I sat and started thinking about the different technologies in the fuels between the different companies and started to wonder, who has the better fuel for my little car?
Citgo? Texaco? BP? Shell? Exxon?
What makes one better than the other and how is it better for the OEM engine?
I run 87 octane at wherever it is the cheapest. Since most all gas in Florida is E-10, it is all the same. Tweny years ago Sunoco used to have real gasoline, Sunoco 190, 85 octane, and the Fiero ran ok on that. I don't see it around anymore.
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02:59 PM
SOV3RN Member
Posts: 223 From: Smithtown, NY, USA Registered: Jul 2010
if they are all the same, WHY is it that (ever noticed?) that gas from 1 place may actually smell like high test gas while gas from another smells like diesel !? I'm not talking about Ols stations with Ols Tanks. the gas actually smells like it's been mixed with diesel, then the car stinks from it untill you change to something else!
if they are all the same, WHY is it that (ever noticed?) that gas from 1 place may actually smell like high test gas while gas from another smells like diesel !? I'm not talking about Ols stations with Ols Tanks. the gas actually smells like it's been mixed with diesel, then the car stinks from it untill you change to something else!
I can't say that has been the case for me. It all smells the same, until you get into the racing gasses.
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08:02 PM
Tony Kania Member
Posts: 20794 From: The Inland Northwest Registered: Dec 2008
I am going to get bashed here, but I use the highest octane in my Fiero that I can find. Around here, it is usually Cheveron 91 grade. I get 25 mpg on the freeway with 87 gas. I do get over 29 mpg when using 91 or better. I check my gas mileage every time that I fill up, so I am sure of my results. On my 4.6 Ford F150, the grade of gas makes no difference at all on the mileage. I
Originally posted by Tony Kania: I am going to get bashed here, but I use the highest octane in my Fiero that I can find. Around here, it is usually Cheveron 91 grade. I get 25 mpg on the freeway with 87 gas. I do get over 29 mpg when using 91 or better. I check my gas mileage every time that I fill up, so I am sure of my results. On my 4.6 Ford F150, the grade of gas makes no difference at all on the mileage. I
I got 28 hwy on 87 in my GT, the last time I made any trip in it long enough to account for hwy mileage. Normally I drive around town and get 16-18, on 87. Next tank I'll throw in some 93 and see what I get.
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08:44 PM
katore8105 Member
Posts: 1519 From: Upstate NY US Registered: Dec 2009
I have not compared fuel economy on different grades, however I run 93 then 87 every other tank fill up to keep everything clean. It seems to barely noticeably run better with 93 in my Duke but it could be the sugar pill effect.
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09:09 PM
solotwo Member
Posts: 5379 From: Grand Rapids, MI. USA Registered: Jun 2002
Yes there is a difference in brands. GM produced a bulletin regarding the quality of fuels. Several Brand named fuels are a higher tier gas. Shell, BP etc. They have found the lower quality fuels have been responsible for runabillity issues.
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09:34 PM
02greens10 Member
Posts: 813 From: Ashland, Ohio Registered: Feb 2008
Near Winter I put in 92 or 93 what ever Super is. I do that because I don't know exactly when i may stop driving the car so that gas may get stuck in there until next spring.
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09:59 PM
Jul 31st, 2010
Ramsespride Member
Posts: 1979 From: Where i am is where i am. Registered: Feb 2010
we have a station over on the west side of Appleton that sells Zero ethanol fuel. i fill up on their 93 octane and the power and runnability increases a good bit.
works the best however in the truck but its a bit of a beast motor.
a STOCK fiero cant get any advantage from anything higher than 87 octane. You CAN get a difference in gas mileage if your car is out of tune or something is wrong. If you get better gas mileage with higher octane then your car needs work or possibly only the ignition timing adjusted. A car with a knock sensor can adjust the timing to take advantage of the fuel but only if it's adjusted for it.
As for techron, it's cheaper to buy a bottle of it for $6.95 and use 1/8th of it in every tank. That is pretty much the concentration they put in the fuel at the pump from the Botique Chevron stations.
A properly tuned up stock fiero 4cyl or 6cyl will run perfectly on regular unleaded. Best is real Unleaded and not this 10% ethanol garbage. Good luck finding that.
Best thing for performance: Tune up your car. make sure the tire air pressure is correct. take all the extra junk you are hauling around out.
I put a chip in my fiero a long time ago, and it required premium gas so iv been running 93 in my car for years.. Iv never minded the slightly higher price, since it helps keep the engine clean.. So since it runs great, i have no plans to downgrade my fuel quality.
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09:20 AM
bristowb Member
Posts: 745 From: douglasville,georgia,usa Registered: Oct 2009
I used to drive 100 miles a day most of it is hwy use. I have an auto(i know it sucks, i want a five speed). I use high test because i have also noticed a much improved fuel economy of roughly 5 mpg over 87. Not only that but I also own a couple of emission station and my car passes with flying colors on the test,e with high test gas( as do most older cars) but on 87 i am on the cusp of failing. I see where people use the cheep stuff all the time and fail the test. I recommend them using high test and about 7/10 time i can get the car to pass. just my experience. I also use Chevron exclusively. Techron has been proven to burn cleanner and better. Also the (used to be) BIG THREE truck it in (Chevron) to put it in their cars to make sure they pass the Federal Emission standards and the California Emission standards.
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10:05 AM
30+mpg Member
Posts: 4061 From: Russellville, AR Registered: Feb 2002
I have noticed much better performance when using 100%gas. Those stations are getting harder to find though. Now I use Lucas fuel treatment with every tank of the blended stuff and it has made a difference of a out 3 mpg.
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11:42 AM
PFF
System Bot
Dennis LaGrua Member
Posts: 16133 From: Hillsborough, NJ U.S.A. Registered: May 2000
As stated 87 Octane gasoline is all that is needed but be advised that all fuels are not the same. Budget gas will run but cheaps out on the type and amount of detergents. You can bring it up to standard by adding more detergent ala Lucas Fuel treatment. The two brands of gasolines that meet the highest standards for fuel detergents are Shell and Chevron. If I run budget gas in my Chrysler 300 it will pull a DTC code after a few tanks. I've never tried budget gas in my Fieros as they are not daily drivers. .
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, 3.4" Pulley, N* TB, LS1 MAF, Flotech Exhaust Autolite 104's Custom CAI 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
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12:00 PM
Blacktree Member
Posts: 20770 From: Central Florida Registered: Dec 2001
I feed my Fiero the cheapest 87 octane I can find. The car runs fine on it. Actually, I found that my Fiero's fuel economy drops when I feed it high-octane gas.
On my duke I have noticed the difference in octanes/gas mileage. I have taken 4 long trips (5+ hours) in the last 3 months with it, and 3 of those times I used premium and was getting 39-41 MPG on all highway driving (I also dont speed very much.. so at 65-70MPH) However, on my last trip I only used 87 octane, and I got closer to 35-37 MPG. Also got stuck a mile and a half from my planned gas-up exit based on my higher-octane estimate.,, so very noticeable, in that particular situation. (D'Oh!)
..The blended ethanol will drop your gas milage ,,this means you burn more fuel and get worse performance ,,the people who make Ethanol know they are energy wasters ,but noway will you be able to use 100% gas because greens, politicians,and what ever type of legal bribery it takes from the ethanol liars will keep you burning more fuel!! Ethanol is MUCH more expensive than Petroleum gas ..The polution is the same, because you have to burn more Ethanol fuel to equal 100% petroleum gas ..Your goverment and green busy bodies who dislike cars at work..
..Represenative Waxman(lapdog) has BIG plans for you,& your love of cars,he hates gas and engine swaps ,fortunately the bigger more influencial politicians are busy little bee,s ,they hate the founding fathers & destroying America & making it to thier liking is keeping them busy as nite roaches.they will get around to US. Waxman is one of Nancy,s itches,,a real vermin love nest
[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 07-31-2010).]
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08:54 PM
lateFormula Member
Posts: 1048 From: Detroit Rock City Registered: Jul 2002
..The blended ethanol will drop your gas milage ,,this means you burn more fuel and get worse performance ,,the people who make Ethanol know they are energy wasters ,but noway will you be able to use 100% gas because greens, politicians,and what ever type of legal bribery it takes from the ethanol liars will keep you burning more fuel!! Ethanol is MUCH more expensive than Petroleum gas ..The polution is the same, because you have to burn more Ethanol fuel to equal 100% petroleum gas ..Your goverment and green busy bodies who dislike cars at work..
..Represenative Waxman(lapdog) has BIG plans for you,& your love of cars,he hates gas and engine swaps ,fortunately the bigger more influencial politicians are busy little bee,s ,they hate the founding fathers & destroying America & making it to thier liking is keeping them busy as nite roaches.they will get around to US. Waxman is one of Nancy,s itches,,a real vermin love nest
Blah blah blah...
Do you even know WHY ethanol reduces you fuel economy and HP? Before you start dissing ethanol, maybe you should learn about it. The base issue is trying to run an engine designed for gasoline on ethanol or an ethanol blend.
Try to keep your responses topic related. Take you political rants somewhere else...
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10:49 PM
lateFormula Member
Posts: 1048 From: Detroit Rock City Registered: Jul 2002
Staying on topic, I'm not going to post an opinion about which brand of gas maybe better than others, but I do want to comment on octane. I'm speaking as a 2.8 V6 owner, and my comments are specifically geared towards the 2.8/3.1/3.4 V6's that use a distributor for ignition timing.
These engines have mild compression ratios, so they will run just fine on 87 octane. 89, 91, 92, 93 octane will give no real benefit for these engines. But in the 50's and 60's people who modified their engines would run "high test" or higher octane fuel because they could tune the engine with more ignition advance when using higher octane fuel. For a few years I have been wondering about retuning my Fiero with more ignition advance in combination with high octane fuel. The only way to truly test this would be to spend some time on an engine dyno to see what could be done. As these engines are computer controlled, I wonder if the ECM would try to compensate for greater ignition advance.
The point of doing this would not be to try to improve HP or torque, as any such increases would be too small to really make a difference in 0-60 or 1/4 mile times. But this could give the engine better throttle response, make it respond faster to accelerator input. The combination of higher octane fuel and retuned ignition timing might make a noticable and measurable increase in fuel economy.
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11:04 PM
Aug 1st, 2010
gmctyphoon1992 Member
Posts: 693 From: Lighthouse Pt, Florida Registered: Jun 2010
i use 93 octane gas in my 88 gt 2.8L fiero. I am not looking for increased gas mileage or better horsepower but 93 octane fuel burns cleaner and hotter which is better for these older motors. Octane levels even though haven't changed very much through the years the additives they put in them have changed very much. That 10% ethanol now-a-days kills these old motors after awhile, the higher octane the gas the better it is for the motor and will burn more efficently (meaning the hotter something burns the more efficient it will burn thus increasing power and mileage but not enough to notice huge change in normal driving). I throw 104+ octane boost every once and awhile to naturally clean the injectors and the lines anything fuel related really (has additives to clean). Also i would use a choice for gas stations would be Marathon with their STP and BP-Amaco their gas is good also (besides the fact of the oil crisis). Sunoco makes good gas too they made race fuel back in the day that we used to use before heading up to Moroso (now PBIR).
------------------ 1988 Pontiac Fiero Gt (has every option available from that year including factory leather, 5-speed, and the rare T-Tops: Black w/ gray interior and blk wheels) 1992 GMC Typhoon #0203 1971Chevorlet Corvette 454cu/ LS5/ 4-speed/ convertible 1993 BMW 850 Ci 6-speed V-12
[This message has been edited by gmctyphoon1992 (edited 08-01-2010).]
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
