Best 93 Oct. Gas to Use?

[Vipuronr]

Was just talking to some motorheads yesterday and we all got in a discussion about what is the best gasoline to buy for a hi performance car. I recall seeing it mentioned in one of the posts here, but a search came up with nothing but injector cleaners and oil.

For this region, the two national brands I've always ranked as top is Mobil and Shell. I used to use Sunoco when they had their 94 oct., but that was discontinued.

Is there a concensus on what is consistently the best to put in the Viper?

Thanks!

 

[01sapphirebob]

I have always put Shell in my Viper unless I was out of town with it and could not find it.

 

[eucharistos]

when i travel i keep these in mind:

Top Tier Gasoline

may be flamed for this but, i usually use costco (all my cars), have for years, they are anal retentive about keeping clean filters.

 

[RevHeat]

The Shell station down the street from me does not sell much 93 octane gas. As such, I have gotten old gas from it several times which caused detention under full throttle. Now I go down to the Exxon which is 2 miles further. It is always busy and I have never gotten a bad tank of gas. I posted the below in a gas thread last week, but it is so important, I will post again:

Several things to help not get bad gasoline:

1) Never fill up when the gas tanker truck is at the gas station.
2) Make sure you go to a high volume gas station to purchase your 93 octane gas.


Several things not to do when gas is low:

1) Never track your viper with less then a quarter of a tank of gas.
2) Suggested that you always have a half tank of gas when doing all out runs (i.e. quarter mile)

 

[Bandit3]

Try purchasing race fuel just once, expensive but a unique experience. The smell alone is worth the 8 bucks a gallon. I don't know why, but my car ran much better on it. All stock internals with just a mild tune. John

 

[bluesrt]

is thier really any guarantees that your getting the same stuff every time? i dont think its like the 60 and 70"S gas as far as keeping the same quality name brand contents religion. i think its all bs... but i dont really know for a fact

 

[uvbnbit]

Calling Tom, calling Tom

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

IMO buying anything over 91-93 oct. which is specified for most high perf. cars is a waste of money unless needed for highly modded motors. I strongly suggest a top tier company such as Exxon, Shell, or Chevron.

 

[Dom426h]

BS on the race fuel, itwas your imagination

+2 on the Top Tier. The only one I have around me is Shell and i fuel up with them atleast everyother fillup on all my vehicles.

 

[fqberful]

Remember that *ALL* gas comes from the same pipeline and the additive packages are pretty tightly controlled by fed regulation. That said, the biggest bang [pun intended ] comes from the gas with the least ethanol. I use Sams gas [ Murphy Oil ] in all my cars and have never ever had an issue over many years. They sell so much gas that those tanks never have gas older than a couple days in them. I do get a little better mpg's when I run chevron, amaco, or bp which smell different and I suspect because they have less ethanol in them. Reason for the better mpg's ? There's more energy in a gallon of gas than a gallon of ethanol. I only see the mpg gains on the highway anyway so no benefit to going out of my way in town. Sams is only a couple miles away.

--FQB

 

[VIPER GTSR 91]

Then who makes the gas with the least ethanol? Tom, chime in on your fav. and for what reasons.

 

[eucharistos]

+1 for ethanol being bad

 

[eucharistos]

Then who makes the gas with the least ethanol? Tom, chime in on your fav. and for what reasons.

that is the hard part as the pumps often say something like "may contain up to _____% ethanol"

sounds like lawyer speak

 

[Bandit3]

Hey Dom, come on down and take it for a ride.

 

[SquadX]

i personally use sunoco when possible but have used safeway with no ill effects.

 

[my viper]

My first preference is Shell.

 

[Vipuronr]

Okay, thanks for all your comments!

I regularly fill up at our local Mobil station. It is quite busy as it is THE gas station in town. That being said, I have heard from various people that Shell is the best gas. I never gave it much thought, because it is about 20 minutes from my house.

I also acknowledge the comments about top tier gas brands being pretty much the same because the refiners/wholesalers are the same and many times go by area/region rather than brand.

Looks like I am good with Mobil and will continue going there. Btw, I never, NEVER buy gas at a station where the tanker is filling the ground tanks...it only means that you're getting dirtier gas.

 

[Dom426h]

That being said, I have heard from various people that Shell is the best gas.

There are a couple simple reasons for that, advertizing/marketing and the general publics perception.
Shell is the only distributer that i have ever personally seen advertise on television as well as the excessive "V-POWER" ,"NITROGEN ENRITCHED", and "CLEAN" lables/signs littered all over there pumps. Im am confused as to why i have never seen an advertisement from any of the fuel brands bragging about being part of the TopTier Program. The general public dosnt have a clue TopTeir exists.

 

[viper067]

Had never thought about the tanker filling up before .... so how long after a tanker fill up at the station should you wait to pump gas?

 

[Vipuronr]

Not sure, I would just do that fill at a different station if possible. Two things happen when the tanker is there:

- Means the tank is low and its sucking up gas from/near the bottom where all the dirt sinks to
- The flow from the hose tends to stir up the dirt that has been sitting on the bottom, so better to wait awhile after it is filled to let the dirt settle back down to the bottom of the tank.

I like our Mobil station, as it recently replaced all the in ground tanks.

 

[A1998]

Something you may want to consider:

Are you aware that the Saudis are boycotting American products? In addition, they are gouging us on oil prices.

Shouldn't we return the favor? Can't we take control of our own destiny and let these giant oil importers know who REALLY generates their profits, their livings? How about leaving American Dollars in America and reduce the import/export deficit?

An appealing remedy might be to boycott their GAS. Every time you fill up your car you can avoid putting more money into the coffers of Saudi Arabia . Just purchase gas from companies that don't import their oil from the Saudis.


Nothing is more frustrating than the feeling that every time I fill up my tank, I'm sending my money to people who I get the impression want me, my family and my friends dead. The following gas companies import Middle Eastern oil:

Shell.................................... 205,742,000 barrels
Chevron/Texaco..................... 144,332,000 barrels
Exxon /Mobil........................ 130,082,000 barrels
Marathon/Speedway............. 117,740,000 barrels
Amoco................................. 62,231,000 barrels
And CITGO oil is imported from Venezuela by Dictator Hugo Chavez who hates America and openly avows our economic destruction! (We pay Chavez's regime nearly $10 Billion per year in oil revenues!)

The U.S. currently imports 5,517,000 barrels of crude oil per day from OPEC.

Here are some large companies that do not import Middle Eastern oil:

Sunoco.........................0 barrels
Conoco...........................0 barrels
0ASinclair.....................0 barrels
BP / Phillips................. 0 barrels
Hess..............................0 barrels
ARC0.............................0 barrels
Maverick.......................0 barrels
Flying J..........................0 barrels
Valero.........................0 barrels
Murphy Oil USA *.........0 barrels

*Sold at Wal-Mart , gas is from South Arkansas and fully USA owned and produced.

*Not only that but they give scholarships to all children in their town who finish high school and are legal US citizens..

All of this information is available from the U.S. Department of Energy and each company is required to state where they get their oil and how much they are importing.

 

[Dom426h]

Hey Dom, come on down and take it for a ride.

might take you up on that, i have some friends down in ATL

If your serious about power you should have your car dyno'd with a wideband O2 meter to check the effectiveness of the tune you are currently running. On the "race fuel" what exactly are you talking about? leaded/unleaded? octane?
A higher octane fuel is simply more resistant preignition/detonation/knocking. To take advantage of this(make more power) it needs more timing(ignition advance). Modern engines have knock sensors which allow them to reduce or increase engine advance depending on the octane. Our primitive V-10’s don’t have this luxury. We have a fixed map which is why a tune is required to increase timing in order to take advantage of higher octane fuel. However you can only do so much. I personally saw no gains when increasing the timing on my GTS while running 93octane fuel.(this was with the aid of a fluent viper tuner)

 

[Dom426h]

A1998, Please save your junk email for just that.
Im pretty sure you have no control over where the fuel comes from that makes it into your tank or who gets your money a the end of the pipline.
EIA - Petroleum Data, Reports, Analysis, Surveys

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EIA - Petroleum Data, Reports, Analysis, Surveys

 

[Bandit3]

It's 112 octane and leaded. I get it at Rd Atl and I think it's 76. I've dynoed but not with the 02--too lazy to drill a hole. Dynoed 504. 06 with the Roe SCT.

 

[Dom426h]

Calling Tom, calling Tom

I'll save him the finger cramps...

TOMS RESPONSES ARE LOCATED IN THIS 2009 THREAD:
http://forums.viperclub.org/general-viper-discussion/625036-ok-tom-lets-talk-gas.html

read up

 

[uvbnbit]

Thanks Plum!......uh, I mean Dom
Good find.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

The thread Dom found has most of the answers. I was mistaken on one point, though. The qualifications to sell Top Tier gasoline require that all grades of gasoline have the additive treat rate, not just premium. Therefore Shell, Chevron, Kwiktrip, etc, all have the higher cleaning ability in all three grades.

I will repeat that the octane level and the cleanliness performance are not linked. A cheap no-name 93 octane may cause engine deposits, a Top Tier 93 octane should not.

Also, one explanation. Keeping injectors and valves clean to a tolerable minimum avoids fuel economy and emissions problems. Years ago, this is why the EPA required a minimal amount of detergents in gasoline. The OEMs found that this was merely "OK" and did not avoid all the field problems should a refinery have an "oopsie" or fuel came from a really poor quality foreign country. So the OEMs created the "Top Tier" program to raise the minimum amount of additive in gasoline. Obviously not all marketers participate because until recently it was not given too much attention (I think the OEMs were busy with the economy.) Now, however, the Top Tier logo is trademarked, to use it the marketer has to license it, and it will gain traction.

Even so, this only raises the bar, but there are still marketers that can use even more additive. I think these will be the most aggressive, consistent advertising campaigns.