Favorite fuels

[sunbeam]

Hello all,

Wanted to report on my favorite fuels. I know people get really into this topic so I am going to try to keep it civil.
Here is my personal ranking based on trying several consecutive tanks of each, some are rare to find so this is not really a rank based on practicality:

1. Irving Supreme (claims to have some sort of injector cleaner additive which I believe is true)
2. Wilsons premium (maritimes only)
3. Petro Canada 94 (ethanol free, labelled "Super", only found in Quebec)
4. Pioneer platinum
5. Costco premium (membership needed)
6. Shell 91 (for fuel economy)
7. Petro Canada Ultra 94/Shell 93/Esso 93 all run well but slightly worse fuel economy

In the maritimes, I always look for the Irving supreme or costco when possible for the price.
Try to get the Costco 91 or pioneer platinum in Ontario.

Would be interested to hear the best fuel stations in USA have heard good things about Sunoco.

[Mark]

Hello all,

Wanted to report on my favorite fuels. I know people get really into this topic so I am going to try to keep it civil.
Here is my personal ranking based on trying several consecutive tanks of each, some are rare to find so this is not really a rank based on practicality:

1. Irving Supreme (claims to have some sort of injector cleaner additive which I believe is true)
2. Wilsons premium (maritimes only)
3. Petro Canada 94 (ethanol free, labelled "Super", only found in Quebec)
4. Pioneer platinum
5. Costco premium (membership needed)
6. Shell 91 (for fuel economy)
7. Petro Canada Ultra 94/Shell 93/Esso 93 all run well but slightly worse fuel economy

In the maritimes, I always look for the Irving supreme or costco when possible for the price.
Try to get the Costco 91 or pioneer platinum in Ontario.

Would be interested to hear the best fuel stations in USA have heard good things about Sunoco.

87 octane/10% ethanol for my Mirage & Forester

91 octane/0% ethanol for everything else (2 ATVs, UTV, 2 push mowers, riding mower, 4 chainsaws*, string/brush trimmer*, rototiller, log splitter, pressure washer)
* 2-stroke engines (40:1 oil mix)

Brand - I could care less, especially when traveling long distances. Shell, Citgo, BP, Cenex Co-op, etc - I have zero preference. Whoever is cheapest.

Locally I use Kwik Trip the most, because I have had their "Rewards Card" since the late 1980s.

[Eggman]

I've used Amoco gas found at local BP stations but any more it's Costco, and always try to stick to Top Tier fuels.

Speck would get regular and the 2.0L turbo engine in the Escape gets the high test.

I'll use pure gas without ethanol for my 1980 Jeep CJ-7 because it wasn't designed to run on ethanol blends. I notice more pre-ignition with the regular ethanol blends, and the old engine doesn't have the modern electronic controls to deal with it. The problem is I have to drive far to get pure gas and would burn a couple gallons just for the round trip. Last year I ran the Costco 93 octane ethanol blend through it. It seemed to run just fine on it and was cheaper per gallon than the pure gas plus I wasn't wasting time & gas just to get it. I even bought some 5-gallon plastic gas cans to fill up so I wouldn't have to drive over an hour round trip just to get the pure gas.

Others here on the forum have used pure gas in their Mirages (Top Fuel if I recall correctly) and have documented an improvement in fuel economy.

[Space Wolf]

Others here on the forum have used pure gas in their Mirages (Top Fuel if I recall correctly) and have documented an improvement in fuel economy.

Not surprisingly. The heat of combustion of ethanol is 22*10⁹ J/m³, while pure gas is 33*10⁹ J/m³. So any blend can do only worse than pure gas, in terms of fuel economy.

@OP, just like Mark I just fill it up with the cheapest fuel available. There is not much variation though. Here in the Netherlands we have the choice between Euro95 and Euro98 from different brands, where Euro95 always has 5-10% ethanol added.

[Grumpy Bear]

Most of my working life was in refining. Most of that with Chevron. They have refineries all over the USA and source feedstock from just about everywhere. Each plant has its own equipment and processes. This is true for most majors. So, the fuel has some variation. What does not is the add package. Fact is, most refiners sell to "rack" and not segregated. Additives are added at the rack IF the tanker is feeding a chain. If not, then it is "top treated" in the stations tank.

Chemically, fuel is a chemically defined liquid, and that makeup of that definition may be influenced by local laws. Bottom line, noting is in stone and nothing is unchanging.

Octane is the function of aromatic content or alcohol addition. E-0 87 is 87 octane aromatics. E-10 87 is 84 on aromatics and 3 points on alcohol.

The government sets the additive types and minimum limits. "Top Tier" fuels exceed those minimum limits.

I'm fond of Chevron Techron additive. Same as in their fuel. Can be added to anyone's fuel. I chose a station with high volume and cheap price and add. I don't use more octane than required to keep KI retard near zero. Aromatics are what leave the deposits.

[skyblueII]

In australia we have 91, 95 and 98 and also e10, e10s octane rating is 94 I believe, to my knowledge we don't have e85 anywhere.

I've only ever used 91 in the mirage, I've considered e10 but I'm paranoid about the possibility of water being absorbed into the fuel.

I used to buy 98 back when I had a car that required 95 and back then I used to think I was really taking care of my car by using premium fuel, but now i think its BS, and Im skeptical of all the ads that are played at the bowser where your car engine gets cleaned by magical mobil synergy fuels, which appear as a blue liquid?, the only way engines get cleaned is when people take them apart and clean them.

I've unfortunately seen some people get water with their fuel from some of the dodgy stations in the outback which sucks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pF-7IDQ1LI

[Fummins]

Formula for converting US to EURO octane
And reversing that forumula, wet get: RON = US*(22/21)
US (R+M)/2 EURO RON
87 91.1
88 92.2
89 93.2
90 94.3
91 95.3
92 96.4
93 97.4
94 98.5
95 99.5
96 100.6
97 101.6
98 102.7
99 103.7
100 104.8

[Mark]

Formula for converting US to EURO octane
And reversing that forumula, wet get: RON = US*(22/21)
US (R+M)/2 EURO RON
87 91.1
88 92.2
89 93.2
90 94.3
91 95.3
92 96.4
93 97.4
94 98.5
95 99.5
96 100.6
97 101.6
98 102.7
99 103.7
100 104.8

I never buy gas based on octane rating. I buy gas based on price & ethanol percentage.

There are 4 options (87/E10, 88/E15, 91/E0, & E85) where I buy the majority of gas. It would take a flex fuel vehicle to use E85. E85 & 88/E15 are the cheapest options.

I will use 88/E15 in my driver's education car (2015 Impala), but it is a flex fuel vehicle.

I use 87/E10 for my Mirage (& Forester), because the owner's manual says up to 10% ethanol is OK. It's much cheaper than 91/E0, too!

91/E0 is used in everything I have at home, & I buy 5 gallon cans at a time. Some of that gas becomes a 40:1 oil mix in smaller gas cans. I would never use gas with ethanol in a 2 stroke engine. Ethanol gas is probably the number one problem chainsaw owners experience. Some of my other things may sit for months (my rototiller would be a good example). I have fewer gas related problems with non-ethanol gas. Thus, I pay extra for the E0 & not the higher octane rating.

Like I said earlier, the brand of gas means nothing to me. If I experienced bad gas some day, I may avoid a brand.

[klroger]

Just a FYI, you may want to test to verify the fuel you are getting is actually 0 ethanol.. I had a couple commercial customers this past summer with carb issues in their lawnmowers & when I asked, they said they were getting "High Test Ethanol Free" fuel from a local station. When I questioned it & tested it, it was 10+% ethanol.. Just saying, be careful,, what you see posted on the pump may not be what the truck (or the owner of the station) has put in the tank....

[Grumpy Bear]

Hello all,

Wanted to report on my favorite fuels. I know people get really into this topic so I am going to try to keep it civil.
Here is my personal ranking based on trying several consecutive tanks of each, some are rare to find so this is not really a rank based on practicality:

1. Irving Supreme (claims to have some sort of injector cleaner additive which I believe is true)
2. Wilsons premium (maritimes only)
3. Petro Canada 94 (ethanol free, labelled "Super", only found in Quebec)
4. Pioneer platinum
5. Costco premium (membership needed)
6. Shell 91 (for fuel economy)
7. Petro Canada Ultra 94/Shell 93/Esso 93 all run well but slightly worse fuel economy

In the maritimes, I always look for the Irving supreme or costco when possible for the price.
Try to get the Costco 91 or pioneer platinum in Ontario.

Would be interested to hear the best fuel stations in USA have heard good things about Sunoco.

My favorite is E85