I buy Speedway or Marathon gas, you don’t suppose because I work for Marathon would have anything to do with that?
As most of you old timers on here know; I haul gas for a living.
I enjoy reading posts like these to see what the general public is aware of.
If you buy from any area station near you, and your vehicle runs good on the gas you get, there isn’t anything wrong with that. You are better off, buying from one place you know and trust, than pump hopping from station to station to save 2 cents.
The EPA requires detergent additives in all gasoline’s.
Vermonter, if you want to kill some time, here is a link to all that info:
http://www.epa.gov/oms/fuels.htmBut, as DB pointed out, the requirements are very small (trace amounts).
Major “Brands” have higher amounts of patented additives injected and can make a difference in the performance of your car over its lifetime, especially if you own a car for a long time. These additives are specific to a particular company, and in essence, what makes them “Branded”. Better fuel mileage and fewer engine repairs are their most advertised advantages.
Most stations that make you prepay do it for one reason… Drive OFF’s. (People stealing gas).
It is just as much of a hassle for them as it is for you. I use a credit/debit card to pay. You are more likely to run into a card scanner at an ATM than at a station.
Most Independents and Mom and Pop’s buy “whatever” is cheapest on the market on any given day.
The Federal government, no longer requires stations to mark pumps selling Ethanol gas.
Some state regulations may vary. But looking for a sticker that says 10% Ethanol is not indicative of what you are getting. (Don’t even waste your time asking the pimpled kid behind the counter, they know less about the gas than you do).
Ethanol can lower your fuel mileage, but for the average person buying 10% blend with Ethanol, you won’t notice much of a drop. One or two miles per gallon if that (in my S-10 it is only about .6 tenths of a mile per gallon difference). From what I see, most drivers could gain more fuel mileage by changing their driving habits than switching to a non ethanol gasoline.
If you are using E85, the average fuel mileage loss is about 17%.
As for me, If I had a 1956 Ford pickup, I wouldn’t buy Ethanol gas, and I would use 89 octane (unless it had a high performance engine that required a higher octane) . If, I could find a Major Brand without Ethanol I would use only that.
Some people have really done their homework, so to speak, on the gas they put in their old cars and pickups, and go even further with this, but I can’t post that info here.
Chuck