What is the difference?

[standin]

Gas is gas?
What is the difference between brand name gas?

[Igosplut]

Additives that each brand has added at the depots as the trucks are being filled. The only separate gas in the Sunoco 93. That is all on it's own..

Race gas, aviation fuel, and such is a different story...

[VanHalener]

I love gas in a can. You know, the kind of can with a pin you pull then toss into a crowd. The brand doesn't really matter to me.

Awww Yeah, brings a tear to my eye every time.

CS, it'll OWN your ass!!!

[ELVIS]

Does Sunoco still market 94 ??

[Igosplut]

They still market Ultra, but I think it's 93 now. I have a buddy that hauls gas, and he said that's the only separate product..

[ZahZoo]

Additives that each brand has added at the depots as the trucks are being filled. The only separate gas in the Sunoco 93. That is all on it's own..

Race gas, aviation fuel, and such is a different story...

I think the only other differences may be the source of crude that it comes from. Isn't Citgo predominately Venezeulan sourced?

Other than that... it's just additives and chemical cleaners that differentiate brands.

[Igosplut]

I think the only other differences may be the source of crude that it comes from. Isn't Citgo predominately Venezeulan sourced?

Other than that... it's just additives and chemical cleaners that differentiate brands.

More refined than regular premium gas I would suspect, they can't just "add" ingredients to blend it.

More like race gas that can't be made out of regular gas...

[ZahZoo]

Good point... some of the magic has to occur during refinement.

I get a laugh from Shell's "Nitrogen enriched" marketing recently... reminds me of the superior Beer Bubbles debate from micro-breweries where a mixture of nitrogen is used rather than plain Co2 since it makes for tinier bubbles and improved beer farts!! ;)

[standin]

I google this last night.. And that was what I kept reading "The difference is the additives."
What's the difference between the additives added to gas?
I read last night that octane is not that big a factor, unless you car calls for it. In other words a higher octane is not going to be better for the engine.

Ahh. with the right question I found a really informative answer.

A Chemists View on Octane and Gasoline Brands
http://www.vettenet.org/octane.html


Which additive is better?:
Given the above discourse, it's obvious that we all want the gasoline with the best additive. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Additves respond differently in different base gasolines (even of the same grade). Also, some additves work better with gasolines used in a carbureted car vs one that uses fuel injection. On a practical level, additives are going to be developed today for today's cars -- meaning fuel injected cars. For Corvette owners who have carbureted Vettes (like me), this is unfortunate. Carbureted engines leave a LOT more deposits behind than fuel injected cars. From a regulatory stand point, California was the first to call for all gasolines to pass the BMW test (port-fuel-injected engine) in all grades of gasoline. Like all regulations, this one had various massages put to it, but the net effect was that all oil companies went to work developing additives that are a LOT better today than 10 years ago AND they are used in all grades (not just premium -- hence the argument to use premium to get a better additive went out the window).

Insider's trick on gasoline additives:
Cool

[standin]

On a side note...
Netscape still exists??? I did not know that.

[Igosplut]

I google this last night.. And that was what I kept reading "The difference is the additives."
What's the difference between the additives added to gas?
I read last night that octane is not that big a factor, unless you car calls for it. In other words a higher octane is not going to be better for the engine.


In today's engines, many are made to run on 87 octane fuel (the lowest allowed rating, and the bottom of the barrel). And that's the reason the guy say's it really doesn't matter. All vehicles made today have knock (read-detonation) sensors that retard ignition timing in the event of detonation. Most cars (and I stress MOST) will get better mileage on higher octane gas (as timing remains optimum for better mileage). The problem with octane (the higher the rating, the slower the fuel burns) is that it was achieved mostly through the use of tetra-ethyl lead. Race/aviation fuel is all low-lead because it's nearly impossible to achieve 100+ rating without it. Conversely, adding alcohol really fucks up octane rating making it harder to obtain ratings ( alcohol has a higher flash point, promotes icing up, and is unstable making detonation much worse) But it IS better anytime that you can run higher octane fuel, besides mileage, plugs last longer, there is less heat developed in the engine, and less oil contamination (combustion is the major contaminator of oil, not dirt). And in performance vehicles (and many others) you will get better performance (again timing being optimum) from higher octane fuel......