Vehicle Gas Mileage

[Sam]

I have been noticing a difference in the MPG among different brands of gasoline.

 

The highest MPG so far is from BP.

 

Exxon, Shell, and Citgo are in second place.

 

Sam's Club is in last place.

 

Do you guys notice that any one gasoline brand has a higher MPG than others you have used?

 

My father-in-law swore that he got great gas mileage from a local independent gas station as opposed to WaWa, Sheetz, etc.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and observations.

[Bird]

Yep, have heard this my entire life.

Higher octane and non ethanol produce similar results.

I run Shell 99% of the time.

[padlin]

"Top Tier Gasoline Worth the Extra Price, Study Shows

An analysis by AAA reveals that gas with detergent additives can keep an engine running smoothly"

From Consumer Reports.

 

Top Tier Brands

 

[Tennessee Boy]

When the pipeline company got hacked a few years ago it affected most if not all brands of gas in our area.  So all the gas is probably coming from the same refinery.  I’m thinking that any differences in brands must be due to additives.  It might make since to buy the cheapest gas and then look at adding you’re own additives.  I’m sure the gas companies can buy additives cheaper than we can so cost would also be a factor to consider.

[Jig Man]

There is a gasoline sub station a few miles from my house.  I pass it on the way to the lake.  There are always lots of tankers lined up to fill.  The trucks are labeled with all kinds of brands.

[gim]

I almost exclusively buy Holiday gas because I have a Luther discount card and I also get discounts based on my groceries that I buy at Cub Foods here.  Holiday gas is Top Tier gasoline.

 

I have heard that Sam's Club and Costco gasoline mileage is worse, but you are also getting a decent discount when you buy it as an annual paying member.  The Costco gas stations I see here are always lined up with cars.  Sometimes 8 or 10 deep at each pump.  They're waiting a while to buy gas at a discounted cost.

 

On the plus side, gasoline has dropped in price here the last 10 days.  I saw it for $4.49/gal this morning near my house.

[MN Fisher]

2 minutes ago, gimruis said:

I almost exclusively buy Holiday gas because I have a Luther discount card and I also get discounts based on my groceries that I buy at Cub Foods here.  Holiday gas is Top Tier gasoline.

Ya - that Cub discount really adds up...had $0.50 off my last fill.

 

3 minutes ago, gimruis said:

On the plus side, gasoline has dropped in price here the last 10 days.  I saw it for $4.49/gal this morning near my house.

Send that a bit south - we're still in the $4.70 range around the lake.

[Jigfishn10]

I never notice a difference from 1 gas dealer to the other. I do notice seasonal gas mileage fluctuations.

 

I get the best mileage now - summer - and the worst during the winter.

[casts_by_fly]

25 minutes ago, Jig Man said:

There is a gasoline sub station a few miles from my house.  I pass it on the way to the lake.  There are always lots of tankers lined up to fill.  The trucks are labeled with all kinds of brands.

 

14 minutes ago, Jigfishn10 said:

I never notice a difference from 1 gas dealer to the other. I do notice seasonal gas mileage fluctuations.

 

I get the best mileage now - summer - and the worst during the winter.

 

This is the answer.  Some have different additive packages but most don't.  And the additive packages are for things to keep your engine running smoothly, not for fuel economy.  Any differences you note from fuel stations are going to be differences in driving path and speed.

 

[Bluebasser86]

When I lived down south there was 2 gas station options. There was a noticeable difference in my gas mileage if I got gas from one to the other. The cheaper station, I'd get about 50 miles less to the tank. They were only ever a penny difference a gallon, so I always went across the street. 

[jbsoonerfan]

Some tanks I get 10 mpg, some I might get 11. I attribute it more to my driving as opposed to where the gas came from. 

[Log Catcher]

I haven't checked my mileage for a while. Years ago my vehicles ran better and got better mileage with Chevron. They have been gone from our area for quite a while so now I use Shell. I have bought gas at some cheaper stations and the mileage dropped way down.

[flyfisher]

I think it is next to impossible to compare and be accurate on a gas mileage from one place to another.  There are way too many variables involved to have anything close to an fair comparison.  Now i have noticed certain gas places my car doesn't seem to run as well but I mainly get my gas at kroger to use up my fuel rewards from my groceries.  

[Hammer 4]

Up until about a year ago, I always used Chevron Diesel fuel. If I happen to run low, I'd use an other brand, what I found out was, my Duramax not only ran better, plus I got better mileage with Chevron.

Nowadays Chevron is the highest priced Diesel in my area, so I now use an off brand fuel. Using an additive helps some. 

[DaubsNU1]

I tracked MPG on my 2004 Chevy 2500HD for 16 years…every tank.  Brands didn’t make much difference, but octane and ethanol did. I paid a little more at the pump for 91 octane, ethanol free fuel…and got slightly better MPG. Did the same with my 2014 Accord for about 5 years. 

 

At about year 8 I totaled up what I had spent on gasoline…@ 10.5 MPG, you can imagine how large that number was. It had the 8.1/496 cid Big Block backed by the Allison transmission. Great truck! 

 

 

 

 

[Woody B]

I have an Exxon card and get 10 cents a gallon off at the pump so the only time I use something except Exxon on Mobil is if I'm really low and not near an Exxon/Mobil store.   NC gas tax is higher than SC's.  I live in NC, but I'm less than a mile from SC.  There's 5 stores just across the state line with gas.  1 in Exxon, 1 is Mobil.  That's where I buy most of my gas.  

 

Padlin referenced "top tier" gas.  I recommend going to the website he linked and using only the brands listed.   

 

The MOST important factor for MPG is your right foot.  Higher than needed octane is no help, however 87 octane may be...... borderline on many vehicles that it's acceptable for.  

 

Regardless of what kind of diesel vehicle you drive (big or small) I recommend buying diesel somewhere that sells a BUNCH of it.  

 

I'm not a fuel expert, and not intending to act like 1.  I am an auto technician with 40 years experience though.  I also have extensive diesel experience.   

[Captain Phil]

One of the worst things the government ever did was add ethanol to gasoline. Ethanol has less BTUs than gasoline.  This means you get less energy per volume.  Anyone who has run a race car on alcohol knows this.   The more ethanol in your fuel, the worse your gas mileage is going to be.  Buying cheaper fuel with more ethanol does exactly the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish.  Add the fact that alcohol attracts water and corrodes rubber and you have fuel problems that never existed before today's fuels.   Does it make sense for us to use food to power our cars? The war in Ukraine is threatening to cause world wide food shortages while we are burning our food.  The price of everything is rising largely because of higher fuel costs.  The US has more oil within our borders than we will ever use. All we need to do is use it.  

[Jigfishn10]

11 hours ago, jbsoonerfan said:

Some tanks I get 10 mpg, some I might get 11. I attribute it more to my driving as opposed to where the gas came from. 

This is actually very true. If I drive my Jeep like I drive my boat, then I really maximize my gas mileage.

 

My boat gets it's best fuel economy when it sits on the trailer.  J/K When I run the boat at 4,000 RPM, I get the most fuel economy. My Jeep will get the best fuel economy if I shift at 2,000 RPM max. Anything above will drop MPG. 

 

People behind me don't like it coming out of a red light, but driving like there's an egg between my foot and the gas pedal really helps.

[Tennessee Boy]

2 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

One of the worst things the government ever did was add ethanol to gasoline. Ethanol has less BTUs than gasoline.  This means you get less energy per volume.  Anyone who has run a race car on alcohol knows this.   The more ethanol in your fuel, the worse your gas mileage is going to be.  

Also,  it takes a lot of oil to grow the corn to make the ethanol.  Makes no sense.

[MN Fisher]

21 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Also,  it takes a lot of oil to grow the corn to make the ethanol.  Makes no sense.

Ya, between the machines to plant, tend and harvest it to the fertilizer - then the extraction/distillation process....it takes more energy to make ethanol than you get out of it.

 

BUT it does burn cleaner - so the tree-huggers are all for it.

 

I'm environmentally conscious - but there has to be a happy medium....

[slonezp]

10 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Also,  it takes a lot of oil to grow the corn to make the ethanol.  Makes no sense.

I believe it takes a gallon of oil to create a gallon of ethanol.

 

Don't know if there is truth to this statement but I have heard if you fill up during the daytime during the heat of the summer, there is more "air" in the gas because of expansion in the underground fuel tanks. During the evening the fumes condense back into fuel so there is less air. Again, don't know if there is any truth to that. 

[Glenn]

I watch my mileage very closely. I get the best mileage with Chevron gas.

[roadwarrior]

What additive does Chevron use?

Chevron fuels contain our Techron® additive, which cleans, restores and protects your engine's performance. Our Techron fuel additive helps keep critical engine parts clean, which can lower emissions, improve performance and maximize fuel economy.

[Tennessee Boy]

I read that ethanol is added locally post pipeline.  It doesn’t do well in pipelines either apparently.   E10 means up to 10% ethanol.  Differences between brands in the actual percentage of ethanol in the fuel might account for the difference in fuel economy.

[Jigfishn10]

They put additives/detergents in gas based on region/climate. 

I read the same thing as Tennessee Boy read. They can't pipe up ethanol, it all gets trucked throughout the US and then added to gas.