hey 8ters,

just a quick sidenote from an expierience of mine today. decided to spluge a bit and fill up the tank with chevron techron 92 and i noticed SIGNIFICANT increase in performance vs more "generic" gasoline ie 72, mobile, etc...in fact, i drove the whole tank out today haha. just for ***** and giggles. anyone else have similar stories? do share!!

 

We dont have Chevron in New York City (at least I have yet to see any)

but 99% of the time I put BP in it. yea Its just rebranded Amaco but I found it to be pretty good to the engine. Oh Shell is also good, but theres no Shell nearby so I just put BP most of the time.

 

I used to fill up on any old gas, but I agree that some is definately a step above. Most 93 octane that I fill up on gets me worse mileage than lower grades, but the Shell V-power seems to get me better mileage AND increased performance. I just filled up on Shell 89 today. I want to see if its just Shell or the V-power specifically thats so good.

If there's a big difference, I think I'll be trying to use the V-power exclusively from now on. Its more expensive, but the performance, mileage, and higher detergent levels are probably worth it. V-power is probably similar to the Techron

This might have something to do with it: http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

 

I have experimented with all different brands of Gas. Shell, Mobil, Arco, Chevron, Union 76. I have noticed that I get the best gas milage with Chevron and the engine runs really smooth with that gas too.

Although I haven't tried the V-Power yet. Shell gas stations are not in great numbers around my part of town.

 

In the almost 3 years I've owned this car, I found that gas brand made a much bigger difference than the octane rating. My car runs best on Shell, but Chevron is a close second.

 

lol, what if you live in canada.. we habe. Sunoco, Esso, things like that...?

 

i use chevron 94 all the time. rides so much smoother

 

what is 72?

 

from first day to now I use chevron 91 or shell 91.
remember the apex seal is only 2 mm thick, it don't take much for them to crack.
seen too many RX7 with blown motor.

 

I think theres one on queens blvd.
But they are more in ct that I have seen

 

Gas is gas.

Many gas stations accept cross-hauled gas, meaning they'll buy from the cheapest supplier, unless their franchise agreement mandates that they must buy branded gas from a specific company.

All this talk of 'my car runs better on such and such gas' is a perfect example of the placebo effect that great marketing and catchy names like vtech or techron can create.

 

Correct though each brand can be different as they have thier own blend of additives for which they add to the basic gasoline mixture. However as mention some stations may not be buying from the supplier for which their station is named after. You might find a Exxon or shell not using the company refineries gas but instead that of some third party supplier. However generally you should find the companies gas at their station and every company adds something different that may or may not completely agree with your engine. Though really there isn't a huge difference but if it makes it feel better then go for it. Some may have more or less detergent however they are not that far off of each other.

I'd be more concerned over the octane rating than what is actually added to it.

 

Exactly.
For the record, I noticed absolutely no difference whether my car is running on Chevron, Shell, Arco or whatever brand of gas.

 

I've logged every tank since I bought my 8. Numbers aren't swayed by the placebo effect. I get the best mileage from Shell. I use 93 since lower octanes give mine a slight pinging.

 

I suggest anybody that does not believe that 'gas is gas' check out www.toptiergas.com

 

Some RX-8's are more sensitive than others.

Some people must run 91 or they have issues.

Others require specific brands to run normally.

Mine runs fine no matter what I put in it. Doesn't matter what grade or brand.

I've stuck with Shell whenever possible, used to use 91, been using 87 for the last half year.

 

It probably also depends on the additive package, quality of the storage tank(s) at the station, the tanker trucks for transport and the storage tank(s) at the distribution center.

Here in Champaign, 90% of the gas stations get their fuel from the same distribution center just outside of town.

If it's Techron you're after, you can get it as a bottled additive at most auto parts stores.

 

As had been explained to me, Chevron is virtually the only station that has their own dedicated gas (some sort of pipeline? of something; stepdad was a designer on the project years ago) that is only theirs that goes to their stations as opposed to other companies who have all kinds of different gas going to different stations.

That said, I feed Bella Chevron Supreme 92. I've been getting over 23 on my last few tanks. My first tank was Mobil and I got 19.5 (also getting used to the clutch). I had another tank that was Shell (not a Chevron available when I needed gas; road trip) and I got 21.5. I always buy the premium gas.

My family has always had the best luck with Chevron in our vehicles. The one exception was a Clark station in Wisconsin. My mom's 1999 Protege usually got high 35 to high 36. She got gas at the Clark station and got 41.5 and we were totally amazed, thought maybe there was a mistake somewhere. She made a point of going to that same station again and managed to break 40 again. So, the whole time we were there we got nothing but Clark gas and got mileage ranging from 39-42 MPG. I have no idea what company a Clark station is and we don't have them anywhere in my area. I also haven't had the occasion to be in Wisconsin with my car to test this out.

 

All in your head

 

ARCO is crap and you will notice a difference that goop that comes from the bottom of the tanks from the refineries.