You are right, the base stock is essentially the same for all brands, but the additives make A LOT of difference.

It is the same thing for oils, oil base stock is about 80% of what's in the bottle, but those 20% of additives can vary greatly and have a substantial effect on an oil's performance.

 

AHHHHHH

I don't know who to believe!

I think i'll just stick to Chevron, you can't deny those HAPPY CARTOON CARS. They would never lie!

 

+1 on this cuz my last job I use to move around in many of the major refinery in socal like, BP (Arco), Shell, Exxon and Chevron. I always like to ask employes there which gas is the best and they all say its the same. All gasoline is process the same way. But 87, 89, 91 octaine is something you should consider at the pump. When makeing the 91 oct more stuff is added. (dont know what exact) but always was told to use 91 oct. And if i could do 93oct I be all on it!

I personaly use Chevron and Shell and 91 oct all the way. Its just taste and prefrence. And not all the time after pumping gas my car feels the same even at the same station. There are days that it feels like **** till a new fill up. I know some of you get this too.

To OP, lol not what I expected. At least compliment her on the sexy car and accent. Make her smile and call it a day both way.

 

This is one of those subjects (like oil) that has been beaten to death with all kinds of opinions. The fact is, not only is the add pkg different, but the fuel itself is tested and must meet a higher standard in many categories. The question is; is it better? It has been proven that there is less carbon build up in the combustion chamber and on the valves.

Koz

 

I don't know about you guys down in the United States but up here in Canada, Costco gets its gasoline from Ultramar or Shell, with Olco doing the distribution from the Canterm or Shell terminal in Montreal. Like others have said before, gasoline is a commodity. I gas up almost exclusively with 91 octane at Costco and know the people who work at the gas station, and they say that they receive approximately 51,000 liters a day of gas from Olco with a steady stock of approximately 120,000 liters. On several occasions, I have seen Ferraris, Vipers and Maserati gassing up.

I wasn't around, but as far as I know 40 years ago gasoline did not have nearly as many additives as it has now and a lot of cars from 40 years ago are still running fine. It's a shame people are so gullible nowadays to believe the marketing ploys.

 

Guys,
I realize a lot of people here have great information they got from stories they heard from some schmo who pumps gas some place or whatever other source.
I work for a major oil company/gasoline producer here in Canada, and can assure you the following comments are much more accurate than the vast majority of the posts here. Here's what I can tell you:

FACT: We, along with the other majors/refiners do sell gasoline to all the 'off-brands' - Costco, Canadian Tire, etc. Clearly none of them own a refinery, and therefore must be supplied from someone who does.

FACT: We, along with the other majors/refiners mix different additive packages into the gasoline we supply to the 'off-brands' vs. what we place in gasoline that we provide to our own Branded service stations.

FACT: Included in those additive packages that we provide to our own service stations are higher concentrations of cleaners and valve deposit control chemicals.

FACT: Over time with continued use of 'off-brand' gasoline, you will experience greater valve accumulations than with the use of gasoline from the majors.

If you doubt me, check out www.toptiergas.com. Here is a quote from the site:

TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline is the premier standard for gasoline performance. Six of the world's top automakers, BMW, General Motors, Honda, Toyota, Volkswagen and Audi recognize that the current EPA minimum detergent requirements do not go far enough to ensure optimal engine performance.

Let me paraphrase: The minimum legislated detergent level (provided in 'off-branded' gasoline) in both Canada and the US was deemed insufficient to meet the needs of optimal engine performance. Therefore a bunch of automotive manufacturers got together to create a higher additive standard that would meet the needs of their vehicles.

Still think there is no difference in gasoline between suppliers? For those that want to save a few cents on fuel at the risk of long-term engine performance, you are free to do so. I won't. Paying 2% more for quality gasoline is cheap insurance in my mind.

You will note, that I didn't go as far as recommending my brand over others, because the differences between them is much less clear.

 

And one $7 bottle of Techroline every 10k miles sets them all equal. That one bottle is more than you'd get from running Chevron exclusively for 10k miles.

 

I don't know what concentration of additive is in Chevron's gasoline or in Techroline, so I can't comment on whether a bottle every 10K Mile is as effective as using a fully additized gasoline all the time.

But it doesn't make sense to me that a gas company can package an additive, ship it to a retailer, provide a retailer their markup, and still provide it to you less than it costs them to inject to inject it into their own gasoline in small amounts and provide it at service stations.