in your opinions, what is the best gas to buy for our knocking 5.4L v8s? Brand, octane, etc.....

thanks,

Jason

 

Of course premium will help the most with detonation. But a Good tune up is the right way to handle that.

As far as best brand of gas, that is going to get as many opinions as 'whats the best oil'

Being that I work for BP/Amoco/Arco, I'm gonna say BP/Arco!!

Honestly, I know for a FACT, that here in the L.A. Basin, the refineries pump to terminals and into tanks at those terminals. Well, the fuel gets mixed as you would expect. The way a gasoline is branded is by its additive which is added as the fuel is loaded onto the delivery truck. (i.e. Techron is added to the fuel that goes to Chevron Stations). ALL refineries are required to meet the minimum octane rating (and alot of other specs.) for the fuel they are producing so a tank of premium is always going to be a minimum of 91 octane (R+M/2).
~~~So, when you choose a brand of gas, you're basically buying their additive. Now in my opinion, That Techron fuel system/injector cleaner is pretty damn good stuff. SO, I use BP/Arco gas allllllllllll the time and throw in a bottle of that Techron at every oil change (If you noticed, BP/Arco is WAY less expensive than Chevron)


Know what else, mid grade gas is made by mixing 87 & 91 in most cases!

 

According to the computerchips forum, Cheveron is the best. You get what you pay for. And Texaco is second. If I lived in CA I would drive out of state to get gas or have it shipped in

 

Hi Jason

You say knocking and gas..would this be pinging which can be caused by gas?

Anyhow...lots posted here. Maybe you'll find brands posted here that you can get local. Also..dont forget..sometimes you have to experiment with different brands. The results may surprise you?

Hi Bikeut...All our local gas is pumped in from Ca. 91 is also highest pump oct. here. I thought our "Arco" here was blended with "ethanol"..apparently not..still getting "MTBE" I did get some "Arco" in Oregon that said "10% ethanol" but as i recall the mpg dropped.

Point being..it now makes sense why i didnt notice any real difference with local Arco. (w/my schip. @91oct)mpg/performance were ok. Chevron my 1st. Conoco or Arco (no ethanol) second choice. Cant always find Chevron when i need it..Conoco was consistent..about like Chevron...Arco. cant always find. Just depends on where your driving. Fortunately...ive never had any pinging/knocking...just clicking..mc oil filter helped out there.

Good luck...OT

BTW...yeah, some may laugh, we only get 91oct. but you know the old saying.."What goes around comes around"

 

Oh, you're right, They can all look to CA. to see whats coming in the future as far as emission laws etc. bs.

Hey, We are in the process now of switching to Ethanol. So far Unocal is the only one with it at the pump. We will be very shortly. ~so you say you noticed a mileage decrease with the ethanol??

Is'nt that just so bright of the #$%#@ AQMD and EPA; -Does'nt lower gas mileage mean we will be burning MORE frickin fuel to go the same distance as before?? YA! Thats good for the Air <mumbling> backwards *** agency idiots >

 

Bikenut,

I don't work for them, and I've had great results with the Amoco fuels. I get better mileage, more timing, and better consistency filling up at the local Amoco station. Other than when I'm out of the area and have no choice, nothing else has gone in my truck for the last 2 years or so. OK, I admit one day I was in a hurry and put all of 5 gallons of some other stuff in... but to redeem myself I topped it off with Amoco mid grade.


Since you have some knowledge of the industry.... What do you know about the "winter" fuel formulas and who has them? I have heard some say that we are getting the oxegenated fuels year round here in VA now, but don't know for certain. I do suspect that we have SOMETHING different in the winter, as my mileage will drop even when the temps are up and the cold weather variables are mostly out of the picture.

Maybe you can give us some industry insider scoop as to what these guys are doing with different fuels, and what to expect in the future....??

 

Hey fellas,

This is a little off topic here, but here goes....

When I first got my chip, I only used Sunoco 94 octane because I beliieved it was the best (highest octane)

Actually, their 94 octane is the highest available in my area, but a short while later, I noticed it contains 10% ethonal blend.

This made me rethink my choice....
Do I use 94 octane that contains 10% corn syrup, or do I use 92 octane that doesnt contain it.

I then started using only the straight 92 octane (without any crap ethonal in it) and it seemed my truck ran better, and also got better MPG.

The only reason I bring this up is because oldtimer mentioned it, and it helped me remember.

What do y'all think is better?
94 octane with 10% craponal in it, or straight 92 octane?

Habibi

** If I remember right, I filled up at a sunoco in Syracuse NY once, and their 94 didnt contain any ethonal, but here in Canada it does.
Seems to me like I got the best MPG with that tank from Syracuse

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bikenut
They can all look to CA. to see whats coming in the future as far as emission laws etc.

I hope we're alll not going to CA's electricity policy. What was that Governer of yours smoking.

You bring up a good point. What good is burning 10% Ehtanol gasoline in our cars/trucks? It burns 8% (for example) cleaner. But you get 12% less MPG. It seems to me that the EPA is forcing us to make 4% more air pollution. And we get to pay a lot more money for the privlege!

I want cleaner air as much as the next guy, But, how do we convince these "environmentalists" in the government that they got it as* backwards.

Really, is this the case with EGR, Cat converters etc.? Do they result in LESS pollution per gallon BUT even more gallons burned?

Stop the maddness

Bill]

 

Boy you said it Bill!


Signmaster,

I cant be specific about other states, especially that far away and their refining strategy, but here in CA. it will soon be impossible to avoid Ethanol blends. MTBE is being banned (After it was forced on the refiners in the first place by the damn EPA and AQMD!!) because the crap is MORE dangerous to the environment than the fuel blend it replaced!

During the winter, we add alot more Butanes into the recipe to raise the vapor pressure. Butane has alot less *oomph!* in it. Meaning your mileage will suffer cuz the fuel has less Energy in it to convert to power.

Have you ever driven a propane powered vehicle? Well they dont hold a candle to gas powered as far as mileage and power. So the propane burns cleaner.... but you gotta burn much more of it and at a loss of power too ~Go figure

 

P.S.

Please dont get me wrong, I want to world to be a healthy place. I have a son and want to live long enough in a clean world to see my grandkids living happy healthy lives. But I wish these damn Environmentalists would take off their tunnel vision blinders and LEARN about all the aspects of their cause!

I can tell you from what I see BP is very environmentally concious and Im sure if the darn Environmental Agencies wanted to team up to work on the issue of polution, we could get alot farther than butting heads.


~ Ya know what else kills me; these idiots think driving around in electric cars is a purely clean way to get around.. YA RIGHT!!! My refinery has a Cogeneration plant that ***Burns fosil fuels to produce electricity!!!! AND, where the hell are all those huge batteries going to go at the end of their usefull life eh? SHEESH, this topic drives me nuts!

 

I get my gas at the local high volume cheap pumper, heh

Sams club or Costco.

I noticed the 87 octane says it has up to 10% ethanol in the winter and up to 15% of ether something in the summer. No wonder the trucks run so crappie with all that in there. The 87 was 1.24 and the 91 was only 1.35. That price is low enough to make me scratch my head and think about a chip.

 

I look forward to the day when California does have a significant number of electric cars. When everybody gets home in the evening and plugs em at the same time.

I'll be most educational.

 

FWIW, I get my best gas mileage on Phillips 66, Citgo, and Amoco gasoline in this area. The worst are Superamerica (also leads every price gouge in the market here, grrr), Holiday, Kwik Trip, and by far the worst here is Texaco. Its funny, because Texaco has been fine for me in other parts of the country, if not one of the better ones. Go figure...

In MN, all fuel has ethanol in it by state law (it specifically states 10% ethanol.) Nonoxy premium is availible at select stations, but generally runs about 30 cents a gallon higher than premium does, making it cost prohibitive to use it anything that doesn't require it.

I do a lot of cross country driving. In comparison between ethanol fuels and fuels that I knew did not contain ethanol, I got 3% lower mileage out of my '97. In general, ethanol fuels will lower fuel mileage by 2-5%, depending on the vehicle, which is less than the 8% reduction in pollution noted in a post above, meaning that the net effect is a pollution reduction, even with slightly increased consumption.

Diesel fuel will also soon be a 2% blend of soydiesel in the next few years here in MN, also by state law.

 

the manual says to use only 87 octane gas for the 4.6L, so that's what I get, would buying premium be better for my engine?

 

From what I understand the stock computer program if for 87 octane. If you run premium you run the risk of more carbon deposit buildup, then you'll need premium for sure. If you get a chip most require premium because they advance the timing. I assume the chips burn efficiently so premium is ok then.

I run two bottles of chevron techron fuel injector cleaner thru my 30 gallon tank just before my 3,000 mile oil change. I also periodically clean my MAF by spraying brake cleaner on it from time to time to keep it clean and my truck from pinging on 87.