stymie222

Has anyone actually found using certain brands of gasoline, that they offer a significant benefit, over off brands ?
The big oil claims have been around for decades. Are they really better ?

Bruze

The short answer? -- no.

jrose7004

As long as it's 91 octane 100% gas no alcohol, I'm in.

WW7

Well, burn what you want , but GM says to use top tier fuel in the C6 to keep the components clean.. Top tier fuel like Sunoco ,BP, Shell,and others have more additives that keep the system cleaner then the other fuels..If your gas gauge stops working because of corrosion at the fuel pump and needs to be replaced, you will wish you had used a top tier fuel...WW

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windyC6

LOL....You're asking for the whole slew of "Experts" to come out with this one. Top Tier....Middle Tier.....left Tier.....Right Tier....Etc...Etc....Etc.....LOL. I've used all types of fuel from all types of stations. Never heard...felt....smelled, or experienced any difference. Heck....I even run mid grade octane through it from time to time when the price for premium is high balled....(B@#$%#S).....but just what the hell do I know.....

EVRose

How much do you save, maybe $4?

Welker1

No, as long as it's 91 or 93

LDB

Many (including WindyC6) poo poo top tier. Indeed, all gas sold in the US must have a reasonably good additive package, such that engines will remain reasonably clean. But top tier additive packages are better. If you tear down a 50,000 mile engine that has been run consistently on top tier versus cheapo gas, the engine run on top tier will be noticeably cleaner. I know, because I’ve seen such tests with my own eyes. The improved long term cleanliness is why GM and most other car makers recommend top tier. Will you be able to tell any difference in a tank or two, or even ten? Nope. But is the difference there over the long haul? Yup. And as far as Windy’s use of quotes around “experts”, I spent a career in the oil industry witnessing, among other things, such tests, and GM’s engineers who recommend top tier know a thing or two also. Of course, if you’re a conspiracy fan, I could be lying about my credentials and GM engineers could be lying in order to get a big payoff from oil companies or maybe it’s to get license fees for top tier. I’ve seen any number of such cockeyed theories on the forum.

But back to your question, if you use cheapo, will your engine be an old bucket of bolts at 50,000 miles? Of course not. It will still be running ok, and odds that it will have had a fuel-related problem are very low. But will it be running as smoothly and as close to showroom new as an engine run on top tier. Nope. Does that justify the added cost of top tier? Your choice. Mine, paid for out of my wallet for my cars is yup.

Bruze

Yup, yer right. I forgot to include that in my short answer above.

As I noted on another thread, I always fill up with top tier with corn even though there's a high-test, corn-free, not top tier alternative a half-mile away.

demon340

windyC6

Think you might need a math lesson there uh Rosey. At 18 gallons and a diff of about 60 cents a gallon...(round here anyway)...that comes out to closer to the $10+ area. Besides...not so much the thought of saving the $$$....but more of the idea of not giving them B@#$%&DS more than they deserve. Not sure about where you are at...but back when the price of a gallon of reg white gas was about $4 a jug....the difference between low tane and high tane was about 20 cents a gallon. Now that they have the price down in the $2+ range around here they stick it right in your A$$ on the high tane stuff cause round here it's about 50 - 60 cents higher. And that may or may not even be a "Top Tier" station !!!...LOLOL.

Matthewstorm

I only use Shell or Sunoco 93. I have a rewards card which gives me 10 cents off a gallon at Shell.

Vette_DD

Kroger Gas gives me 10¢ a gallon off the price for every $100 I spend in the Kroger store.

Gman in NC

Don't forget. If you're not on a race track these cars will run just fine on 87.

Vette_DD

No, that's not what my 2012 Owner's Manual says on page 9-48:

LDB

“Just fine” is a relative term. True, the knock sensors will keep you out of major trouble by retarding the spark when lower octane gas causes knocking to start, and also true, the acceleration and mileage loss from retarding the spark will be minor. But think about what’s happening. Over and over and over and over and over again, your engine will go through the following cycle. Low octane gas causes knocking which is quickly detected by the knock sensors. Spark is retarded almost instantly so that there’s only a brief, mild pinging rather than a major, hard, knock or detonation incident. But since your engine is tuned for premium, after you’ve driven a bit, it will return the spark to design conditions, so the cycle will repeat. If you run a tank of regular now and then, since the “mini-knock” episodes caused by this cycle are not individually very serious, odds of it causing a problem are extremely low. You might even get away with it for the life of your car. But if you run consistently on regular, your engine is going to run through hundreds, if not thousands of those cycles over its lifetime. There is no way to tell the ECM to permanently leave the timing retarded. It’s just a dumb computer, and will keep going back to factory advance until the next time you punch the throttle and trigger the knock sensors. I suppose if you drive like the proverbial little old lady and never punch the throttle, you’re safe even then. But if that’s the way you drive, why are you driving a Vette. Makes no sense to me.

TorchRedFred

I disagree. To get the full performance out of your vette, you need to use 91 octane or higher. People in general have a misunderstanding of what octane levels mean. To put it in simple terms, the higher the octane the more difficult it is to ignite the fuel. In high performance motors, designed to put out large HP figures, typically compression is raised to help achieve this higher level of performance. The more you compress a gas/air mixture, the more likely it is to detonate on its own without a spark. That's why high performance motors ask for higher octane, to prevent early detonation by using a fuel with higher octane figure which means it is more difficult to ignite and has a higher tolerance to compression, heat and other factors. If you use a lower octane gas, such as 87 octane, the computer will retard or adjust the timing to compensate to protect the motor from damage, but you will lose some of the performance the engine was designed to put out.

To get peak performance out your Corvette, octane is important just like it is in most high performance engines. It might not make much of a difference in normal around town driving but for those occasions when I feel the need to stomp on the go pedal, I would like all my available horses to be there.

Disclaimer: I copied most of this post from a previous post of mine on a Ram forum but changed some language to have it apply to Corvettes.

Vet Interested

Runs fine until you kick it in the ***. Thats when you will notice any "issues".

EVRose

Ah, but you didn't mention any prices in the first post! I was going by prices here. The difference between lowest and highest grade is 30 cents and .15 cents between mid and high. I would be more than happy to be paying in the $2+ range!

windyC6

Well Bravo and Touche. You don't like my use of quote marks around the term "Expert"....too bad. The world is full of way to many experts these days.....in all fields, not just the automotive and oil fields. One day the "experts" say this....and everyone starts running for the aisles to follow what the experts say. then a few years later...maybe 8-10 in some cases it turns out that the "experts" were wrong and we've all been following the pied piper to the river. Sacarian (sp) will kill ya....maybe if you drank 1,500 bottles of diet pepsi every day for 20 years they forgot to tell you....LOL. Stretch out before you excercise or you will injure yourself....LOL....now they tell ya that stretching is bad for ya. And lets not forget one of my personal favorites that seems to be right up your expertise. NEVER....NEVER ever mix dino and syn oil together or your motor will melt into a reasonable pile of something resembling and old AMF Harley motor. The "Experts" even went so far to say that if you change your dino to syn then be absolutely sure that you get all the old out before adding the new. Now you can buy it already mixed in a quart..... Don't miss-understand....I have all the respect in the world for "experts" in their proper field. But just because someone is an "Expert"...by no means does that conclude any information given by them should be taken as religion. I tend to gather facts from experts and "common" people and then come to my own conclusions. Now back to the question....my conclusion on fuel comes from over 50 years of buying top tier....bottom tier....sideways tier.....no tier....etc. And i've never had a fuel related problem due to a fuel not being top tier. Lucky....maybe. But i'm not about to tear a perfectly good engine apart at 100-K miles just to see if it looks 2% worse since I used "Medium" Tier sometimes.............