bobS

For the first 8k miles i owned my z i almost exclusively used wawa premium gas b/c of its price(sucks paying for everything now lol). But recently i found a sunoco near my house that has 94 octane ultra fuel (25 cents more than wawa premium). Even though i know the wawa premium was 93 octane and the sunoco ultra is 94, i tend to think that maybe the wawa gas was also lesser quality. I seriously feel like the sunoco gas has made my z so much more responsive/torquey. My father thinks wawa gas is crap and only uses premium fuel from MObil...so the point is, do any of you guys use wawa gas and do you think there is really that much of a difference between gas companys and the quality of the fuel?

SteveZ33

I don't live that far from you, Woodbury to be exact. There is a super WAWA right around the corner from me that my wife uses all the time to fill up her 94 Altima. I was there not too long ago and asked the attendent where the gas comes from. He told me that it all depends. Sometimes its Mobil, sometimes it's Costal, sometimes it's Sun (Sunoco). Reason is thats the local refineries in our area. Paulsboro (Mobil/ Valero) Westville (Coastal) & Sun is in Philly. I don't like Mobil gas. I've had nothing but problems with it in the past. So I won't put WAWA gas in my Z because I don't want to take the chance of getting it. Sunoco 94 is good, and I'll use it if I have to. But I like SHELL V-Power and will drive the extra couple miles to get it. Tell your Dad that WAWA gas, for the most part, is probably Mobil based on what I've been told

kcobean

iTrader: (2)

Gasoline is one of the great marketing ploys of the world. Gasoline is Gasoline is Gasoline. The refining process that turns crude oil into gasoline is the same for all refineries, and gas is delivered to regional storage points using the same pipelines for diesel, gas, etc. A particular brand doesn't become unique until it hits the trucks. That's when all the additives and detergents get put in to make one gas different than another. Ever notice how some gas smells much more "sulfur-ish" than others? It's not because the gas is different, it's because the additives are different. For companies like WAWA that don't have their own additives, they probably have agreements with distribution companies to get whatever gas meets their requirements of price/octane, etc.

bobS

My buddy just told me that the texaco near me sells 100 octane gas....apparently a lot of people use it in thier race cars (i live right near atco dragstrip) What would that do to the z? Would it harm the car if i put 100 octane in it?

ttsupra94

iTrader: (1)

I use wawa all the time. I dont think the gas is cheap there though, they have the lowest price around here usually because they sell the most gas and get a much larger turnout of customers than other gas stations around here. I've used all kinds of gas in the z though, i mean from different places (all 93 octane) and never really noticed a difference.

dansouliere

There is no advantage to run 100octane on a stock engine. If anything it will perform worse since its a cooler burning fuel its harder to ignite.

zlove

Be careful, some of the 100 octane gas is leaded too (at least it is at one of my local gas stations).

HokieZ

iTrader: (1)

Completely agree with kcobean. My wife used to work right next to one of the larger gasoline storage depots (close enough they were evacuated on 9/11) on the East Coast and the husband of someone I worked with worked there. All they do is pump gas from the refineries to these storage depots and around the various points throughout the country. It isn't as if Mobil, Shell, Sunoco, Citgo, whomever, are just pulling up to their own refineries, filling the truck, and then driving to the gas station. They all use the storage depots so the gasoline itself is identical. One may have different detergents than another, but that's about it. In reality, the difference between 93 and 91 should be unnoticeable as the car was tuned to run on 91 and anything ove that is overkill. You could run lower, but the knock sensor will retard timing and that WILL affect performance and perhaps lead to damage if done over a long period of time. The difference between 93 and 94 or 100 shouldn't do anything.

bobS

hmmm strange...it must be in my head then..i have to believe however that running higher octane than 91 is good for the engine.

Sully

iTrader: (4)

Mind over Matter - but in the end, your a Proud Z Owner!

Here's a curve ball - What if u were to fill half the tank with 89 and half with 93? What would be the outcome of that?

Curiousity.. w/ rising gas prices..

Sully

motown

Actually, most stations only stock 87 and 93. They make midgrade by blending the two at the station.

And kcobean and everybody else are totally right. I work for an oil co. Base fuel moves in pipelines and on ships all over the US. Only when the trucks come to load at the storage depot's are the extra additives put in to make it Mobil, Exxon, BP, whatever. The only exception to that I've found is if the retailer in your area also owns a refinery quite near by. Then, the gas is likely to have come from their own refinery. That Sunoco 94 is probably a specially made blend in their own plant, so it really may be unique stuff. I don't work for Sun, so can't say. But, that may account for any difference in performance you may have noted. Really though, Sully's prob. right. 80% in your head, if I had to guess. Happy Driving!

bobS

Well obviously gas is gas is gas...but when we the consumer buy it, it is different depending on the company you buy it from. Do these additives make certain brands better? I dunno...i know that we all buy certain brands of oil. And oil is oil until the additives or process is changed. Something to think about..

Montez

YEp it is just like water, people buy this spring water,mountain water etc. and believe its so special and its not.