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My observations: (I'm in Massachusetts)
Mobil 93 Octane: LOTS of pinging. CRAP.
Sunoco 94 Octane: Pretty good, not worth the $.05 more than the 93 Octane.
Shell: Not bad.
Exxon: Haven't tried it.
Texaco: Best so far. No pinging, I guess their 5 tank guarantee holds some water... (or Gas)
Note: It's been cooler up here as of late, so that's maybe why the Texaco runs well...
According to a friend who owns a service station:
"Never fill up when the Fuel Truck is there. When the pump the gas, they stir up sediment and moisture on the bottom of the holding tanks." Sounds pretty reasonable.
What is everyone putting in?
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96 Integra RS w/ JRSC 6psi, Walbro 255, DC F/R Strut Bars, DC R Lower tie bar,
DC 4-2-1, DC Cat Back, DC Short Shifter, DC DAC,
Piaa 1100's, Toyo FZ-4's on Enkei's, Eibach Pro-kit springs,
Powerstop Rotors, Axxis Pads. Mobil 1, Red-line MTF.
No tint and proud.
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You should realize that sometimes stations gets varying octanes and even the "best" stations sometimes get crap batches. So you can see a "bad" batch of 94 once and and stop using it when on average it's the best. The whole brand loyalty is silly when all these refineries are just producing similar gasoline. Didn't 20/20 a special on this?
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Fuel additives can also make a difference...They aren't all the same, but they aren't all that different, either. Find a brand that works well in your car and stick with it is the best advice I would give anyone. You'll occasionally get a bad batch, but in general, the same brand gas will usually be the same. Of course, this could depend on your area.
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Well I have to use Amoco gas here in Nebraska because they are the only stations that sell 92. All others only sell up to 91 octane. Sometimes (when the bartending really pays off) I run 1/2 92 and 1/2 100 (the 100 is unleaded racing fuel that I can get from one station here in town) and the car loves it. 92 seems to get the jobdone well enough aound town that it isn't that big of a deal. Now usually when I travel, I use Chevron with the Techron additive and I really like that stuff. I haven't used it yet with the super charger but I might get my chance in september when my lil bro graduates from boot camp out in San Diego. All I know is that gas is and must always be expensive as hell in CA cause when I bought my car back in April of 99 I filled it up at a gas station on the way out of CA and it cost 1.97 a gallon. Talk about sticker shock, I couldn't believe it. OWELL
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98 GS-scR w/ 8psi JRSC, Walbro HO fuel pump, AEM cai, Airmass header, Thermal Exhaust, Skunk Works cam gears, J&S safeguard, RC 310's, Cartech FMU, Vortech regulator, H&R sports and KYB AGX's, and of course to slow down, KVR X-drill F&R rotors and Carbon Kevlar pads and V1 to signal the slowing down and soon to go on a Carbon Fiber diet.
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Forget about 20/20, I programmed the meters and injectors at Hess Oil terminals where they sold gas to tanker trucks!
If a company has its' own terminal, they will try to use their own product, but if there's a line of trucks, they head right to someone else's terminal.
The gas is the same, but additives are injected at different rates depending on the company picking up gas. Additives are great things, and you should stick with the major brands to get a higher additive rate, but they don't affect octane at all.
Any difference you see between tanks of gas (of the same octane) at different stations will be attributable to:
1) A bad batch. (Not really a bad batch, when gas is transported by barge, the last 100,000 gallons or so to be taken out are not the cleanest. Most major brands refuse to take this gas if they are pumping directly from barge to truck. Usually it will all be pumped into a 10 million gallon tank where it will mix together with the other 9.9 millions gallons).
2) Getting a tank after/during a tanker refill. This is 100% true. I left a station on E last week because of this.
3) Disreputable gas station owner pulling funny business. (Filling up from fly by night tanker trucker instead of his own companies truck.)
I use Sunoco 94 exclusively. If someone starts selling 95 or higher, they will have me as a steady customer.
Greg
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Some time ago a number of Arco gas stations in Orange County California got busted for doing things like gimicking the meters on the pump and actually watering down the fuel in their storage tanks. I stopped going to Arco the day I put 15 gallons of fuel into my Omni with a 12 gallon tank. A couple of weeks later that station an others got busted.
I ususally use either Chevron, Shell or Union 76. I don't use Mobile, I would hear knocking and pinging on occasion with Mobile but not with the other brands. (I ran two tanks of Mobile several months apart just to make sure I didn't have a 'bad' batch of fuel.)
Sean
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- Atomic 'Teg -
Blown '99 Milano Red GSR, IceMan CAI
DC Sports 4-1 Header, ES torque mounts
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DITTO on the Sunoco 94! If I could buy better or higher, I definately would! http://www.hostboard.com/ubb/tongue.gif
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Go get yourselves a Sunoco Mastercard, Pay it off in full each month, and receive a 4% rebate. (about .07 cents per gal. here in NY)
And you can't beat the gas!
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Usta drive a '72 naturally aspirated V4 Sonett. Damn thing was picky as hell about it's diet. I absolutely agree with staying with the major brands as a staple. Over 15 years of owning that car, I learned that every station has it's bad days (I probably got there just after the tanker truck left). SUNOCO 94 was consistently the best, followed closely by MOBIL and SHELL. My guess is the bad Mobil gas story above was probably and abberation (sleazy management at that station mebbe?) Any time I wandered very far from the well known brands, I usually ended up paying for it by having to clean out the carburetor and/or change the plugs. Hope this helps...
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One word: TEXACO. Never, ever, a ping to be heard. Again, the "5 tank" guarantee has won me over.....
I really haven't noticed Sunoco 94 as being superior... used to run it in my motorcycle (Ninja ZX-9) and it worked great, but the ole' Integra runs best w/ Tex.
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96 Integra RS w/ JRSC 6psi, and a whole bunch of other stuff that has broken the bank.
