Chevron used to be my favorite but there's only one Chevron store left in town and it gets NO business (ie, old gas). But in my last car (03 cobra, tuned for 93 and had 467rwhp) it dyno'd better consistantly with Chevron...5-8rwhp or so over running Shell, etc. (Course when you have that much HP those are little changes). But still, it ALWAYS ran better with it.

But now that it's gone, I try to run BP, only because the Shell's are owned by a local guy who used to put 87 in all the pumps, even premium, and I wouldn't put it past him to do it again.........even at the risk of getting caught. LOL

 

I prefer Chevron. I don't really like Shell since they seem to jack up there V-Power an extra couple of cents all the time... It's weird... If regular is say $2.79, then the plus is $2.89 and the V-Power is $3.02! just irritates me I guess...

 

Ever since I picked up my Mini in early August, I've only been putting Shell 92 in my car. In So Cal, gas prices are around 3.20 per gallon for the 92 right now and that's considered cheap!

 

Shell or Mobil; Citgo in a pinch.

 

I almost always use Chevron. There are a few within a couple miles of the house.

 

Count me as a Chevron, Texaco, Shell man in that order.

 

I have MTH Tuner, but this also happened in the very first miles of my MCS... with the stock ECU...

It's really not a big deal. I know my MCS doesn't like Shell's gas, so I try to stay away from it

back to main topic

 

shell because it's the only toptier gas around here.

 

I use shell mostly because there is two by my house. Another cool thing about the shell by my house is that the owner uses methanol fuel in his 87 and 89 gas but does not use it in his 93. I had a conversation with him about it and he is of the opinion that people that would normally put 93 in their car know enough about their cars that they know what methanol can do to fuel pumps.

When i asked him what he drove, his responce was an m3. Go figure.

 

First choice for me is always Chevron. The MINI seems to get slightly improved fuel economy w/ it. Unfortunately, there aren't too many close by so I often go w/ choice #2...Shell. That's it...either/or.

 

I know that Exxon/Mobil is not top tier but what is everyone's opinion of their gas? Around here its either Shell or Exxon/Mobil for the most part. I usually go to Shell because it is top tier but recently I've seen a couple of gas tanker trucks at the station but they weren't Shell brand trucks, they were just generic distributors. Does this mean that my local Shell station is cheating by just putting in generic gas?

By the way, I tried Sunoco this weekend because I was up in the Philly/NJ area and it seemed to run well.

 

I hope everyone realizes that you may not actually be getting 'Shell', or 'Marathon', or 'BP' gas from the pump at said station. More likely you are getting gas from a refinery called 'Blarney Castle Oil', 'Valero Energy', 'Brenner Oil', or 'Murphy Oil'. Most of majors do not do the crude refining, or may not in your local. You may also see a Shell tanker delivering to a BP station also.

Gasoline/Oil products are fungible as long as they meet state/fed standards.

 

So what you're saying is that for the most part it really doesn't matter where you fill up? I think I'd still want to stick with a major brand for a false sense of security , but I guess the question is whether or not the top tier designation is actually legit. Could it just be a marketing ploy? Because like I mentioned, those tankers at the Shell station were NOT Shell trucks and I seriously wonder if I'm actually getting V-Power premium fuel.

 

Bingo! We have a winnner.

As I watch Brenner Oil fill up the independent station, then an hour later fill up the Shell station. I get v-power at the independent station too! Or a supposed v-power equivelent, for almost $.20 less a gallon for 93 octane. Brenner Oil get's theirs from a refinery 400 miles away in Chicago area, that comes to us on a barge on Lake Michigan to a small tank farm on Grand Traverse Bay.

All that Shell says about their v-power fuel is that it has 5 times the epa required detergents again and again to adnauseum on their website. So possibly the refinery puts x ammount of detergent in each truck going to a Shell service station. Who really knows?!?

The most important thing is for the Shell brand to get you into their micro-mart attached to the gas, that is where they make the money. The sodas, cigarettes, candy etc. Gasoline they only make 2-3% profit on the best days, Costco and such are selling gas at a loss.

 

I've primarily used Chevron since picking up Topper. My backup has been Exxon, or Texaco if I can find it. We've had no problems with any of these, or with Shell, but some family member has run off with my Shell card!

 

Chevron clean restrooms.Q

 

Interesting. We use Exxon or Mobile simply because there are so many convenient to us. Car always drove fine. I wanted to try a top tier gas but none were close but finally a Shell station appeared. Put ONE tank of gas in and got the dreaded "Starting Stumble"

I find this so irritating that a simple thing like a change in gas formulation makes cold starts terrible ... doesn't happen in other cars.

Boop of Shell ... back to Exxon

 

Sunoco Ultra 94 Only!

 

For the most part, i have had very good results with Chevron, or if i need gas now and can't find one, Shell.

Personally, i try to stay away from any stations that cut their gas with Ethanol (ie, 76, Aarco, etc). My opinion on this was cemented after reading this site:
http://www.omninerd.com/2006/07/16/articles/57

 

For the most part I use Chevron whereever available but have used 76 and Shell too while traveling and have great performance out all of them

 

I was using Shell from a very shady station (I don't think they were using actual Shell formulated gasoline, in fact at times I wondered if I was even getting premium) and then one time I filled up with Sunoco and it was great I know Sunoco is not top tier but I'd definitely pick them over a lot of other name brands. I found a Chevron station near my house that I'm going to try soon, I've always had good luck with them in the past.

 

92! Where the heck did you find that... I've NEVER seen anything other than 91 for pump gas (Or race fuel at a few select pumps).

 

Shell Premiun here Baby!

 

Been using Shell, mostly cause my credit card gives me a 5% discount. Filled up with Phillips 66 premium today though to see if it helps the cold start stumble I have.

On occasion I have used mid-grade Shell and it seems to help the cold start stumble a bit.

 

I have BP, Shell and Citgo within 1 mile...93 all the way. I also have a Gas City that pumps 102 Racing fuel but I'm not taking a second mortgage to try a tank.