Gasoline brands

Mongo

Mongo

Joined
Nov 5, 2001
Messages
8,969
Howdy all,
Was pondering this question on the way back to work... cause I gotta put some gas in the truck tonight on the way home. Is there ANY difference between the gasoline at different stations? Is the gas at a BP different from Shell? What about the "economy" type stations, like Thornton's?

Seriously... what makes BP's gasoline 4-5 cents a gallon more expensive than Thornton's? Am I just paying for name recognition? Are there REALLY additives that are beneficial to your engine that those other schmucks down the road don't have in their gasoline?

What is the truth?
 
As far as I have been able to determine, there is no difference. I have often seen unmarked tankers delivering gas to brand name stations.

One time I was at a Mobile station and an unmarked tanker pulled in. He started unloading and I asked him if it was Mobile gas. He smiled
and pulled out a one gallon container with a Mobile label. He told me that after he added the gallon to the underground tank, it would be Mobile gas.
 
The difference works like this. Every company puts x-number of barrels into one end of the pipe. It's a common pipe. I.E. maybe 1000 miles long. This entitles this company to take x number of barrels out at the other end. Between the end of the pipe to the station companies usually add some proprietary "additives", detergents and things like that. That is where the companies differ. IIRC, of course.
 
Last edited:
Gas all comes out of the ground as oil, so it is pretty much the same.

Useable gasoline comes from the same refineries with the only difference being some of the additives that each brand puts into their gas.
 
The refineries and major distributors sell their surplus to the economy brands at a discount. The economy brands don't get first opportunity at the gas when supplies are short, but they get the surplus for less, when supplies are plentiful. Also, they tend to have lower marketing costs.
 
I get my gas at local stations, like Wawa, Rutters, Sheetz, Turkey Hill, Royal Farms and Highs. Sheetz and Wawa are regional, Rutters and Turkey Hill are PA stations and Royal Farms and Highs are MD stations. Their prices are usually better than the chains. I have no idea why though.

Having said that, I heard that tanker trucks for different companies fill up at the same pump in Baltimore. For example, Exxon, Shell, BP, Enroy etc, all filling up at the same pump.
 
dttomcat said:
Between the end of the pipe to the station companies usually add some proprietary "addiives", detergents and things like that. That is where the companies differ.
Click to expand...

That is true. Octane and useability is about the same.

That being said, you should always fuel up at an established chain rather than some discount place run by foreigners. The good places are very diligent about dipping the tanks and adding drygas. Condensation builds up in the underground tanks which can result in watered down gas. Poorly maintained tanks not only leak gas but allow ground water to leak in. Then there are the sleazy places which deliberately add water to the tanks to keep costs down (very illegal, but it can and does happen). Now, the fuel in the tankers already is treated with drygas and stabilizers, and that displaces or absorbs small amounts of normal condensation, but if the amount of water is too high to be absorbed it will cause problems with your vehicle, such as misfiring and stalling. In bad cases you won't even be able to get it started. Water can rust the gas tank and cause fuel line to freeze and rupture in the winter. Water in gas is bad. A lot of the smaller stations do not dip their tanks or add drygas. It is often worth the extra .05 cents a gallon for piece of mind.
 
tyr_shadowblade said:
That is true. Octane and useability is about the same.

That being said, you should always fuel up at an established chain rather than some discount place run by foreigners.
Click to expand...

You mean like BP, CITGO and Valero? These are owned by "foreigners", or did you mean to make a more general racist comment?
 
CWL said:
You mean like BP, CITGO and Valero? These are owned by "foreigners", or did you mean to make a more general racist comment?
Click to expand...

I didn't say owned by, I said run by. And it is not a racist issue at all. I don't care what color the gas station manager is. But when hardly anyone at the station speaks English, and those guys speak it poorly and with a surly attitude, well, I don't expect them to be running their station under the same standards as the chain up the road that is clean, brightly lit, and charges only an extra nickle a gallon. Way to make assumptions.
 
Last edited:
sunoco and bp are popular on alot of the car forums with guys that have cars that have to run high grades of octane. Sometimes i mix in a half of a tank of race gas at a local sunoco, that is 110 octane. 8$ a gallon, but there is a big performance difference.
 
Condensed moisture in gasoline is one of those things we don't have to worry about any more, like pterodactyl poop. You don't have to add "dry gas" when the gasoline is already 10% alcohol....
 
Cougar Allen said:
Condensed moisture in gasoline is one of those things we don't have to worry about any more, like pterodactyl poop. You don't have to add "dry gas" when the gasoline is already 10% alcohol....
Click to expand...

Good point. I forgot about that newfangled "10% ethanol made from corn for the environment" crap as they don't advertise it as much anymore. I'm still pissed off about the time I got watered down gas back in the mid 1990s. :grumpy:
 
I'm still afraid of pterodactyl poop. If I were to see pterodactly poop, I would run. And poop.

As far as gasoline brands, different brands do use different detergents, etc., at least they hype that they do. Any gas should be safe to run in your vehicle. Going with a name brand may offer some assurances that the station, tanks, etc. are properly maintained.
 
My dad use to work for the oil companies. He was a big time engineer. His company sold gas to every one. There is no difference until the put these own additive with the gas.
 
Shann said:
I'm still afraid of pterodactyl poop. If I were to see pterodactly poop, I would run. And poop.
Click to expand...

One time my Da called me up to complain that a pterodactyl tried to steal him off the garden tractor so he got scairt and went inside and didn't finish mowing the lawn. Apparently, he tried to "stay hydrated" working outside on a 110 degree day by drinking over a case of Milwaukee's Beast and I think he got a tad confused about things.
 
That's hysterical. I don't laugh out loud with noboody else in the room too often!
 
UffDa said:
As far as I have been able to determine, there is no difference. I have often seen unmarked tankers delivering gas to brand name stations.

One time I was at a Mobile station and an unmarked tanker pulled in. He started unloading and I asked him if it was Mobile gas. He smiled
and pulled out a one gallon container with a Mobile label. He told me that after he added the gallon to the underground tank, it would be Mobile gas.
Click to expand...

Not all major brands have their own fleet of tanker trucks. They use to, but found it was more cost effecctive to contract out the hauling. Our company has no brand affiliation, but we haul Texaco/Chevron, Shell, Tesoro, and BP. As well as unbranded fuel. Diesel is diesel though. Doesn't matter whos pump it comes out of.

It is true, all gasoline is the same until it gets to a companies tank farm (storage facility), and thats when the company specific additives are mixed in.

I'm not a chemist, so I can't tell you specifics of the different addditive products that are used by companies. None of it will hurt anything, but I'm not convinced it really helps either. Octane rating is just that. Its a standard. There are a lot of people that pay extra money for premium fuel, when it does absolutely nothing for their particular vehicle. If you have low compression, and aren't running a lot of advance in your timing, there isn't much to be gained for the big difference in price.... Its a mental thing for a lot of people. They think because they put higher octane fuel in their car, they are getting more power. I know some newer cars suggest running a higher octane fuel in that particular car, and that is fine. Maybe there are some performance reasons why they recommend it. I've found on most cars, its not going to know the difference between 87 and 92 octane gas

The gas that goes into a branded station like Shell, HAS to be gas from the Shell facilities. Regarding the small stations, what brand of gas goes into the small mom and pop stations, will only be known by those of us that deliver the gas
 
Last edited:
The additives are indeed the issue. Chevron's Techron is respected to the point that Mercedes Benz re-labels it as their own brand of fuel additive and sells it as such. My old Jeep gets better
milage with Chevron that Arco's econo swill.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top