Yesterday on the advice of a friend, I filled up with Chevron instead of the usually $.11-$.15 cheaper Arco or 76 and paid attention to the performance of my car afterwards. All I can say is that it made quite a difference, so much so that I doubt I'd have missed the change if I hadn't been looking for it. Engine feels tighter, pulls harder, revs quicker.

Mileage decreased though.. but only because punching it was so much fun.

 

Just an FYI to find the "cheapest" Chevron:

www.seattlegasprices.com

That way you can filter out the premium gas, station, and location. If you're travelling, the parent site is www.gasbuddy.com

Enjoy!

 

the government now requires all gas to have a 10% mix of ethanol, so your not getting away from that one by filling up at more expensive stations

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...nol-fuel_N.htm

see 3rd paragraph, looks like we may be buring 20% ethanol soon

 

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006...ethanol_m.html

iguess not quite yet, but soon...

 

I could have sworn gas stations bought the same gas as every other place, and the detergent additives were mixed in the pumps of the actual station. But I don't know, ill have to check when I get a chance... which might be a while.

 

This is what I've read, it may or may not be exactly what goes on, but it should be close enough to understand what's going on. Engineers and others who like everything to be "exact," I ask your forgiveness ahead of time.

Sometimes they mix the additives upon delivery to the station tanks, other times they mix in the tanker. It entirely depends upon whether the truck will be delivering to more than one place or not. When delivering to a single station or chain, they'll add the additives to the tank since they get a better "mix."

Most gas pipelines run continuously. When one grade is done being pumped through the pipeline, they'll just start sending the next grade. The "mix" of grades is called a "plug" and is generally considered lower value, since it can't necessarily be sold as "plus" or "premium."

 

bah, I'm just gonna start running straight Meth in my car if they start to cost about the same...