branded (chevron) or generic (costco) gas??

[SilverGlow]

The base gasoline used by all the brands is nearly always the same. The gas for a given community comes from the same refineries regardless of the brand.

So what differentiates between brands?

The additives, and amount of additives used.

I only use Chevron, Texaco, and Shell because they all add Techron to their base gasolines. Yea, Shell V-Power is Techron...

[rg570lvr]

I have been told by freinds that work in the area that the same gas supply truck fills up Raceway, Chevron and Mobil all on the same block, so it makes me wonder how one gas can be better than the other. I know there are different octane grades for sure, but other than that IMO you're just suckered into paying higher for the big name brand so they can make more profit. So I just buy from Raceway which is much cheaper, it's all coming out of the same truck.

[Latka]

Here on O'ahu in Hawaii the Iwilei Costco (that I work at) uses "Aloha" Gas. Aloha buys it's gas from the Chevron refinery here on the island, so it's Chevron gas minus the Techron. Plus we get a silly number of trucks full of the stuff a day, so it's always nice and fresh. The $2.51 price vs near $3 elsewhere keeps the lines long though!

[b_hickman11]

I use to work at a gas station thats was part of a grocery store so we were considered "unbranded." But the gas we received also went to a lot of other stations like Shell, Exxon, Mobil, Cheveron, etc. I would have to sign some paper work before and after getting a delivery and I always noticed on his list where he was coming from and where he was going. A lot of times he would come give me gas and then go across the street to an Exxon station and give them some gas. So a lot of times it doesnt matter whose name is on top of the building, because it's all coming from the same source.

[rg570lvr]

Originally Posted by b_hickman11

I use to work at a gas station thats was part of a grocery store so we were considered "unbranded." But the gas we received also went to a lot of other stations like Shell, Exxon, Mobil, Cheveron, etc. I would have to sign some paper work before and after getting a delivery and I always noticed on his list where he was coming from and where he was going. A lot of times he would come give me gas and then go across the street to an Exxon station and give them some gas. So a lot of times it doesnt matter whose name is on top of the building, because it's all coming from the same source.

I'm late getting back to this, but, THANK YOU. Nobody believes me when I tell them that I've also seen it with my own eyes. I constantly hear I'm buying cheap gas and their getting the good stuff. Thanks again.

[PaidTimeOff]

+1 on b_hickman11's comments

At least here in Hawaii, my dad works at a fuel refinery and basically two companies supply the gas for all the gas stations in Hawaii. And here's some fun info about Chevron and its detergent Techron: Most other refineries add the exact same thing to their gas, Chevron just trademarked a name for it and decided to market it.

[jambo101]

Check out what company is running your local refinery,if a Chevron refinery is 1000 miles away chances are good you arent getting Chevron gas,but bulk gas from that nearby refinery.

[eii]

I saw a news story on the difference between name brand and discount gasoline. A scientfic study between them showed the only difference with the gas were like a lot of you have mentioned the detergeants/additives they add. Whether or not those detergeants work or not is another story. I personally use shell 87 just because its the closest to my house. Dunno if detergeants work, im sceptical but hopeful. Seems like theres stories here to back it up though.

Someone in this thread caught my attention mentioning only getting named brand gasolines when going with premium. I noticed whenever shell advertised their 'gunk' preventing gas they only mention v-power. So does regular/87 not have those detergeants? Then it might be worth getting 89/plus because its a mixture of 87 and 91 if you didnt know. Most modern gas stations have underground blenders that mix the 87 and 91 on the fly. Older stations have 3 underground tanks for 87, 89, and 91 and take longer to drop of gasoline obviously for the extra gas.

Another thing about gasoline deliveries is that companies will hire delivery truck contractors when they dont have enough tankers to drop off gas. That may explain why you see same tankers dropping off gas at different stations. I'm pretty sure they can hold mutiple types of gas because they have a lot hose connections on the sides. I'll ask one of the drivers if this is true.

Also fun fact, Arco sells gas for cheap because they only accept cash. They save thousands of dollars from credit card fees and then can pass the savings down to the customers. Well thats how they do it around socal.

[b_hickman11]

Originally Posted by rg570lvr

I'm late getting back to this, but, THANK YOU. Nobody believes me when I tell them that I've also seen it with my own eyes. I constantly hear I'm buying cheap gas and their getting the good stuff. Thanks again.

Kind of a related story: The local plant that the station I worked at got their gas from blew up this week and OSHA has it shut down because a couple of people died and many injured. Afterwards I talked to the owner of the Shell station close to my house and he said that he got his gas from that plant so he was having to get it from further away now. So this Shell station and the unbranded placed I used to work at got their gas from the same plant. And probably most if not all of the other thousands of stations in my area. Just another example of brand and unbranded being the same.

[rg570lvr]

Oh man I'm so sorry to hear about the accident at the plant, and the poor workers and their families, I don't know what to say...

[b_hickman11]

Well it does suck but that plant is in big trouble now. They had already been fined over $70,000 by OSHA for safety violations this year and the plant would not fix them.

[TheSilkySmooth]

All gas comes from same terminal, detergent package differs by brand - but so does tanker cleanout requirements. You can buy lets say GOLF;) 87 but they may allow 2% kero or #4 fuel oil contaminants in the mix. Now this is all just specs and requirements - You tell me with a straight face if there is money to be saved and made, these requirements are met every day, every station!? HA! Example: I see heading off to office, My local Mobal ;) gets 2000gal /87 octane fill from a MobAl truck in the A.M. then I see at 8PM a "No-Name" carrier dumping another 1000gal of who knows ?? quality in the same 87 tank. The Base blend gas around here comes from terminal near Maine/NH border - all the other goodies to differentiate the gas are again juts additives and tank cleanliness requirements. I'v gotten very "diesel" smelling fuel from my local GOLF ;) station. Anyone else out ther a gas sniffer? Aromatioc hydrocarbons are a great buZZzzzz and you can tell a bit whats in there with a sniff near the fill pipe. - Sonja's Papa

[TheSilkySmooth]

Over the years, Gumout carburettor cleaner for 1.79 is a good deal and gives a complete and well burning gasoline mixture. No matter the detergent level - if the fuel doesnt burn at the correct rate and ignitability - the engine will retard timing change mixture and detune - then you get carboned up anyhow - if engine runs strong - then it will most likely run clean. GAS is a great solvent all by itself! - Papa

[b_hickman11]

Originally Posted by TheSilkySmooth

All gas comes from same terminal, detergent package differs by brand - but so does tanker cleanout requirements. You can buy lets say GOLF;) 87 but they may allow 2% kero or #4 fuel oil contaminants in the mix. Now this is all just specs and requirements - You tell me with a straight face if there is money to be saved and made, these requirements are met every day, every station!? HA! Example: I see heading off to office, My local Mobal ;) gets 2000gal /87 octane fill from a MobAl truck in the A.M. then I see at 8PM a "No-Name" carrier dumping another 1000gal of who knows ?? quality in the same 87 tank. The Base blend gas around here comes from terminal near Maine/NH border - all the other goodies to differentiate the gas are again juts additives and tank cleanliness requirements. I'v gotten very "diesel" smelling fuel from my local GOLF ;) station. Anyone else out ther a gas sniffer? Aromatioc hydrocarbons are a great buZZzzzz and you can tell a bit whats in there with a sniff near the fill pipe. - Sonja's Papa

Just because it says Mobil on the side of the tanker doesn't mean the gas was processed by that company. You will see all brand names enter and exit my local plant, all getting the same gas. At the store I used to work at, the tankers we got would say Exxon, Shell, Texaco, etc. but all the gas was the same. I guess those companies just pay the tank owners to advertise their name on the side of their tankers.

[TheSilkySmooth]

Originally Posted by b_hickman11

Just because it says Mobil on the side of the tanker doesn't mean the gas was processed by that company. You will see all brand names enter and exit my local plant, all getting the same gas. At the store I used to work at, the tankers we got would say Exxon, Shell, Texaco, etc. but all the gas was the same. I guess those companies just pay the tank owners to advertise their name on the side of their tankers.

Up here they have the detergent/octane packages at the terminal in special place for specific brands - my question - on partitioned mutli-tank trucks do they maybe carry detergent/octane package in the front tank and add at the station fill ? or are you blending/mixing at the terminal as they used to do?

[b_hickman11]

I wouldnt be surprised if they arent adding anything at all even though they advertise that they do. Or they add a detergent to all of it and then they let the individual companies advertise that their gas is "special" and better than the next guy's even though its all the same.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by b_hickman11

I wouldnt be surprised if they arent adding anything at all even though they advertise that they do. Or they add a detergent to all of it and then they let the individual companies advertise that their gas is "special" and better than the next guy's even though its all the same.

Nothing surprises me about what these companies will do to get the public to part with their money.
Through a few semantics they have a significant percentage of the public duped into believing that 93 octane is better for your car than 89 through words like Premium,Hightest,Super,Gold,ultra etc. and the gullible public eats it up and willingly pays an extra 30 cents a gallon thinking their car is now running better with more HP because they are using supreme gasoline even though their owners manual says the lowly regular gas is all the car needs

[Latka]

I know there's a detergent of some sort required in gas. From that though the brands can have special stuff. Our gas (at Costco here in Hawaii) is Chevron gas minus the techroline.