If you were forced to choose, which type of gas would you fill your MINI with, regular unleaded from a top-tier gas station or super unleaded from a no-name generic station?

 

No gas it would be electric

 

Always Premium gas.

Not regular even if top tier.

 

I'd opt for the super no-lead from the no-name.

A reporter on the Reuters energy desk (I'm a copy editor there) said there was very little difference among most brands, whether the big companies like Exxon Mobil, the middle tier like say Lukoil, or the smaller independents like Delta. "Refining crude to gasoline is refining crude to gasoline. Same process. There's little difference between them," he told me a few years back.

I use only premium in my MINI coupe and my wife uses only premium in her BMW 328xi because these high-performance engines run better on the higher octane count in the premiums.

CROC 411

 

+1 on the Premium.

93 octane is 93 octane. The diff is whatever additives are mixed in. AFAIK, all gasoline is made in the same place but each company has their own additive package they use.

I would buy a bottle of Techron for no-name premium before I would buy a bottle of octane booster for name brand 87 octane.

 

Luckyduck has it right. I work at an oil refinery and we supply many of the local gas stations, the only difference is the additives that they then add.

 

No name premium. I just toss in a can of Seafoam once a month.

 

premium. it's all basically the same, that is, expensive as hell

ah well, life is short, motor while you can

 

If you go to the Top Tier Gasoline site: http://www.toptiergas.com/ you'll see that it's a voluntary fuel additive and detergent standard set up by some auto manufacturers. There is nothing on the site that explains how retailers come to participate in the rating system, who does the fuel analysis and performance testing, and who's checking the quality of the gas at individual retail outlets.
I'm not sure if this is a legitimate fuel standard, or just so much marketing hype, with some gas stations joining, and others deciding it's not worth the effort. It's too bad this site doesn't go into the details of how the top tier program works, as it would make it easier to determine if it represents a legitimate fuel enhancement, or if it's just so much hot air.

 

+1
Seafoam........Good Stuff!


Jim

 

i buy 91 octane and toss in a can of stp once a month.