AAA Article on Advantages of using Tier 1 Fuel Brands

[Tbone289]

Many gasoline deliveries by various independent tank farms usually buy their fuel from local refineries. Any brand. Ever see a fueling truck at a Shell, Exxon, Mobil or whatever stations with the Shell, Exxon or Texaco logos on those refueling/distributors trucks? Fact - A Texaco tank farm dealer buys fuels from a local Shell refinery.

Yes, all fuel comes from the same tank farm in a given location. The additive package that is blended into the fuel in the tank truck is what is different from brand to brand. That is explained very clearly in the study document.

Sponsored

 

[OleFordGuy]

I don't want any vehicle I cannot fill up at any random gas station in BFE Wyoming, or get the oil changed at any random oil change chain store. If you need 'special' to make your vehicle run properly - that is a significant design failure on the manufacturer's part and you should have bought something different.

There is no requirement other than ford saying to use a min of 87 octane fuel and the oil to meet fords oil spec which is given in the manual. You can buy your fuel and have your maintenance done as you please.
The study is just showing using a tier 1 fuel can be better for a gasoline engine in the long run. Have no idea where you got the idea you had to do something

 

[Tiger Dude]

I just want to put some info out about gas. First of all, just because you're at a Shell station doesn't mean you are getting gas from a Shell refinery. Gas stations can sell whatever they want to you. There a was supreme court case in the 70's about this.

The only thing that makes Chevron gas Chevron is a can of "Techroline" they put into the tanker. I had a job once that did a lot of business with tanker trucks and had a good discussion with a driver about this, including seeing the flat of little cans they used.

The stations near me on the top tier website are sketchy at best, I really doubt the local smoke shop is paying extra for it. Costco I'd trust, but I won't wait in line just to buy gas.

 

[TrailMaster]

I'm also not convinced all "top tier" branded stations are only selling top tier gasoline. I've been running strictly ethanol free 87 grade in my Maverick, which is less prone to "varnishing" -- especially considering the truck is not a daily driver and can sit for a week at a time in the cold winters. I do think an occasional treatment with Chevron Techron is a good idea.

 

[todd92]

There is no way anything in the fuel will help carbon buildup on the intake valves of a DI engine. The fuel never touches the valve. Why do you think the latest designs are adding port fuel injection to go along with the direct injection?

 

[Hoagus]

There's nothing that says that it does either. How can you be certain what additives Billy-Bob's gas has?

Billy doesn’t make his own fuel. Don’t the stations mostly get their gas from the same tanks at the local depot?

 

[Tbone289]

Billy doesn’t make his own fuel. Don’t the stations mostly get their gas from the same tanks at the local depot?

Yes, not "mostly", all of them do. But those tanks at the depot don't have additives in them. The additive package is what makes one brand of fuel different from another.

I'm starting to wonder how many people in this discussion have read the article. It explains all of this.

 

[Tbone289]

There is no way anything in the fuel will help carbon buildup on the intake valves of a DI engine. The fuel never touches the valve. Why do you think the latest designs are adding port fuel injection to go along with the direct injection?

While that is true, additives don't just reduce carbon buildup on the intake valves.

 

[amboran]

Yes, not "mostly", all of them do. But those tanks at the depot don't have additives in them. The additive package is what makes one brand of fuel different from another.

I'm starting to wonder how many people in this discussion have read the article. It explains all of this.

I'm wondering the same thing......Some want to question the facts even though they haven't fully read the facts.
Cheap generic gas does not have the additive package that upgrades the basic fuel to Top Tier quality. If you want a vehicle to last (any brand or age)-don't feed it just any no-name generic fuel.

 

[Master Blaster]

There is no way anything in the fuel will help carbon buildup on the intake valves of a DI engine. The fuel never touches the valve. Why do you think the latest designs are adding port fuel injection to go along with the direct injection?

That would mostly be true on a lawnmower engine, but any vehicle engine has had valve overlap for almost 100 years now. In the case of the EB Mav, its pretty large at low revs. The Hybrid Mav depends upon extreme valve overlap to produce the equivalent of the Atkinson cycle. The amount of fresh charge pushed into the intake is large.
The other major contributor to intake valve carbon is poor oil with higher volatiles than the Ford (and all other manufacturers now) specs call for.
Put the correct oil and gas in and your engine should easily last for the rest of your life. Maybe do a search for the recent posting of the oil company testing a 2.0 out to 500k miles when they stopped and tore the fully-working engines down to look at the internals. An awful lot of the internals looked brand new when using the correct synthetic oil and the correct fuel. Intake valve carbon is a problem for BMWs, not Fords.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

That would mostly be true on a lawnmower engine, but any vehicle engine has had valve overlap for almost 100 years now. In the case of the EB Mav, its pretty large at low revs. The Hybrid Mav depends upon extreme valve overlap to produce the equivalent of the Atkinson cycle. The amount of fresh charge pushed into the intake is large.
The other major contributor to intake valve carbon is poor oil with higher volatiles than the Ford (and all other manufacturers now) specs call for.
Put the correct oil and gas in and your engine should easily last for the rest of your life. Maybe do a search for the recent posting of the oil company testing a 2.0 out to 500k miles when they stopped and tore the fully-working engines down to look at the internals. An awful lot of the internals looked brand new when using the correct synthetic oil and the correct fuel. Intake valve carbon is a problem for BMWs, not Fords.

Excellent video.
Multi-parameter testing done on a dyno.
It confirmed for me, 100% synthetic

Sponsored