Gasoline Brands With Poor Ratings

[z-man]

Here's a list of cleaners I saw and GUMOUT is there. I forgot it even existed.
Our 10 Best Fuel Injector Cleaner - Black Friday 2024 | BestProductsReviews.com

I mechanic told me one time don't use anything STP as it is crap. I have followed this but do not know if he was FOS.

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[fmdog44]

I mechanic told me one time don't use anything STP as it is crap. I have followed this but do not know if he was FOS.

I agree with that. My dad taught me when it comes to oil just change it often with the filter. Growing up in the Chicago area we had a company named Ryan Oil that sold bulk oil in glass jars for 25 cents per quart.

 

[dochawk]

OK, let's get clear here I posted it for food for thought and nothing more. After all, it's the internet!!!!!!

So it must be true!

Although I suppose we should keep in mind Abraham Lincoln's advice not to believe everything we see on the internet . . .

What is the longest/most miles you've ever owned a daily driver for?

220k or so, a 2002 E-150 Traveller bought new and died in 2023. And by "died", I mean that with the interior just plain worn out, banged up on most body panels and the step bumper bent, the alternator and compressor just replaced after the engine mount gave and dropped the engine onto the compressor, and so forth, with no cat after being recovered as stolen the second time, an elbow on the rods gave and tore holes in the oil pan, and, as we discovered removing the pan, tore off a piece of the block (to which the pan attached). Aside from that, it was in great shape!

(actually, I kept the transmission, which was a crate transmission after it tore apart the old one past repair, and had only 30-50k on it.)

That replaced a 1989 crown Victoria I bought from hertz in 1990 with 17k, that made it to 170k in 2002. If not for a bad mechanic while traveling (left the spark wires for one side loose when cleaning injectors, causing them to melt through, and then overheat the engine), it probably had another 50k in it.

 

[Larrymoe]

I had my 92 F150 XL with the 300 I6 for 18 years. The first 12 as a daily driver. It was approaching 200k when I sold it. My 05 XLT with the 5.4 Triton is at about 196k. I've put almost 100k on it in 8 years.

My dad hauled fuel for FS for almost 45 years, so we always used that. Since I've moved out and been on my own, I've used mostly Casey's and that's what he uses in Gen 13 5.0 XLT now that he's retired. Guy knows a lot about fuel and he tells me it's OK and that's all I need. Have never had a fuel related engine problem in those 26 years.

Hell, I've never owned a single car that had any real serious engine issues of really any kind. And I've owned a lot of cars. 86 Plymouth Turismo, 66 Mustang, 91 S10, 92 F150, 92 Toyota Corolla, 2011 Crown Vic Police, 00 Cavalier, 06 Grand Prix, 11 Equinox, 95 Jeep Wrangler, 16 4Runner, 05 F150 XLT, 79 Delta 88, 21 Nissan Kicks, and a 15 Sonic.

And I don't get picky at all with oil or gas. The shit's all the same.

 

[jmelgin83]

I am a retired chemical engineer and used to work for BP (formerly Amoco) at their huge refinery in Texas City, TX. I also worked in their Chicago office managing the distribution of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from their refineries to their product terminals scattered across the US. All fuels must meet minimum government standards w/o exception. This includes minimum standard additive packages as well.

For product distribution, things get a little more interesting. Let me use an example: All of the refineries in the Houston area ship a non-branded (e.g. fungible) unleaded regular blend oil base that is commingled together. In other words, whatever was produced at BP, Marathon, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, etc. is all mixed together and shipped up Colonial Pipeline to their terminals across the southern US and east coast all the way to New York Harbor. Once the fuel has been received at the terminal, it has ethanol added (per US regs) as well as detergent additives. The fuel is then loaded into tank trucks for delivery to the gas stations.

These same refineries also produce premium gasoline which is shipped segregated and not commingled. This is done when they want to differentiate their fuel vs. that of their competitors. It is mostly done with premium as that's the best marketing approach.

The finished fuel may be distributed to a branded gas station (e.g. BP, Amoco, Shell, etc.) or sold "unbranded" to Walmart, Costco, Flying J, etc. It's the same fuel in any case. The only exception would be for premium gas which is almost always sold as a branded product.

All of the "majors" (BP, Shell, Exxon, Marathon) have their own distinctive additive packages that they will use in their premium grade fuel. For mid-grade and regular, they are using generic additive packages.

I know from personal experience that the additive used in BP/Amoco's premium fuel is good stuff. Our chemists would always say it was the best but I believe Exxon, Chevron, and others are just as good.

[side note: The article suggests that Amoco just follows BP's lead on what to sell. This statement is complete crap and proved to me that the author didn't know what the hell he was talking about. BP's refineries make the fuel that uses the Invigorate additive. It is either sold as the BP brand or the Amoco brand. It's the same juice in either case. Amoco is just a brand now, nothing more.]

 

[TarnishedCopper]

I personally hate buying "Gasahol" as it used to be called. Our politicians have rallied to make alcohol in our gasoline an almost given thing. First it stores poorly. I keep a few cans for my generators, snowblowers and mowing my 2 acres. If stored for a period of time, the alcohol will separate from the gas. The alcohol will also turn to warer, which of course causes carburetion and injection problems. Nice try Congress to pad the income for farmers and demand for their corn to make alcohol. This is results in higher prices of every food item we purchase in which corn is a primary ingredient.

While my F-150 EB doesn't seem to mind it (haven't towed anything with it yet) my Mini Cooper doesn't like anything but the "Recreational Gasoline" with no corn alcohol which is over $1.00 per gallon more expensive.

 

[Old Hat]

Ethanal free gasoline is not available in my area. Recently on a road trip I was able to tank up with ethanol free 91 octane. Fuel mileage went up about half a MPG at 70 mph cruise. Other than that I noticed no difference in performance compared to the 10% ethanol 93 octane gas I normally use.

Since buying an electric lawn mower we no longer need gasoline at home. All other tasks like trimming and snow removal have always been done manually and will continue to be until I no longer can. It's good exercise and I'm glad to not have to keep gas in the garage.

 

[Calson]

With diesel fuel the etane varies greatly between fuel sold in the USA an diesel sold in Europe. A cetane booster may make sense for diesel fuel in the states.

With gasoline what matters most is full atomization with the injectors and for that I add an injector cleaner to the gas tank every 20,000 miles. More often than that would be a waste of money.

It would be foolish to drive 20 miles to get "better" gasoline in the fuel tank of your vehicle. Any possible gain is negated by the extra gas burned over 40 miles. I often come across posts where people would drive to save a few dollars and ignore the $0.80 per mile costs to do so and place no value on their time.

Anyone who thinks that the chemists at one gas refiner have some knowlege that is not known by competitors does not understand how the real world operates.

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