I buy the cheapest midgrade found which is 89 octane in these parts. Given the way and where I drive, simple top-down cruising on back roads, the engine is very happy.

But for winter storage, I fill the tank with a brand name premium octane 93, if only to feel better.

 

Why not use techron? All top tier use there own additives but techron is the one that GM has run a lot of tests on. Any of the top tier fuels meet the requirements.

 

"...rather fill up with premium grade...gas from Chevron, Mobil, or Shell...or fill up with a less expensive premium grade gas from Costco or Sam's Club along with a good fuel additive..."

My vote: fill up with premium grade

Then "run through" a bottle of Techron before changing the engine oil.

Good luck with your decision.

 

I buy from Costco, Quicktrip and Kroger all tier one, all 93 octane.

 

I actually use Chevron, Mobil, or Shell 91oct (CA doesn't have 92 or 93) and also use a bottle of Techron before an oil change...which in my low mileage case is only once a year. Thanks for everyone's interesting input.

 

Haven't had any issues in any of our cars.

 

Quick Trip is not a top tier fuel anymore. They were until about a year ago but no longer.

 

I hope you don't. There are too many studies that have proof that it keeps your combustion chamber and valves cleaner. Improves fuel mileage and performance. Triple A recommends it. Every Corvette Owners manual tells you to use top tier fuel. I've been to Paul Korners seminars, AKA "The Corvette Mechanic" and the first thing he asks someone that says there car has a rough idle or miss is are you using top tier fuel. And hands down if you have a C7 or C8 your rolling the dice with expensive repairs because you have direct injection with the tip of your injector right in the combustion chamber, oil and heat=carbon. Pay now or pay later.

 

Go with Top tier gas stations, and you don't need to add cleaner to the fuel like techron, since they are already in them to keep the fuel system clean.
https://www.toptiergas.com/fuel-stations/

 

The top tier gas standard literally specifies the use of a specific Ford 4 cylinder with a poor head design that accelerated carbon build up


All that said, additive packages are cheap, and not all cheap.gas is created equal. Gas from a behemoth like Sam's club is going to be better quality than mid price gas from a smaller chain because they have so much more buying power.

At the end of the day, do what makes sense to you. Going out and overpaying for a fancy brand of gas doesn't make sense to me, andy cars haven't suffered at all for it.

 

Now ask yourself, do you think they changed anything in the gas, or opted not to pay the licensing fee? Just like when mobile 1 lost dexos cert, do you think it's because they actually changed something, or got tired of paying for a name and didn't think it made them any more money?

 

When I read about them dropping the top tier additives last year I told my brother in Wisconsin as he also used QT he contacted QT and they did tell him they are not using top tier fuel any more. All I can say is contact QT and ask. My brother used to drive fuel tankers and told me when he would pick up for say Chevron they would add there additive techron, Shell they would add there V Power to the load. I think the last time I looked QT was not removed from the top tier list so don't know how often they update the list. I contacted Chevron at one point because I noticed some of the Chevron stations did not have the top tier decal. Chevron told me if it's a Chevron station decal or not there top tier for all grades.

 

...

 

I just changed the intake on this car to a fast. Stock injectors had nothing on them at 100k miles. Maybe at 200k miles?

 

I don’t remember anything about the Top Tier engine having a poor head design, but even if my memory is poor and the statement is true, I don’t see how that would throw the validity of Top Tier into question. The same engine is used for testing all fuels, so if Top Tier gas can keep even what you say is a poorly designed engine clean, doesn’t that make the spec even more valid?

Your comments about additives being cheap and licensing fees being expensive are backwards. As I noted earlier, the Top Tier licensing fee is trivial, simply covering administrative cost of the non-profit program. And while the additive cost is small in comparison to the pump price of the gas, it is quite substantial in terms of dollars per year for the gasoline seller. So it would be the height of stupidity for Sam's or any other marketer to drop out or stay out of the Top Tier program to save money, while continuing to sell fuels that meet or come close to meeting the spec.

As to whether your cars have “suffered for it”, that depends on your definition of suffering. I never said EPA gas was bad or would cause serious engine harm. I simply said that after 50,000 miles, a Top Tier user would have a cleaner engine that would run closer to showroom-new than an EPA user. So if your final sentence had said “haven’t suffered much from it”, I could have agreed. And that highlights the one and only point where we are in full agreement. As you said in your next to last sentence, “at the end of the day, do what makes sense to you”.

 

QuikTrip is still listed on the Top Tier website and Dano's link found my local QT station. It's also usually the cheapest gas in the area.

 

Here's something from the Motor Oil Geek talking about this subject:

 

Love the video. Is this as good as Techron?

 

Interesting video. It backs that Top Tier and Techron Additive DOES HELP keep engines cleaner.

Techron is the best and they actually developed the PEA detergent back in the 1980s

 

Just curious, as to why you won't run 91 or 93 octane ? Is it a financial thing? Not faulting you, just curious.

Midgrade fuel is not carried in tanker trucks. Tanker trucks have just 2 chambers, one for Premium, one for Regular. The driver has to mix Midgrade fuel at the drop site by pouring in Premium and then pouring in Regular. It's not an exact science so sometimes it comes out to 88 Octane, other times it comes out to 89 Octane. They've done tests and Midgrade fuels have come in below their advertised rating.

This is critical when outside temps are warm/summer time. As the hot air coming into the engine is more prone to detonating than cool dense air. The LS3 will pull timing but ONLY AFTER it senses detonation via the knock sensor. So the engine can still detonate/ping and the computer is reactionary and will pull timing to prevent damage.