies that manufacture gasoline additive packages (per the Chevron www site). By law, all gasoline brands are required to have an additive package to at least clean the fuel injectors. Chevron is a manufacturer of several different kinds of additive packages which are sold to other companies; only the Techron brand goes into their own gasolines (Chevron and Texaco) (per the Chevron www site).

Cruncher

True. What counts is the additive package that is added when the tanker trucks are being filled. Each gasoline company has their own additive package that is added when their trucks are being filled.

Cruncher

It could be...but it was invented by GM, Toyota, Honda, and BMW, not the oil companies. Also, it's "Top Tier", not "Tier 1".

owebo

Top Tier....sorry 'bout that....I do not think it was invented by the big auto manufacturers but rather endorsed by them....

Obviously not that good of a marketing campaign if I got it wrong... but that isn't saying much.....

thx007

Good article... thanks. But now it got me curious about VP Racing Fuel (http://www.vpracingfuels.com)! A little 100 octane anyone??

CQRT

All refineries feed fuels into the same pipelines regionally that flow into terminals in each major city - -for example, all the LA basin refineries push product into an 18" pipeline that flows from Riverside County along I-10 to Phoenix and there's absolutely no differentiation of brands as gas flows into the tanks here at 51st Ave and I-10.

When product is loaded into the tanker trucks, the unique additives go into the load - - whether or not those additives are truly unique to each company is probably a 50/50 split between actual chemical technology and marketing - - but apart from federally mandated components, the product bought at the rack by many/most of the non-oil company retailers lacks those additional additives which in my view makes their fuels less desireable.

So, will use of the sub-top tier fuels really hurt your car over your few years of ownership? Probably not . . . but in the long run it's not likely to perform at optimal level and you may be inviting additional build-up on valves and other potentially long term side effects that in my view, merit the extra few cents per gallon.

Like all things - -your car . . .your choice.

rakuhn

As long as GM recommends the "Top Flight Fuels", I will use them. I had negative experinces with my other GM's when I used fuel other than what was recommended.

GM recommends Mobil 1 and I see that from past threads, most of you continue to purchase it. I really do not see the difference, one recommendation vs another.

Top Flight Fuel works just fine for me.

cvp33

Most pinging is due to low octance levels, however a stuck valve and
build up can disrupt a combustion event. This will also be captured by the PCM/ECM on newer vehicles and trigger a C/E light.

haljensen

In order best to worst;

Best = "TopTier' 93 Oct.
Next = Brand name 93 Oct
Next = No name 93 Oct
Next = "Top Tier" 91 Oct.
Next = Brand name 91 Oct.
Next = No name 91 Oct.
Next = "Top Tier" 87 Oct.
Next = Brand name 87 Oct.
Next = no name 87 Oct.

Since the C6 is a 50 state car I have to assume that the factory tune parameters are set for 91 Octane so if 93 Oct is available your tuner can probably take advantage and gain a few HP with 93.

By "no name" I mean the local discount station(s) that buy the cheapest bulk leftover gas he can find. Price is their only criteria and if the tanker "accidentally" runs some 87 into the 93 tank it's just more profit for the station.

cvp33

We operate 10 fuel centers in VA and buy only Shell gas. We cannot advertise this fact as we are an independent and do not "fly the flag" for Shell. I do tell all my friends and family though so they know. There is usually a difference in cost vs. quality..........usually.

User 020720

Everytime I step foot in the Autozone near me I always get approached for money by bums in the parking lot so I mostly avoid them.

hotinaztoo

This is what I have heard from several sources.

If you live in Phoenix area, all gas comes from the tank farm on 51st Ave. which is fed from Texas and Calif. The individual companies add thier super wapidyne additives after they load up the delivery vehicles.

I think that stations that sell a lot of fuel would tend to have cleaner storage tanks underground that ones that sell the high price spreads.

Purdue

I had my old 03 C5 serviced TOO many times for faulty fuel guage readings! The service tech advised not to use Costco gas here in PHX as there were heavy sulfur contents that was causing my guage problems. I switched to Chevron on my C5 and never had any issues from that point forward.

Fast forward.....my C6 showed signs of a sticking guage as I was using Mobil gas. I switched back to Chevron and no problem so far! I think I will pay a little more for the convenience of not having to visit the dealer to replace my sending units!!!

BTW....In AZ our premium is 91.

Mr Valet

how do you know that?

owebo

God gave me a brain.....

I also engineered gasoline facilities in the past...there is no majic to the industrial process.....just the marketing process....more power to them...