As a truck owner, I'm one of those guys who likes to brag how I find the cheapest, dirtiest fuel and fill her up with it. While my fiancee' fills her car up with premium only because on the gas cap is says "premium only."

However, on a recent road trip, something happened. My tank was on E, and no other gas stations were close enough except for a lonely roadside Chevron station. I usually avoid Chevron and other stations due to the fact that they cost so much more. Here in California, regular went for $3.69 a gallon at this Chevron. So, with no "better" aka less expensive option, I filled up my '05 with Chevron regular.

I started up my truck, left the station, and hit the highway. And then, I began to notice something. My acceleration seemed more smooth and it was easier to cruise at 80 MPH than usual.

So, thinking I was victim to good marketing, I let the tank run dry again, and filled it up with Chevron, again. Now I noticed that the idle sounded better and the engine was quieter. I must be going crazy?

Let the tank run dry again, and went back to my trusty rusty old gas station. Filled up with a full tank. Everything felt and sounded the same, until I burnt about a quarter tank of it and felt sluggish acceleration, noisy idle, and other things.

Went back to Chevron. Things are better again now. My wallet yells at me though.

What do you all think?

Better gas or just better marketing?

 

Do a google of Teir One gas. Chevron has Techron which is one of the better clraning additives. Texaco has it as well. Shell and a few others have good cleaners in their gas. You can buy Techron in a bottle at Walmart and at parts stores.

If a car says it needs premium, that is because the tune in the computer requires it. Our trucks come with a tune for 87 octane.

 

I purchased my '04 over 6 years ago. I those 6+ years I have filled up at Shell mostly, Hess twice, Sunoco a decent amount and the past year Irving (Used to just be in Maine and recently around popped up here the past few years) . Irving, Sunoco, and Shell always return the same mileage and runs the same as far as I can ever tell. In my new Taurus, I've only used Shell and mostly Sunoco. I track the mileage and its always the same so I use those 3. I don't support that turd in Venezuela or Joe Kennedy so you will never catch me with Citgo.

 

I did a similar test years ago on my worn out Toyota 4x. I tracked the mileage with both Arco and Chevron, then compared the price per gallon/mileage. I went farther with the Chevron, but paid more per gallon. Arco was less but worse MPG's. When I checked it against the miles traveled they were almost exactly the same. Truck liked the Chevron better so that is what it got to drink, and it didn't cost any more in the long run. I won't buy crap gas anymore.

 

90% of the gas stations in this city are Conoco/Phillips, Casey's, and Kum N Go. Of those 3, C/P has the only decent gas.

 

I've run my truck on nothing but Chevron for its whole life ...177K miles as of today (I think I have put 2 or 3 non chevron tanks through it...) running regular unleaded with the occasional tank of super... and the occasional bottle of Techron...

My truck has never done any better than 12 city/ 14 hwy... except for one trip to Portland 2 years ago...I think I hit 15 mpg... I'm at about 9 mpg now cuz it supposedly needs a motor...and runs like crap...

 

There is good fuel, and bad fuel. If it costs more, changes are there are more advanced studies and research invested into it to make it a better fuel. I am not sure what your cheaper gas station fuel is, but is $3.69 gets you top tier 87 octane, and lets say, $3.49 gets you your average 87 octane, to fill 30 gallon tanks with each price would be $104.70 for the cheaper stuff that makes your engine feel sluggish, and a possible 20 or 3 miles less per tank. And your Chevron fuel costs $110.70 for a fill up. Only an additional $6.00 for a tank full of better fuel. Almost an extra two gallons of the cheaper stuff may aid you a 30 mile advantage per tank with the more costly Chevron. And last I checked, Our 14 mpg machines can use all the mileage per tank they can achieve.

Fill it with the good stuff, get a couple extra miles out of it, and keep that truck running good. I am on a 89 octane custom tune with 34" mud tires and I average 15mpg with my 4wd Supercrew.

 

Had a customer that swore by Sam's discount gas in front of the big box store. Even after spending 800 bucks for a new fuel rail plus labor (needed new injectors) he said his habits weren't gonna change because he got such a good price on it.

I almost exclusively use top tier unless I'm in a pinch somewhere new and have to fill up

 

I 100% agree to use top tier gas. 10-15 cent savings over a year for my driving habits just isn't worth it. You hear of people driving way out of their way to save $6-7.