Gas Station of choice?

Hi guys, hope everyone is doing well. I normally fill up my car with Chevron or Mobil...well, the other day, I had to put Shell in it and I could tell a huge difference...the car felt sluggish and left me wondering if I had accidentally put in 87 or 89. So, my question is simple, what to you guys prefer and have you noticed any differences between different brands? Thanks in advance for your input.

I stick with Chevron only, always, and try to stick with the same one. I chose Chevron because of Techron and a few (possibly bogus) reports on gas quality, where Chevron was always one of the top. We used to use the no-name station near our house, which is a few cents cheaper, but after a fuel injector clog on my wife's A6 we switched. Haven't had any problems since, and I've put only Chevron in my 996 since getting it last year. Rarely is the price difference more than $0.02, and never had a problem yet.

I think your problem is psychosomatic. Fuels are all the same as produced by refineries, with additives merely added at the point of sale.

Yes fuels may orginate at the same point, but water in gas station tanks definately vary and can cause problems. I know from experience from 2 gas station in my area that screwed 2 of my cars. It took weeks and many fuel injector cleaners for the problem to be fixed. If there a station that works for you, I would stick to it.

In all of my years of Porsches and other high performance cars like Audi S4's or Honda S2000, I have always put in the cheapest high test I could find. I never saw any difference what so ever between any of the brands, whether name brand or independent. I never had any injector problems or anything remotely linked to the fuel. Over the last couple of years I was using WAWA high test and did not realize it was only 92 octane instead of the normal 93. The car always ran the same regardless of the brand of gas. I think what matters more is to buy from a station that is turning over the fuel. I would avoid a station that really looks bad (meaning really dirty and rundown) or one that does not pump much gas.

I prefer shell V-power (93 here in NC) since they use more detergents in their gas which helps keep deposits to a minimum, in addition to driving the car hard. All US gas has a pretty high sulfur content and other minerals in the fuel. Part of the reason european fuel is more expensive is because it is further refined. Most likely any difference you noticed was psychological.

I've been trying to avoid ethanol blends lately. Citgo is most convenient to my commute but 10% ethanol + Hugo Chavez= no sale.

Here is some additional food for thought on this topic: http://www.toptiergas.com/

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That is one of the sources of supposed superior gas that I ran into. I'm not going to save a quarter per fill-up and worry about the quality of the gas. And I may be wrong, but it seems like being consistent will help the engine by not forcing the engine to be constantly recalibrating. But that last one is probably an urban legend, like filling up when the gas is cooler...

I buy my gas at Sam's Club Seriously, I do. I have found though that running some Techron concentrate through every couple of thousand miles seems to help performance with both my 997 and my 996.

Do a search on this - it has been discussed many times. As another poster pointed out, all gas comes from the same pipeline. Additives are all added at the point of sale and make little measurable difference in performance.

I use Shell 93 as well. Once in my S2000 I swear I had a bad tank of gas at a Mobil near my house... water, or maybe user error (filled with 87?)... not sure what, but the car ran terribly until the next fillup (different station). I remember reading a pretty long article on fuel, that basically covers what was already stated - all gas is deposited from all manufacturers in the same US pipeline, then different detergents are added. I think BP and another brand (Chevron maybe) dont use the common US pipeline...

Yes, this has been discussed many times, consensus being they are all the same except for minor additives and advertising. One poster who works for a gasoline company even stated that it is a good idea to cycle through different brands to get the differing advantages of the differing additives. If you notice a difference after gassing up there are two possibilities. One is that you loaded up with the wrong octane. The other is that you pulled in the station just after the tankers came to refill the tanks. Refiling the stations tanks churns up the muck from the bottom, and it takes several hours for it to settle again.

Sunoco 93 or Shell V-Power 93. Highest octane available around here. And I should know - I've filled the 4S up once with each brand!!

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Where in MD can you get fuel without the 10% blend of ethanol? I love our federally mandated corn subsidy. What better way to pay farmers for a commodity we don't need for our cars while we lower our fuel economy? /End sarcasm

Hey Phil, have you seen those STA-BIL commercials

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You nailed the single worst thing you can do to your car - if I see a fuel truck in a gas station I keep on driving. I use new gas stations and ensure that I don't full up around the time that there is a delivery.

Here in SC seeing a tanker truck was a welcome site as we haven't had any gas. A friend of a friend that owns a gas delivery company (I know...) told me that with the gas shortage, they were putting any gas in any available tank at the stations. He said you could be getting 93 octane out of 87 tanks or worse, visa versa. Personally, I don't see the advantage of using cheap gas and explaining it by putting in $20 fuel additives in. Me? I use pretty much any 93 octane and change my fuel filter yearly.