[WildKat]

Maybe it's just living in Wisconsin, but I've never heard of many of those gas stations! I always fill up at Kwik Trip or BP. Kwik Trip has a "top teir" gasoline stamping, if that means anything. Besides the gas, Kwik Trip is awesome - especially for a college kid. A person can buy 3 hot dogs and a 32 oz. soda for $1.98. There is also a lot of candy bar deals such as 2 for $1. They also have their own amazing glazed doughnuts and tons of liquid choices.

Damn, all of this makes me hungry!!!

We have BP down here, they're generally pretty good. Havent had any problems with them other than their stations are few and far between and they tend to be alittle more expensive than the rest.

[WildKat]

This is from the buddy of mine..from a different forum when someone asked about gas from speedway and then he proceeded to add in alot more general information that's pretty interesting if you have a few minutes to read it.

First off, if you want to bitch about the price STOP
> buying Speedway. They are the ones that control the
> price. They are the first to go up and then
> everybody
> else follows because why not, why not make more
> money
> off the pump. The problem is there is no reason
> for
> it. The price of the gas at the tank terminal only
> flexes by about $0.05, that's from its lowest to
> highest. So it might go up a penny at the tank but
> .15 at the pump. Also, Marathon owns speedway, it's
> their generic gas station.
>
> Which brings us Generic vs Branded gas. Like the
> old
> saying "don't buy gas from a gas station that
> doesn't
> hold the name of the refinery". The gas it self is
> the same UNTIL it is put into the semi truck to be
> hauled to the gas station. What happens is that the
> actual gas gets a additive injected into while it
> fills the semi. This is where the differences
> start.
>
> Generic is gas such as Speedway, KMart, Wal Mart,
> Sams, Admiral, Clark, Rich, Meijer, and many others
> that aren't list in the next list. The generic gas
> comes from Mobil, and Marathon gas tank terminals
> but
> again changes with the additives.
>
> BRANDED is Mobil, Marathon, BP (use to be Amoco),
> Sunoco, Shell. Side note, there use to be BP &
> Amoco.
> BP (British Petrl) bought Amoco (American Oil
> Company).
>
> The govt says that all these oil companies have to
> add
> "additives". The additives have different chemicals
> but mostly the same. The additives contain fuel
> milage enhancers, cleaners, evironmental crap and
> other good **** that your motor likes. The cleaners
> are good for your motor, duh! However, if the govt
> says you must inject "1" (I don't mean 1 additive I
> mean just 1 as a unit)that's all the generic gas'
> gets. However, the Branded gas inject 3 times that
> amount. This is to ensure that their gas performs
> better than the generic gas. HERE'S WHERE THE GAS
> STARTS GETTING MORE DIFFERENT.
>
> Branded GAS + 3 additive = Good GAS
>
> Then you have GAS + 1 additive(generic) + ethynol =
> generic gas. Which brings us to ethynol.
>
> This is something that the govt is pushing onto the
> oil companies. It is acholhol. The oil company
> such
> as Marathon gets a BIG tax break for using it in
> their
> generic gas. They get a tax break at the tank
> terminal, and the gas station. Here's the incentive
> for using it. It helps the gas burn MORE therefor
> cleaner. Cleaner means better for the tree huggers.
> Now they don't inj. ethynol into the branded gas.
>
> Now cleaner burn also means cleaner gas tank. Just
> think about it, you can clean stuff with acholhol.
> When the semi's are hauling all branded gas they get
> a
> type of "non-luster" to the inside of their
> trailers.
> Then they haul some ethynol inj. gas and from
> driving
> down the road (splish splash) gets the inside of the
> trailer all clean. Now we have all heard of these
> guys saying, I put that ethynol injected crap gas
> into
> my "car/truck/bike" and it ****ed it up. The
> problem
> is that the ethynol has cleaned out the gas tank and
> all that crud and crap has crapped up their gas
> filter
> and maybe injectors. You also may hear about it
> drying out o-rings and such. I try to use it
> everyonce and a while to keep everything clean and
> shinny but not all time.
>
> Bottom line....
>
> Generic gas gives you less good stuff plus ethynol.
>
> Branded gas gives you 3 times good stuff and no
> ethynol.
>
> Now I try to use Mobil, Marathon, BP, or Sunoco.
> Usually in that order. Then if all else fails
> Speedway...I generally stay away from anything else.
>
>
> Now this is not every bit of info on the subject but
> a
> desent low down. If you have any questions just let
> me know. I think that makes sense. There are more
> in's and out's to all of this but it's getting kind
> of
> long.

*************************************
***Another guys asks********
Mobil, Marathon, BP, or Sunoco...........
>
> WHY THAT ORDER?????
***************************************

Mobil because I know the way they keep up their
products in their tanks...Why because I do their tank
changes in Flint and know what their specifications
are on what they do and don't put in their tanks.

Marathon after that because I know what type of
product that the refinery in Detroit puts out. Good
stuff. However, I also know that Marathon will
"bubble" their gas in the winter with Butane. Mobil
does not!

I guess Marathon and Mobil can be interchanged as far
as their level of quality. See all the product in
Oakland, and Wayne county (as far as Mobil and
Marathon) comes out of 2 tank farms. Mobil comes
from West Rd. in Woodhaven. Marathon comes the
refinery/tank farm in Detroit.

As far as BP and Sunoco... I know how they make their
tank changes at their tank farms and that they just
don't run their biz as well as Mobil or Marathon.
Sunoco is also under going some company wide changes
with their truckers and operators (what I do). They
are putting these truckers info operators positions
purely based on seniority and not qualifications.
That means you have guys doing the tank changes that
don't really know what they're doing.

These are my opinions which are based on knowledge of
the industry I work in. For once around here, a
subject, that most likely nobody is going to out
knowledge me on...LOL!! The problem is to not use
industry terms that you guys won't understand.

***********************************
****Another part of a email*********
As far as Sunoco gas. I use to run it in my vechicles when I lived
down the street from one. It is by far better than your generic gas
such as Speedway, Meijer and such. I just prefer the others myself.
Especially sense up here in Genesee county, I do the tank changes for
Mobil. Every bit of Mobil gas in Genesee county comes out of tanks
that I filled...well for that matter same thing for all BP, Speedway,
and Sunoco...but Mobil is the only one that I do the actual tank
changes aka "cuts" for. I know what's in that gas.

In the south east MI area, the Mobil product comes from West Rd which
is pipelined in by my company and Wolverine Pipeline Co...honestly
not as good as my company. But they are very stringent on what they
receive. I know first hand because my father works at the Woodhaven
station for my company that "delievers" to that Mobil.

Marathon, is branded/made right in good ole' Detroit/River Rouge.
You can see the tanks off I-75 near Schafer Rd exit, south of the
River Rouge bridge, southbound side. You can see the smoke stacks
just north of those tanks. Right in between my companies Detroit
station that pumps that gas and fuel.

Sunoco, in S/E MI, my company does SOME with. That's another reason
I list it lower than the other companies. We do move some of their
product from the Toledo refinery to Delta Fuels in Novi. They store
and distribute it from there. But it's a smaller portian of the
Sunoco BIG PICTURE.

BP, comes from River Rouge tank terminal. Some of it is made there
and again some is piped in by Wolverine Pipeline Co. Not bad but not
as good as the Marathon or Mobil stuff.

See the more you know about it the more complicated it gets. I
myself and many guys that are really cars, dyno tuning and such, use
Mobil then Marathon. The motor guys say nothing else quite has the
actual octane to allow some real timing advancement. For example,
last time I was at the dyno the was a guy in there with a Stang and a
tank full of Citgo/7-11 C-93 (premium) and they couldn't advance his
timing because he didn't get a good shot of C-93 gas. He put in
cheap/generic gas.

Cale, I'm sure the IS300 requires 93..go with whatever but stay away
(if possible) from anything besides Mobil, Marathon, BP, Sunoco.

If you are just driving a standard car or truck...don't think about
it too much. But if you have a Meijer and a Marathon accross the
street from one another with the same price...pisst "get the
Marathon"!

I can keep going on this subject but then it gets more and more and
more complicated. Besides some of my thoughts on some of the other
companies are also based on proffesional expierence with those
companies.

[Yellow2002Kat]

The Mobil I always go to has a three hose set-up. I never really thought about it before, but I should have because two of my cars require premium fuel. Ehhh, somehow I always picture one big tank underneath the ground that feeds all three lines with the same gas anyway .

There are separate tanks, at least in Florida, for every gas station I've seen. Easy way to tell -- look at the number of feeder covers in the cement for the gas station -- there should be two for each type (one for the connection, one for the valve).

Yeah, I know, I was being a bit facetious. I guess you're not a fan of The Simpsons. There's one episode when Homer and Barney visit the Duff Brewery. They have many barrels labeled "Duff Dry", "Duff Light", "Lady Duff" and so on. All the barrels are tall and on the floor. Each barrel has an individual tap from which you dispense your Duff of choice into a glass for a tasty brew. Then the camera pans up and you just see one large feeder pipe that splits off into 10 sections (for example) pouring the same beer into the tops of all differently labeled barrels. Ever since I saw that I always think the same thing when I go to a gas station. It's forever stuck in the back of my mind. Damn TV!

WildKat, thanks for the extra info. I guess I feel better about going to Mobil now, although I might try a Chevron to see if I notice a difference. Gotta get gas tomorrow - where I'll go is anybody's guess .

[rowdy1]

Glad to know some of the differences in gas. I didnt even think about it b4.

[katanapat]

Ahhh...how about alcohol content? If I'm not mistakin Sunoco has the highest alcohol content (in Canada anyway). Is this not hard on all the rubber parts in the carbs? 90% of all the cars on the road are all fuel injected so I imagine the gas stations are catering to them...Is there one type of gas thats best for carbs??

[The CyberPoet]

Is there one type of gas thats best for carbs??

Can't give you a brand, but I can give you a concept:
No ethanol/methanol, and with high detergent load. Whether you can find this is a different story -- a lot of it depends on local/region requirements for the vendors.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet