Gas is Gas. Or is it?
07-06-2015, 01:46 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Gas is Gas. Or is it?
Gas is Gas. Or is it?
Lately there has been a mass closing of name brand gas stations here in New Jersey. In their place stations with names like Raceway, Speedway, Spartan, Liberty, Fuel on 10 and so on have opened. These non-name brand gas stations typically sell their gas for anywhere from a nickel to a dime cheaper than the name brand stations that remain. Costco has just opened a station in its parking lot not too far from here, and Costco premium is typically .25 cheaper than the name brands. My question is if we go to these off brand gas stations are we getting the same quality of gas as we get from the name brand stations?
It makes sense to me that the off brand stations should be able to sell cheaper. They probably buy the gas on the spot market and can take advantage of the fluctuations in the price. Moreover, they aren’t burdened by the overhead involved in advertising and management that the name brand stations carry.
Still, over the years the name brand oil companies have told us that their gas is superior because of the additives that they add to enhance performance, keep your engine clean and make it run better. The claim that I’ve heard is that they no longer want to own or franchise the stations, big oil simply wants to be a distributor.
I’ve conducted my own experiment. Over the years I’ve developed some very extensive spreadsheets in order to keep track of most everything involving my cars. Among the things that I track is fuel mileage. Every time I fill up I note the miles, the gallons, the cost per gallon, the brand and the gas station. Once I enter these numbers I know the miles per gallon, cost per mile and exactly which gas and station is yielding me the best mpg and lowest cost per mile. I have consistently found that whenever I buy non name brand gas my mpg is lower and in spite of the cheaper price my cost per mile is higher.
I never base this on one tankful of gas. Within one tankful there can be too many variables such as traffic, weather conditions, driving style and etc. I always base my conclusion on a minimum of three fill ups in a row.
In general, my daily driver gets between 22.5 and 24 miles per gallon. I have been using both Hess and BP and in general have gotten the same results. Just recently the local Hess became a Speedway (non-name brand) and after three tanks of Speedway the best I could do was 19.5 mpg. Using Speedway yielded lower miles per gallon and slightly higher cost per mile.
It is possible that the gas pumps have to be recalibrated. They do go out of calibration over time, and sometimes less than honorable merchants put them out of calibration, but I doubt that this is the case. The pumps at Speedway all have recent State of New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs stickers. I just think there might be something to the difference in quality between branded gas and non name brand gas. In general, the experience that I’ve had at Speedway mirrors my experience with most of the non-name branded gas including Costco.
That is my experience with non-name brand gas versus name brand gas. How about you? Have you found any differences? Gas is gas, or is it?
Lately there has been a mass closing of name brand gas stations here in New Jersey. In their place stations with names like Raceway, Speedway, Spartan, Liberty, Fuel on 10 and so on have opened. These non-name brand gas stations typically sell their gas for anywhere from a nickel to a dime cheaper than the name brand stations that remain. Costco has just opened a station in its parking lot not too far from here, and Costco premium is typically .25 cheaper than the name brands. My question is if we go to these off brand gas stations are we getting the same quality of gas as we get from the name brand stations?
It makes sense to me that the off brand stations should be able to sell cheaper. They probably buy the gas on the spot market and can take advantage of the fluctuations in the price. Moreover, they aren’t burdened by the overhead involved in advertising and management that the name brand stations carry.
Still, over the years the name brand oil companies have told us that their gas is superior because of the additives that they add to enhance performance, keep your engine clean and make it run better. The claim that I’ve heard is that they no longer want to own or franchise the stations, big oil simply wants to be a distributor.
I’ve conducted my own experiment. Over the years I’ve developed some very extensive spreadsheets in order to keep track of most everything involving my cars. Among the things that I track is fuel mileage. Every time I fill up I note the miles, the gallons, the cost per gallon, the brand and the gas station. Once I enter these numbers I know the miles per gallon, cost per mile and exactly which gas and station is yielding me the best mpg and lowest cost per mile. I have consistently found that whenever I buy non name brand gas my mpg is lower and in spite of the cheaper price my cost per mile is higher.
I never base this on one tankful of gas. Within one tankful there can be too many variables such as traffic, weather conditions, driving style and etc. I always base my conclusion on a minimum of three fill ups in a row.
In general, my daily driver gets between 22.5 and 24 miles per gallon. I have been using both Hess and BP and in general have gotten the same results. Just recently the local Hess became a Speedway (non-name brand) and after three tanks of Speedway the best I could do was 19.5 mpg. Using Speedway yielded lower miles per gallon and slightly higher cost per mile.
It is possible that the gas pumps have to be recalibrated. They do go out of calibration over time, and sometimes less than honorable merchants put them out of calibration, but I doubt that this is the case. The pumps at Speedway all have recent State of New Jersey Department of Consumer Affairs stickers. I just think there might be something to the difference in quality between branded gas and non name brand gas. In general, the experience that I’ve had at Speedway mirrors my experience with most of the non-name branded gas including Costco.
That is my experience with non-name brand gas versus name brand gas. How about you? Have you found any differences? Gas is gas, or is it?
07-06-2015, 01:57 PM
#2
That's an interesting finding Rob. I never use off-brand gas unless I have no choice. And never for two tank fulls. Right or wrong, I've always believed the name brands use better addatives, likely have cleaner inground holding tanks, and operate to a higher standard. For example, I've been a member of Sams Club since 2009 and I have never used their gas. But, like my comments about oils, I like to stay with one or two brands; in my case that's BP or Shell.
07-06-2015, 02:22 PM
#3
Registered User
Rob, your research is very interesting. I've always heard that here in Northern California, all gas is purchased from the same refineries and gas is gas. When I drive by the huge refinery in Martinez, there isn't a brand name on the tanks. But I have no proof of what I just wrote, and no facts of mpg differences in gas bought at one station vs. the other.
I almost always buy from ARCO, but that's just because they are a quarter or so less than the name brands and I have a card with them for my business. (They don't accept regular credit cards)
I almost always buy from ARCO, but that's just because they are a quarter or so less than the name brands and I have a card with them for my business. (They don't accept regular credit cards)
07-06-2015, 02:26 PM
#4
the only reason you probably have better mileage is because the speedway probably has a higher ethanol content. Problem is not all brand name gas stations have "good" gas. Honestly its all the same, just slightly different additive and ethanol mix.
I use to be in the gas business, the funny thing is most of the gas in your area probably comes from a single distributor. So regardless of off brand or not, your getting the exact same gas.
I use to be in the gas business, the funny thing is most of the gas in your area probably comes from a single distributor. So regardless of off brand or not, your getting the exact same gas.
07-06-2015, 02:33 PM
#5
Former Moderator
I get similar results, Rob. Going cross country I always try to fill up either at BP or Shell. And it always comes out to advantage both in power and economy. Another interesting thing that I have observed is that as I go farther north on the SF drives I get progressively better fuel mileage. When returning south the mileage decreases somewhat from tank to tank. Similarly to and from Colorado.
07-06-2015, 03:19 PM
#6
The biggest differance I notice is between winter and summer blends. In my truck it usually is a differance of 3-4 mpg, of course the truck sometimes sits warming uo while I clear off the ice and snow.
Levi
Levi
07-06-2015, 03:27 PM
#7
Pure Speculation here but...
A local inspector can easily fill a gallon jug and check that a gallon of liquid was dispensed.
Checking the fuel content is as advertised requires a very different skill set and equipment.
It is also fairly easy to substitute a lower octane fuel for high octane.
I always used to use shell or Mobil but we have been using BJ's without noticeable degradation of economy/performance.
I do try and avoid the convenience store varieties.
A local inspector can easily fill a gallon jug and check that a gallon of liquid was dispensed.
Checking the fuel content is as advertised requires a very different skill set and equipment.
It is also fairly easy to substitute a lower octane fuel for high octane.
I always used to use shell or Mobil but we have been using BJ's without noticeable degradation of economy/performance.
I do try and avoid the convenience store varieties.
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07-06-2015, 03:34 PM
#8
All the gasoline comes in the same pipeline. Once it gets to the distributor the additives go in depending on the brand. Our cars require 91 octane, not 93 anyway so "cut rate" gas should be fine,
That said I like Shell 93 V-Power for the S2000. Maybe because the station is newer and nicer. My Expedition rarely drinks anything but BP 87 at a station up in the city that's typically 10¢ less expensive than the suburbs.
-- Chuck
That said I like Shell 93 V-Power for the S2000. Maybe because the station is newer and nicer. My Expedition rarely drinks anything but BP 87 at a station up in the city that's typically 10¢ less expensive than the suburbs.
-- Chuck
07-06-2015, 03:47 PM
#9
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