hey girls and boys, did you notice a change in power in your mini depending on which brand of gas you fill it up with...
ever since i got my mini s, i only filled it with 'chevron' and it was good. than i got a company gas car which was 'shell' and it was no good. i didnt think much of it, thought it was the weather, but the weather has been very cool so i couldnt figure til Shell came into my mind.
my co-worker once told me that his 240sx power was noticeable struggling with 'shell' gas vs. 'chevron'. didnt think much of it but when i felt it on my car, wow, what a difference. my car was struggling like it never did before.
has anyone noticed this? anyone dedicated to 'shell' gas? dont get me wrong folks, i have nothing against 'shell', but for my mini, i want a gas that my mini will take it in nicely and not forcefully.
hows '76'? or 'texaco'? and etc...

lets help each other to attain the best for our mini-alliance .

 

I use either Wawa or Hess super - no problems with either although I think the Wawa gets slightly better gas mileage.

 

I use Shell, but I think I'll try something else. No Chevron stations around here, but there are lots of Exxon and Phillips 66 stations, along with a few Citgo stations. I won't use the Citgo.

Not sure about Shell, I have a minor cold-start stumble which seems to get a bit better when I use the mid-grade Shell. I think I'll try premium in a different brand.

 

I stick to top teir gas. I have no preference to any brand.

 

Sorry to burst your bubble, but it was either the Discovery Channel or The National Geographic channel that pointed out that all gasoline for your car comes from just a few providers and the only thing that differentiates them are the detergent additives they put in after they fill up the tanker truck and these do not effect performance. *shrug* 91 octane is 91 octance no matter what pump is comes from. Sure there may be some unscrupulous stations out there that might mix 91 with 87 and still call it 91, but most are honest and if you think you're getting more pep by buying one brand or another it's not the gas...it's your driving and your imagination.

 

Detergents is what makes 'top teir' gas as top teir. They say that lower grade gas leaves desposited on intake valves and injectors which effects performance. The added detergents lessen this depositing.

 

There is only one Gasoline pipeline into Reno Nevada. The tanker trucks all get their gas from the same tanks...then in goes the additive....I also like the Chevron product as does my Mini.

BTW...Just a thought...does it strike anyone funny that gas prices just happen to go down BEFORE the election.

I am betting they go right back up after it is over!

 

I had issues with Shell long time ago. But it was only at this one station in Roselle, IL.

My engine would knock with their V-Power. We called it De-Power... Lol.

I regulary use Shell V-Power on both my weekend cars with no problems, but only fillup in cleaner neighborhoods where there are more cars using premium gas. I think the stuff that this station sold me was old.

 

For the "what it's worth" department,
I was using Shell on a regular basis and had a hard start condition first thing in the morning, car would almost start, then die. Turn it off, turn it back on, then it would start right up.
I then switched to Mobil, haven't had that problem since.

 

I don't know, I've been using the Shell 93 octane stuff and so far have been pleased with it.

 

The only possible difference you might be seeing is a switch from summer to winter gas. Other than that, all gas is the same.

 

I experienced pinging with a recent fill up with Sunoco (I think it was their 92 grade). But I suspect that it was limited to this one station, and wonder about "mixing". Otherwise it is usually Mobil or Exxon 93 with no problems.

 

Chevron and Texaco are now one and they use Techron as thier additive. Shell has V Power. Just use top tier gas.

Art

 

thanks for the insight and feedback. there are good points to all opinions but its just out of our experience only. some might feel the same or some wont and thats what makes this forum so great.
i use only top tier 91 or more gas cause it makes my mini tummy feel good but again this morning, when it usually feel the best, it was struggling like if it had an upset engine. indigestion is what i call it. i cant wait to get it out of my mini and fill it up with techron than i will try mobile than 76. im in the southern LA portion. lets all try it and see if we can prove that, brand of gas matters on our minis. demographic, weather, altitude, and people would make will vary each opinion.

 

never used Shell. One day filled the MINI up with it because it was supposed to be Top Tier Gas.

Got the Cold Start Stumbles

Never filled it with Shell again ... cold start stumbles went away.

I actually do not blame Shell. I blame MINI. In is inexusable for the engine to be so finicky

 

Nyaah, any engine with a knock sensing ignition will do that, just that the Mini engine is tuned closer tot he edge. Try another Shell station, often it's station-specific. Or... stick to another brand.

 

i think its time to break-in my mini. i will huff and puff and blow the gas out of it. time to release the gas that is making my mini feel so bad and at the same time maybe break it in. this might be Gods way of telling me to step on it a little but wisely.j/k
just my thought.

 

This is very true. One thing to watch out for is, going to the pump after a tanker truck has just been pumping in new gas. This may cause setiments to stir up in the bottom and cause "crud" to build up in your system. it could clog your gas filter/injectors...ect...and cause hard starts and slack performance.

Also...if the gas station you go to doesnt have alot of "traffic" and the gas doesnt get used up. It could become stale after a while.

But as fred3 said, its all basicaly the same. It is what it is no matter where you get it.

 

Same here - no problems with Shell 93

 

ok. i couldnt take it no more so i interrupted my fuel of 'shell' by filling 4 gallons of 'chevron' to see what would happen. and surely to my expectation, my mini's indigestion seems to slowly go away. my mini's engine sounds better and the response is great once more.
who wrote 'its all the same'... i prove it otherwise. from now on my mini is techron grade mini.
just wanted to share.

 

Four gallons out of 13.5 and you see a big difference - I doubt it. I think you probably just got one bad tank of gas that was replaced with a fresh tankful. That said, gas and oil brand choices are like religion - use whatever brand makes you happy.

 

I prefer Chevron, but my MINI seems to like whatever I feed it. Haven't noticed any appreciable differences other than once I get out of Cali, my mpg improves. I wonder if it is fuel mixtures or octane difference?

 

Well I guess there is a reason for 49 state emissions and CA is different. I would suspect CA gas formulation is different.

 

I've been lucky. I buy gas at this one station and have had no problems. My Mini purrs along on 91 and an occasional fix of 93 octane.

 

Used Shell 93 exclusively for a month blew out an 02 sensor now its maybe once a month or two months for the supposed "Top Tier" cleaning. All othersw indifferent, but I pick the high volume stations so I hopefully avoid any sediment in the tank issues.

Now for the science end of it.
90 and below- Did one tank of 87 by accident early on, I was still overwhelmed by the doubling in power of my new car I didn't notice anything.

91- Used it once and well it made Pearl MAD MAD MAD, I wont touch it again.

92- Used it twice, no preformance issues but confuses the s*** out of the gas guage takes forever (360+ miles) to reach the 1/4 mark then I get maybe 40 miles out of the last quarter of a tank

93- With exception of steady Shell no issues; however I'm extremely picky about where I buy my gas, don't trust Citgo, must be clean and be realatively busy.

94- this was a new one for me this past week (had option of 93 or 94 and I felt daring), little more umph, maybe due to the cooler weather nothing conclusive, but because I was in OH it was still cheaper than a tank of 93 in the Chicago suburbs.

I haven't found anyone carrying 98 outside of the Daytona Speedway Sunoco (inside the track) but I'd like to give a tank or two of it a try.