Premium gasoline

[ob325]

Interesting article in the Post today.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080501595.html

The quick-and-dirty is that the sales of premium gasoline are decreasing with increasing gas prices, even in cars like ours that recommend premium gasoline.

Do others still use the expensive stuff? And do you think one would notice any difference in driving by using the regular grade for around-town driving, but switching back to premium before driving school events?

[white_2kgt]

Do others still use the expensive stuff? And do you think one would notice any difference in driving by using the regular grade for around-town driving, but switching back to premium before driving school events?

If a car manufacturer say you should use 93, then you should use 93. If they say use 87, use 87. I had a roommate in college w/ a 90ish accord and always ran 93 Exxon which was on average .20 more expensive than the sheets 87 across the street, never understood it.

I always ran 87 in my mustang GT engine, now I have to run 93 in the cobra or it will knock. There is NO benifit to using a higher grade fuel in an engine that doesn't require it.

[1996 328ti]

I use premium in my ti because of the chip. Before that I was using 89 just as recommended. My gas mileage went down when I used 93. I felt no difference in performance. Our Cooper S requires 93 but due to a hesitation, yoyo effect in the summer our dealer has recommended going down one grade. We have felt no difference except that the hesitation has gotten less. Something to due with the computer not mixing the fuel correctly when it is hot.

[Rafgar]

Excellent timing on raising this issue.

I'm currently working with BP Amoco to have them participate in some local chapter events. My thoughts were to have them send a "fuel technologist" to a tech session or a club meeting. They would make a presentation on fuel and then answer our questions.

Anybody have any ideas or suggestions? Now's the correct time to send them in while I'm in the development stage.

Thanks,

[OwnedbyDuncan]

I always heard premium fuel left less deposits than regular or midgrade?

What is interesting in my neck of the woods is a BP, Mobil or Exxon station in Centerville has prices that on average are 15 to 30 cents higher than same stations just across the line in PW County on Rt28. Price drop occurs at the BP station just on the other side of the Fairfax County/Prince William County line about a 5 miles from the stations in Centerville. Price differnetila is consitent amongest all grades of gasoline.

Not sure one of their fuel techs can answer that question. Probaly need a marketing guy or one of their lawyers.

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

I always heard premium fuel left less deposits than regular or midgrade?

What is interesting in my neck of the woods is a BP, Mobil or Exxon station in Centerville has prices that on average are 15 to 30 cents higher than same stations just across the line in PW County on Rt28. Price drop occurs at the BP station just on the other side of the Fairfax County/Prince William County line about a 5 miles from the stations in Centerville. Price differnetila is consitent amongest all grades of gasoline.

Not sure one of their fuel techs can answer that question. Probaly need a marketing guy or one of their lawyers.

First off, have you considered real estate costs? 5 miles is a HUGE distance.

[mlytle]

gas taxes vary by county, hence the price difference.

many years ago premium gas had detergents in it that other grades didn't. nowadays most all gas has detergents. no advantage to going with premium to reduce deposits.

[daddeu]

Would appreciate a "fuel technologist" at a tech session or a club meeting.
One question could be: Does five gallons of 89 octane mixed with five gallons of 93 octane (both dispensed from the same gas station) equal 10 gallons of 91 octane?

[Nick325xiT 5spd]

Would appreciate a "fuel technologist" at a tech session or a club meeting.
One question could be: Does five gallons of 89 octane mixed with five gallons of 93 octane (both dispensed from the same gas station) equal 10 gallons of 91 octane?

Yes.

[white_2kgt]

Yes.

As long as it is unleaded
There's always a caveat isn't there.

Would appreciate a "fuel technologist" at a tech session or a club meeting.
One question could be: Does five gallons of 89 octane mixed with five gallons of 93 octane (both dispensed from the same gas station) equal 10 gallons of 91 octane?

It doesn't matter where it came from. Just so they are both unleaded and are using the same rating system (R+M)/2 BY LAW it must meat a minimum octane, so you could get 5 gal of 89 unleaded from florida and 5 gal of 93 from oklahoma and mixing them will give you 10 gal of 91.

--chad

[OwnedbyDuncan]

Gas taxes vary by jurisdiction but not enough to account for a 20 cent a gallon difference.

[SharkD]

I run 93 in my chipped E24, but 89 in my stock E30 (but I splurge for 93 on track days).


According to this Post article from May...

Gas taxes -- the biggest factor in price differences among states -- can vary widely. In Maryland, state taxes on regular gas total 23.5 cents a gallon, whereas the District's rate is 20 cents a gallon. In Virginia, the state tax is 17.5 cents a gallon; there's also a 2 percent sales tax in locations that are part of a Northern Virginia transportation district.

[rrsperry]

When I used to work for Amarada Hess, (I was the terminal supervisor for the Baltimore terminal in Curtis Bay, 3.4 million barrels of storage), all grades of gas had detergent. The difference was in what detergent "package" went into what gas. The detergent that went into reg and plus gas was about $3.00 a gal while the detergent in the prem gas was $38 a gal.

Independent gas brands such as Sheetz, Crown, and Mom and Pop's, would all get the cheaper additive package in all grades of gas. It meets the legal requirements for detergents. Only the Hess premium gas got the expensive additive. Obtw, we would also load any of the majors, Amoco, Shell, Mobil... if the had any problems with their own terminals. They got the cheap stuff

Sunoco had segregated tank storage in our terminal for their 94 octane gas and had a dedicated loading rack with a completely different and separate package of detergent.

The detergent is metered into the gas as the tanker is loading. The ACCULOAD system injects a metered amount of detergent. x# of cc's of detergent per y gallons of gas.

Gasoline was delivered to the terminal in Baltimore by ship, or by the Colonial Pipeline. The ship borne products were from our refinery in St Lucia, and the pipeline products came from Houston. The only two gasoline products that are not fungible, are Amoco's Ultimate, and Sunoco 94. Every other grade of gas is the same for all companies, as is fuel oil, heating oil, kero...

As for the pricing, vj is partially correct, it has a lot to do with how the gas gets there, deep water economics plays a big part. Ever wonder why NJ has lower prices the we do? They have refineries, that equals less transportation costs.

[ob325]

Now I'm not complaining about the price of gas--I swore I wouldn't do that until it hit $3/gallon, which may be next week.

But what I am complaining about is the willy-nilly raising of gas prices. My example is the Shell station close to the office.

All last week and most of this week it was $2.599 for premium. On Thursday morning (yesterday), I noticed it was up to $2.619 and by the time I went home last night it was up to $2.699. But what really got me this morning was that it was $2.819 . At this rate, it will be over $3 by tomorrow. This is just fishy because I know the premium demand didn't increase that much overnight and neither did the price of wholesale gas.

But I'm not complaining about the price of gas.

[1996 328ti]

My local Mobil was 2.7199 for premium this morning.
Now I understand that if the price of oil goes up the cost is passed on to the consumer, but wouldn't the profit be the same to the oil companies? Instead oil companies are recording record profits. Is there any other commodity that we purchase based on market speculation?