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Gasoline....

2K views 11 replies 10 participants last post by  Old Bear 
#1 ·
All gasoline marketers in the United States get their gasoline from various terminals in their cities. This gasoline has been mixed in pipelines with gasoline from a number of refineries. Although we may purchase our gasoline from a specific refiner, the gasoline we actually pull out of the pipeline is really generic. Even retail outlets of major oil companies end up drawing their gasoline out of the same pipeline as everyone else....A quote from a major supplier...

So much for name brands...:rolleyes:
 
#2 ·
I quit paying attention years ago to the name on the pump. Price, age of equipment and amount of business to indicate high turnover of volume is all I look at.
 
#6 ·
My son-in-law is a truck driver and I have a couple friends who are, as well. Occasionally we get into a discussion on gasoline, as all have hauled gasoline at one time or another. What they all tell me is that, in fact, the gasoline is all the same, however when the truck pumps gas into the tanks at a gas station, the driver adds whatever additive that particular "brand" uses to make their brand of gas unique. Othewise, it's generic gasoline from the refinery to the main storage facility to the delivery tanker to the gas station. It only gets brand-specific at the gas station when that particular brand of additive is dumped into the storage tanks at the station. So don't put too much stock in TV or magazine ads.
 
#7 ·
Does it really matter WHERE it gets the additives? Point is what comes out of the pump IS different based on brand.

...BUT, I don't think it's enough of a difference to warrant going out of your way to get a particular brand. I tend to get gas at any decent-volume gas station. Seafoam in the winter, in case I go a few weeks without riding I won't have to worry about that ethanol gumming stuff up, or moisture rusting the tank (since seafoam traps moisture).
 
#10 · (Edited)
All of the ethanol-free gas around here is premium, which I won't burn anymore. Since I redid the air intake, pipes and jets, premium makes it run sluggish and too rich, and my mileage drops.

And for what it's worth, that list on that link is incomplete. There are two stations I know of that sell ethanol-free that are not card lock stations.
 
#11 ·
My brother was an Exxon dealer in another town for 25 years. I had been buying my gas at a local chain of unbranded gas for years. However, I had to use carb cleaner every so often because of the red varnish that would build up in the carb. My brother said to clean the carbs, switch to Exxon for months and check the carbs again. I did and they were squeaky clean. No more unbranded. One night I was coming home late and stopped to buy gas at a Conoco station. Up until then I had switched to Hess because it was one block from my house. I had been noticing a little hesitation and also knocking on hills. By the time I got home my truck was purring with no more knocks or hesitation. That was 15 years ago and since then I rotate tanks of Shell, Exxon and BP, all which are close by. Last Friday I paid $2.99 at a brand new Shell station just off the interstate. There is a difference. Maybe some people aren't as sensitive or aware of the way their engine runs on different brands.
 
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