Please go back and read the OPs question. I answered it, with my reasons why.

If you're upset that I disagree with your point of view and think that I should keep quiet for that reason- sorry.

Better yet- take the advice you've offered me, and just move on to other posts. Thanks.

 

Yeah, I can see why you'd want to prevent trouble.
Well on those previous cars I added it when I noticed a drop in mpg, and every time the lost mpg was restored, I was using the cheapest fuel I could find at the time. My previous car to Jags was an Alfa Romeo 166, I started putting Shell in that car, but put some additive in early on and the mpg improved slightly, a year later I put some more in despite there being no drop of mpg and it made no difference. I conclude that high quality fuel working all the time is a better preventative measure than cheap fuel with an occasional clear out - IMHO.

 

Does off brand gas have the same additives that name brand gas does?

 

I'd think not, similar, but not the same, the way it works in the UK is all brands get the same raw gas from a refinery, they add their additive mixture and that's the only thing that differentiates the brands. I'd be expecting (yeah, but who knows) the major petrochems to have better research and therefore a better but more expensive recipe than a cheap brand, who I expect do nothing more than meet minimum spec.

 

Commonly off brand is brand, even delivered in the brand truck. They just buy whatever's cheap and don't stick the current brand's name on the pump.

(I'm cheating: my father was a board member (akin to CEO) of a very large supermarket chain with many filling stations.)

 

Really? I don't conclude that. Just a bunch of opinions, all quite interesting but "established"? No.

 

Even name brand gasolines vary from one brand to another, if that makes sense. Which one is better? Ummm, ahhh well.

As others have posted off brands get their gas from the same refineries, possibly with the name brand additives.

I see no practical difference from one to another in any of my toys, so Costco it is for me!

 

The actual point-of-purchase, their procedures, and adherence to them, and even their recent sales history and climate conditions have far greater impact on the quality of fuel than the brand.

I believe a significant majority of motorists buy fuel on price, within their normal sphere of travel. Some insist on a particular brand or brands, just as others blacklist a brand or brands. No data...
.but I'd be shocked to learn less than 80% do other than buy the cheapest nearby fuel at the point of need.

Despite Shell and Chevron ad campaigns, I've not seen a difference between them and any other or "off" brands.

 

I am trying to be impartial but it is hard because I use BG products. I did a search looking for an independent study on the subject and was at this time unsuccessful. With that being said I did find a topic from a show and person that I have a great deal of respect for and I say this because it seems he does not pull punches. It is a good read for now and I will continue to keep looking…..

http://www.goss-garage.com/node/199

http://www.goss-garage.com/node/198

Enjoy!

 

Gus,

I have a lot of respect for Pat Goss, despite the occasional commercially influenced flogging of a product he gets forced into doing.

His article starts off with the following:

BG Carbon Depletion Service: Removes carbon and gummy deposits from injectors, valves, and combustion chambers. These deposits come from additives used in today’s gasoline to help keep it stable and burnable. These Federally mandated chemicals leach out of the fuel and form deposits on fuel system parts. Carbon depletion services can often help or cure emissions failures, engine pinging, rough idle, hard starting, hesitation, poor fuel economy or, better yet to prevent them from ever happening. Failure to perform this service often leads to cold weather stalling following a cold start.

The thrust is towards fixing an existing problem, and his claim that the BG product does an excellent job. No quarrel with that. He also states that regular use will keep these same problems from happening. No quarrel with that either.

My point is there is a huge portion of the driving public that does not use this or any similar product and yet experience none of the stated problems. It's hard to justify spending money on a product that might fix what's not broken. It's equally hard to substantiate use of any product or taking any action that promises 'to keep bad things from happening' when there's little or no evidence that they happen at all.

I have a friend in my other car hobby that insists on parking his car on squares of cardboard. He believes that this action will prevent the tires from rotting while parked and holds up his perfect track record of zero rot as proof that it works.

 

As I understand it, there's 2 or maybe 3 refiners in all of Calif. All company's buy mostly from them. I'm one who mainly buys on price and there's some Thrifty and Vons (market) stations that I frequent. The tanker trucks are all unmarked so one doesn't know which brand they are buying at any given time. One time at Vons, it was Shell, I'm OK with that.
I've not had any problems with any gas I buy from any station. (Tapping head and saying ...knock on wood)..

 

Mikey,

I agree that if a problem does not exist then what is the problem. I do however believe and feel strongly about is preventive maintenance. Now the fine line is why are you doing the preventive maintenance? As I said before “Today’s fuel mixtures and driving conditions almost dictate the use of additives to clean injectors and other fuel related items. It is also true to say not all drivers/cars require the use of additives but it is an injustice to say it is snake oil” If you are using in a whim in hopes to get better fuel mileage you may be fooling yourself. If you purchased the car and you do not know the condition then what is it going to hurt? Mikey, yes we all need to know what and why we do what we do.

An old colonel friend told me years ago was “The Answer Is There Is No Answer” !

 

It was someone else that labelled them all as snake oils, and some truly are. Others are proven to fix a given problem- let's use good old Seafoam as an example. It does a great job of unclogging 1950's 2 stroke outboard motors. This has been proven time and time again. Using a product retroactively to cure a problem is one thing but making the leap of faith that it can prevent a problem from occurring is another. Drawing a connection and bridging the gap between the needs of a 50's outboard and a modern EFI 4 stroke is a miracle only the marketeers can seem to make. Us tech types just do this and then this . Life is too short to instead.

Cheers,

Mike

 

My wifes 2000 Saab used to smoke, used SeaFoam, now it doesn't. Coincidence? Isn't there two different products, one for EFI vehicles and one that has carbs?

 

But that's using it when there appears to be a fault, which is the case it makes sense to give it a try (if you've no better ideas, if it's cheap, easy, whatever). Running it through when there's no sign of a fault? Well......... if it's cheap and you do it rarely, I guess harmless (unless it might CAUSE a fault and as they don't say what's in it in full detail we'll never know) but I don't see a positive reason.

 

As stated all gasoline is the same depending on what time of year it is and what part of the country you are in. The fuel has to meet several different criteria to meet federal law. The difference between brand "a" and brand "b" is the cleaning additive package (DC - Deposit Control additive) that is added to it for that retailer.

By law all fuels have to have a certain amount of cleaning additives in them (LAC - Lowest-additive concentration). Several very large chain fuel retailers still use Chevron's Techron as there DC additive.

 

Who uses Techron in their fuel? Would think that would be used as another advertisement tool for said companies if they were. I use Gulf or Hess exclusively, makes me feel like I'm buying "more" American, whether warranted our not. My mother in law is a day trader and sent me a report once on the top fuel companies and suggested that I did.

 

Chevron and Texaco both advertise their use of Techron in their fuel. There are others that use it but do not advertise its use.

I am not familiar with Hess in this area, but according to another poster on another forum Hess per their MSD, uses a variety of old school cleaners in it with the most being the Keytone family of solvents

 

You'll always get a much higher concentration of Techron by pouring a bottle of it in your tank as opposed to relying solely on the minute quantities added by the gasoline refiners. Does that make a difference? I believe so, especially in cases where the injectors need to be cleaned....