Gasoline is fungible and what 'gas' you are buying depends on your location and proximity to pipeline or tank farm.

Example: North Carolina has no oil refineries. All our gasoline comes from refineries through pipelines to oil/gas tank farms to trucks to gas stations.

Example: Michigan has only 1 refinery in Detroit (Marathon). Where we used to live in Traverse City all our gas came by boat/barge from Chicago or Wisconsin to a tank farm and then distributed by truck from there. Or trucks had to drive ~100 or so miles to other tank farms at the end of pipelines from OH, IN, IL.

To find your regional oil refineries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...#United_States

The only thing that depicts a 'brand' of gasoline is the MARKETING and the detergent additives they specify in quantity and trademark. The only place there is a known volume to add the additive is at the tanker truck. All gasoline has federally regulated detergent additives already in it (ie from pipeline/tank farm).

Typically gas stations only have two tanks also, one with regular and one with premium, mid-grade is a blend of the two at the pump.

Gas stations do not make their money on gasoline, it is only ~1-2% profit margin (Wal-Mart & Costco sell it at a loss). Anyone noticed BP closing stations? They have been loosing money at it and are limiting their exposure to that market segment.

 

Completely dependent on the grin factor. Can be good, can be bad.

 

I thought being seen pumping premium at the gas station was supposed to be part of the Mini mystique... even if it didn't need it. If it's even an issue for a prospective Mini owner, I would think he is looking at the wrong brand of car, maybe he should be looking at Scions.

 

If you look on the toptier website of retailers and look up the refineries supplying gas in your region (OH, Philidelphia PA) I would find it highly unlikely you are getting said gasoline directly from any of them.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...#United_States

Of course you will be getting said additives in the gas that brand X sells...probably...maybe....since there is no independent monitoring of their additive addition to the already federally mandated additives in the gasoline from the refinery.

 

This is a question that I have seen often, and I even asked when stuck in "nuetral." How we forget about the negatives when we can find so many positive experiences....gas has been up and down bouncing generally between $3.50 and almost $4.00 per gallon. So, to try and make things last a little longer or not hurt so much, I have put lesser brand/generic brand "high" octane gas in Ducky. On my second cheap tank, I realize performance has gone down the tubes, I feel like I am driving through mudand mpg has decreased noticably. As for Ducky, he is grumpy as ever: hesitating, bucking and near stalling....poor baby! It will take me four takes of Shell or Chevron high octane to undo the "damage."

Moral of the story: I will save myself the aggravation and stick with high octane name brand fuel.

I have been told that "all I have to do is replace the air filter"...or some other thing. I am not a mechanic and only have the basic knowledge oabout a car, so why do I want to make things harder on myself?

Mick

 

I have records of my own car (04 MC40), through all four seasons, with all ranges of octane ratings used over a period of 25,000mi. My best MPG was in mid September on 91 octane - 35.78 MPG. running on 93 in the warmer months, 87 in the colder months, and 91 where I could get it resulted in an interesting outcome. I got slightly better economy with 87 octane than with 93. The difference is maybe .5-1 mile per gallon. That is a calculated cost difference of 1-2 cents per mile based upon fuel prices and avg MPG.
If I knew how to graph an excel file I could post it for everyone.

 

I found that premium from the same station is the best for my Mini. Better performance and fuel economy. I don't know why it just is.

 

CA might not suffer from the 26 blends of gasoline we get at various times of the year in various parts of the USA.

Or....since Canada is the largest supplier of oil to the USA, you might be keeping the good stuff and sending us the junk? We are watching you.

 

I just realized I've been driving by Chevron stations here for months (near Vancouver Island). Seems they all have 87, 89, 91, and 94 octane.

 

Hi there,

I just put gas in my Mini for the first time today (07 MC BRG/W), bought 91 octane, which is the highest I could get. But I see some people are able to find 93 or 94? Is this more about individual stations stocking it, or will a certain kind of station (Shell or Chevron for example) always have it?

(on a side note... it has been really fun going through all these rites of passage with my Mini, like the first car wash, first trip through a drive-thru- and at the gas station it felt kinda good to know I was getting out of there with a pretty low bill, elevated gas prices or not...)

 

Hey Eleanor44,
Not sure about gas in the capital city, but all Chevrons on the west coast seem to have 91 and 94. Petro Canada has 91 and 94 in Montreal (only a two hr drive :D ) Victoria and Vancouver.

I notice some of the new pumps just say "premium" and the staff doesn't have a clue about octane. One attendant I talked to asked her boss who told her it was 97 octane...

BRG is a great colour. Enjoy.

 

Has the engine been damaged if a 05 Mini S with 51,000 miles and has always used 87 octane? I am thinking of purchasing this mini but don't want to inherit problems due to previous owner's decision to only use 87 octane.

Thanks

 

I've never seen any evidence that it could be damaged. Randy Webb said it might. PM him to see what he has to say.

Matt

 

Great little program to track mileage and maint., on a Smartphone

Features: http://www.supware.net/AutoLog/

http://www.handango.com/PlatformProd...oductId=215735

 

The low octane gas probably has not harmed the engine but there is another side to consider. The owner obviously was not concerned with high performance. Therefore the engine probably did not spend most of its life at or near redline. Sounds to me like a good purchase as a used car.

 

Then again, maybe the owner wrung the car's neck to get whatever was available with regular gas.

Zip

 

LOOK FOR ANOTHER CAR!
If anybody is in LA area next time your in Universal MINI go to the back and ask for Jesse the tech, ask him to let you see what the internals look like with those that run non-top tier 87 octane and the difference between top tier 91. My mouth dropped, I thought it was all BS. Every time I have been to dealership there is an engine with problems that only ran cheap petrol, sad, even MCS. You can probably ask any tech if you can get back there I know the dealership in torrance (with the Fireball cars) won't let you back there. Although, I have always used Chevron 91, even during college in the Geo Metro even though tight budget, Toyota Corolla S after grad and now the MINIs. Sad thing is NO CHEVRON in east coast, so Shell 93 will be my petrol of choice now.

 

i get to put 93 octane here in south fl because its available. i get really good gas mileage and i know buying high octane gas help with this. i definately stay away from little gas stations like Westar and U-Gas down here. my dad builds gas stations as an engineer for a living and although at one point they all purchase the same petroleum, its what they do to it that affects your car and its performance.

 

I would put 100 everyday if I could afford it, but 91 in CA or 93 in East Coast will suffice for me, unless I go to trackday then 100 fo sho.

 

Yeah, we pay for premium fuel, but in exchange we get premium gas mileage and performance. Look at the EPA numbers and 0-60 times.

 

This MINI gets only 93 octane.

 

yes it requires more detergent than the minimum mandated by law, but it also specified 8-10% ethanol! The standard has more than just low deposits in mind.

Matt

 

im glad i can get gas on the navy bases here in san diego...the gas prices sky rocket out in town where as the prices on base increase slower

 

Premium only. The manual says premium, it's an extremely small price to pay to get maximum performance out of your vehicle.

Let's look at cost differences. The MOST I've seen between regular unleaded and premium is a 40 cent gap. Using that:

13.2 gallons = $5.28 difference.
Assuming 356 miles/tank (27 combined mpg for the MCS)... $0.015 per mile.
If you drive your MINI 100,000 miles, you'll finally have spent $1,500 on the gas difference. At 15,000 miles per year, you'll spend approximately $225 per year for premium over regular. $18.75 a month. $4.33 a week.

Are you really going to complain about that minuscule of a cost?

 

I agree - and most places I go, "mid-grade" is only ten cents/gallon more expensive than "regular", and "premium" is only ten cents/gallon more than "mid-grade".

It's strange that the price difference *between grades* is largely the same now as it's been for years, even though the price for gas has shot up, but the net result is that percentage-wise, the price jump from regular to premium is the smallest it's ever been. An extra $2-3 per tank might have been significant back when I could fill the tank for $15, but now that it's costing me $40-50 to fill up from empty, that extra $2-3 just doesn't seem like that much of a hit anymore.