1715 Gas Quality Question
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1715 Gas Quality Question
I recently purchased a 1715 microtuner, and it has been working great. However, with the increased importance of the quality of the gas used with the 1715, I was wondering which was better, a 92 octane from a station such as Amoco, or 93 from a station with "Blue Planet" gas. I live in MN and I think the blue planet stuff is local, so if anyone from MN or around there has an opinion, let me know. Information on Blue Planet is on the website http://www.blueplanetgas.com/. Thanks for any input.
Senior Member
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From: Wisconsin
If one is unformulated go for that one. Also if they are fairly close take a look at who fills there tanks. I have noticed that the same tanker refuels 90% of the tankers in my town, whether it is BP Kwik Trip or a mom and pop station. There is so much talk about who's gas is better but if you pay close attention to these stations when they are getting refueled by the same tanker for the most part. I have one station that is 15 minutes from my house (6 others are closer) that sells the unformulated gas and the others do not. I make a point to go to the station that sells the non formulated gas.
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Joined: Mar 1998
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From: Virginia
Hi SD86,
I really don't care for either of those fuels. "Blue Planet" is what we call a "no-name" fuel," and in general, we advise avoiding all off-brand or no-name fuels simply because the vast majority of the time, what you get is a dirtier fuel with a lower energy (BTU) content. There's a reason why those fuels are cheaper - you pay less because you generally get less. Sure, there will on occasion be an exception here & there - but by and large, steer clear of the no-names & off-brands is our advice. As tuners, we have to deal with fuel quality every single day, all over the country.
Amoco used to be a *great* fuel, but was bought out by BP (British Petroleum, which has historically been a "dirty" & lower-energy fuel) a few years ago - and those Amoco/BP fuels have, for the most part, had lower fuel quality ever since. Every once in a while you may get lucky, but by and large I'd avoid Amoco/BP if you have access to better fuels - the last time I tried Amoco/BP's 93 octane in my Lightning, it detonated so bad we had to drain the tank & refill it with better quality fuel.
The claims that the same tanker trucks deliver the same fuel to every station is not completely correct once you know what's going on behind the scenes - but it sure can make people think that, absolutely, and I have seen the same thing JDaddy is talking about, you bet! The reality is that while there is a fair amount of "sharing" of the *base* fuel stocks (always has been, of course), each brand has it's own unique additive packages that get added at the point of distribution - and those additives make a significant difference in the detergency and energy content of the fuel - I.E., fuel "quality." So all those fuels aren't the same - the base stock might be, but the additives aren't.
Yes, you can have a 92 octane fuel that actually out-performs a 93 octane fuel - it's in the energy (BTU) content. A 92 octane fuel with a higher BTU content can potentially deliver a better result than a 93 octane fuel with a lower energy content.
To see what brands we recommend specifically for use with performance tuning, use the excellent SEARCH feature here to look up any of our hundreds of previous posts regarding what specific brands of fuels we recommend using in various parts of the country, and you'll quickly see that info.
Last - I absolutely agree with what JDaddy said about not using a "reformulated" fuel if you have a choice (also called "oxygenated," or "winterized" fuels, etc.) Those reformulated fuels (Like Exxon, which is reformulated year-round in all 50 states and thus delivers lower MPG) will have a lower energy content and thus deliver about 8%-10% lower MPG compared to non-reformulated fuels in these vehicles. This is the main reason why you get worse fuel mileage in winter (longer warm-up times aside) as compared to your summer MPG in most areas.
I hope this info helps a bit & good luck SD86,
I really don't care for either of those fuels. "Blue Planet" is what we call a "no-name" fuel," and in general, we advise avoiding all off-brand or no-name fuels simply because the vast majority of the time, what you get is a dirtier fuel with a lower energy (BTU) content. There's a reason why those fuels are cheaper - you pay less because you generally get less. Sure, there will on occasion be an exception here & there - but by and large, steer clear of the no-names & off-brands is our advice. As tuners, we have to deal with fuel quality every single day, all over the country.
Amoco used to be a *great* fuel, but was bought out by BP (British Petroleum, which has historically been a "dirty" & lower-energy fuel) a few years ago - and those Amoco/BP fuels have, for the most part, had lower fuel quality ever since. Every once in a while you may get lucky, but by and large I'd avoid Amoco/BP if you have access to better fuels - the last time I tried Amoco/BP's 93 octane in my Lightning, it detonated so bad we had to drain the tank & refill it with better quality fuel.
The claims that the same tanker trucks deliver the same fuel to every station is not completely correct once you know what's going on behind the scenes - but it sure can make people think that, absolutely, and I have seen the same thing JDaddy is talking about, you bet! The reality is that while there is a fair amount of "sharing" of the *base* fuel stocks (always has been, of course), each brand has it's own unique additive packages that get added at the point of distribution - and those additives make a significant difference in the detergency and energy content of the fuel - I.E., fuel "quality." So all those fuels aren't the same - the base stock might be, but the additives aren't.
Yes, you can have a 92 octane fuel that actually out-performs a 93 octane fuel - it's in the energy (BTU) content. A 92 octane fuel with a higher BTU content can potentially deliver a better result than a 93 octane fuel with a lower energy content.
To see what brands we recommend specifically for use with performance tuning, use the excellent SEARCH feature here to look up any of our hundreds of previous posts regarding what specific brands of fuels we recommend using in various parts of the country, and you'll quickly see that info.
Last - I absolutely agree with what JDaddy said about not using a "reformulated" fuel if you have a choice (also called "oxygenated," or "winterized" fuels, etc.) Those reformulated fuels (Like Exxon, which is reformulated year-round in all 50 states and thus delivers lower MPG) will have a lower energy content and thus deliver about 8%-10% lower MPG compared to non-reformulated fuels in these vehicles. This is the main reason why you get worse fuel mileage in winter (longer warm-up times aside) as compared to your summer MPG in most areas.
I hope this info helps a bit & good luck SD86,
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From: Wisconsin
"The reality is that while there is a fair amount of "sharing" of the *base* fuel stocks (always has been, of course), each brand has it's own unique additive packages that get added at the point of distribution - and those additives make a significant difference in the detergency and energy content of the fuel - I.E., fuel "quality." So all those fuels aren't the same - the base stock might be, but the additives aren't."
Thats interesting, so it sounds like they may fill the tanker at the same refinery and then the refinery would add the different additives? Am I just not getting it? I agree that there is a difference in fuel and you ,would certainly no more than me. I am just trying to figure out how that is done. The reason I stated that there is a lot of sharing is that I have run into the same truck driver, at a number of gas stations (probably thinks I was stalking him
) and asked about why he was delivering to so many different gas stations. He advised that the main thing to look for is how often they had there tanks drained as water sits at the bottom of the tanks and that would be the main difference in the quality of gas you get from the stations. Unfornuatly for me I live, where they only have the formulated gas year round with the exception of one county. Only two gas stations choose not to carry the formulated gas and both are BP. I choose to run BP non-formulated gas as I can tell a difference in MPG and seat of the pants accelaration ( I think).
Thats interesting, so it sounds like they may fill the tanker at the same refinery and then the refinery would add the different additives? Am I just not getting it? I agree that there is a difference in fuel and you ,would certainly no more than me. I am just trying to figure out how that is done. The reason I stated that there is a lot of sharing is that I have run into the same truck driver, at a number of gas stations (probably thinks I was stalking him
) and asked about why he was delivering to so many different gas stations. He advised that the main thing to look for is how often they had there tanks drained as water sits at the bottom of the tanks and that would be the main difference in the quality of gas you get from the stations. Unfornuatly for me I live, where they only have the formulated gas year round with the exception of one county. Only two gas stations choose not to carry the formulated gas and both are BP. I choose to run BP non-formulated gas as I can tell a difference in MPG and seat of the pants accelaration ( I think).
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JDaddy,
I'm not an expert or oil industry insider. I haven't read anything that directly answers your question. I have pieced togeather, from various readings, the way I think it works. If anyone wants to correct me, I won't be insulted. In fact I'll be delighted to get an expert answer to this question.
"Thats interesting, so it sounds like they may fill the tanker at the same refinery and then the refinery would add the different additives?"
The "tankers" (trucks) that bring gas to the local gas stations don't "fill up" at refineries. They fill up at a local "tank" or "tank farm". Which in turn is filled by gas from refineries. I many parts of the country the gas from refineries is delivered to the tank farm via a pipeline. Since they can't distinguish whose gasoline is coming out of the pipeline the gas in the tank(s) is a mixture of different brands from different refiners.
When the "tanker truck" fills up with this mixture and is scheduled to deliver to a Sunoco station (for example) an additive solution, made by Sunoco, will be added to that load of gas. These "additive solutions" are what makes the differance between "name brand" gasolines. My guess is "no name" brands don't use an "additive solution" or just use a cheap generic additive.
That's my story and I'm stickn' to it,
Bill
I'm not an expert or oil industry insider. I haven't read anything that directly answers your question. I have pieced togeather, from various readings, the way I think it works. If anyone wants to correct me, I won't be insulted. In fact I'll be delighted to get an expert answer to this question.
"Thats interesting, so it sounds like they may fill the tanker at the same refinery and then the refinery would add the different additives?"
The "tankers" (trucks) that bring gas to the local gas stations don't "fill up" at refineries. They fill up at a local "tank" or "tank farm". Which in turn is filled by gas from refineries. I many parts of the country the gas from refineries is delivered to the tank farm via a pipeline. Since they can't distinguish whose gasoline is coming out of the pipeline the gas in the tank(s) is a mixture of different brands from different refiners.
When the "tanker truck" fills up with this mixture and is scheduled to deliver to a Sunoco station (for example) an additive solution, made by Sunoco, will be added to that load of gas. These "additive solutions" are what makes the differance between "name brand" gasolines. My guess is "no name" brands don't use an "additive solution" or just use a cheap generic additive.
That's my story and I'm stickn' to it,
Bill
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Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Wisconsin
wmcnally,
Ok makes sense so the big difference in gas quality is the additives added to the tanker truck, and the maintenance that the gas stations use to keep there holding tanks free from water etc. There still to me seems like there would not be that big a difference in the quality of gas from station to station then. Consider the fact that you will never drain a tanker truck dry when filling a station and that the tanker truck makes more than one stop to more than one station on his delivery route. Around my little part of the world KLEMM lines is the tanker you see at all the gas stations refilling there holding tanks. Since there are three grades of fuel, I dont beleive that a tanker would carry four different brands on the tanker. So following this logic either a tanker has to only delivery to certain stations BP Amoco whatever
and does those all one day the the next day it would be delivery to all the Citgo stations etc. I know again this is only my little part of the world that this is not true, as I have wittnesed them coming from one station (Amoco) to another (Citgo) with the same truck.
Ok makes sense so the big difference in gas quality is the additives added to the tanker truck, and the maintenance that the gas stations use to keep there holding tanks free from water etc. There still to me seems like there would not be that big a difference in the quality of gas from station to station then. Consider the fact that you will never drain a tanker truck dry when filling a station and that the tanker truck makes more than one stop to more than one station on his delivery route. Around my little part of the world KLEMM lines is the tanker you see at all the gas stations refilling there holding tanks. Since there are three grades of fuel, I dont beleive that a tanker would carry four different brands on the tanker. So following this logic either a tanker has to only delivery to certain stations BP Amoco whatever
and does those all one day the the next day it would be delivery to all the Citgo stations etc. I know again this is only my little part of the world that this is not true, as I have wittnesed them coming from one station (Amoco) to another (Citgo) with the same truck.