Gas Experience?
07-26-2010, 12:53 PM
#11
Senior Member
Fast fact. The Fuel that shows up at a BP Station, Exxon Station, Chevron Station, Shell, Mobile, etc... all comes from the same port supply. Yes they have a different label on the all the trucks to help manipulate your mind.
For instance, Pepsi is Pepsi, whether it comes in a McDonald's cup or Wendy's cup. The only difference in the additives used AT THE PUMP!!! kinda like Wendy's has thicker straws, which makes me (the truck) drink the Pepsi (fuel) faster.
Please dont bash me....I design gas stations for a living, an my boss was a Shell exec for 20some years before owning his own. We talk about this at lenghts ALL the time. Mostly Devils' advocate on my side...
...
For instance, Pepsi is Pepsi, whether it comes in a McDonald's cup or Wendy's cup. The only difference in the additives used AT THE PUMP!!! kinda like Wendy's has thicker straws, which makes me (the truck) drink the Pepsi (fuel) faster.
Please dont bash me....I design gas stations for a living, an my boss was a Shell exec for 20some years before owning his own. We talk about this at lenghts ALL the time. Mostly Devils' advocate on my side...
...Retail stations (BP, Exxon, Valaro, Marathon, etc) use their own gasoline. There are wholesale stations (Speedway, Pilot, Kroger/Sams Club/BJs, etc) that buy their gasoline from wherever they can get it cheapest. One week they could have BP fuel, another Valaro. It varies.
Your annalogy is all wrong. You basically said that BP gas is BP gas no matter where you buy it (true).
To make your analogy work correctly, you have to consider it like this:
Pop = Gasoline
Pepsi = BP
Coke = Exxon
Minute Maid = Valaro
etc.
No matter what Pepsi you buy, you are getting Pepsi. It makes a difference though what kind of pop you buy.
07-26-2010, 12:55 PM
#12
Senior Member
I always use BP there have been quality tests done by multiple different sources and BP always comes out on top, Shell is typically second and Speedway is almost always last. Putting additives in the fuel can also be done yourself every now and then such as seafoam (in the gas tank) to help clean things up. I havent owned my F150 long enough to tell you but I know seafoam does wonders in my 7.3L diesel
07-26-2010, 01:02 PM
#13
Senior Member
True but different companies treat the fuel differently from one another, its the same as your Pepsi comment. Have you ever gotten a Pepsi from McDonalds or somewhere else that was all syrup. you probably have its the same drink but the company that served it to you didn't serve it right. All gas stations add their own additives to it and have their own refinery process.
... well sort of.Getting pop that is all syrup comes from the restaraunt not handling the product properly. This would be like a specific gas station, for example saying the BP on first street and main.
It doesn't mean that all Pepsi sold at all McDonalds (aren't they coke anyway?
) is bad. Just that one. It also doesn't mean it is always bad. Go back two days later and they have fixed it.Each brand has a different refining process, but the base fuel has to meet specific parameters no matter who made it. Oil is refined into products (gas, heating oil, diesel, kerosine, etc). It is shipped to a terminal. The terminal stores the products in tanks. Trucks fill their tank at the "rack" where the fuel is dispensed to be transported to the station. Additives are added here, before reaching the station.
07-26-2010, 02:09 PM
#14
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07-26-2010, 02:37 PM
#15
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I always use BP there have been quality tests done by multiple different sources and BP always comes out on top, Shell is typically second and Speedway is almost always last. Putting additives in the fuel can also be done yourself every now and then such as seafoam (in the gas tank) to help clean things up. I havent owned my F150 long enough to tell you but I know seafoam does wonders in my 7.3L diesel
07-26-2010, 03:00 PM
#16
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I completely disagree with Speedway being last place. Since I bought my F150 in November I have kept every gas receipt and tracked the mileage manually for every tank. I plan on doing this for a full year to get an almost scientific result from the 3 stations closest to me. Shell is the easiest location for me to fuel up then BP then Marathon and finally Speedway. So far speedway on average gets me more mpg which means my dollar goes further. Marathon comes in close second with BP/Shell being about the same.
07-27-2010, 07:40 AM
#17
Uberhater,Troll,Whatever
I always buy my gas at the cheapest station, only occationally a "name brand". I track my mileage all the time and can't ever see any difference (between "brands") unless I'm pulling a heavy load or spending a lot of time in 4 wheel drive. My spark plugs are always clean. I've never tried seafoam, but once in a while use an injector/fuel system cleaner. I do regular scheduled maintenance. I never used "special" oils, and mostly used Fram oil filters and K&N air filters. No vehicle I ever owned was treated any differently and I never had an engine problem with any of them.
I keep reading about how some of the above choices are a disaster in the making. I've spent over 30 years of driving/maintaining several domestic and foreign brand cars and trucks. I have seen no evidence that supports one brand of gas/oil/filter is much better than any other. I sold all my previous vehicles in good running order (from 120K miles to 213K miles) to happy buyers...
I keep reading about how some of the above choices are a disaster in the making. I've spent over 30 years of driving/maintaining several domestic and foreign brand cars and trucks. I have seen no evidence that supports one brand of gas/oil/filter is much better than any other. I sold all my previous vehicles in good running order (from 120K miles to 213K miles) to happy buyers...
07-27-2010, 07:45 AM
#18
Senior Member
I did lose a fuel pump from particulates in "cheap" gas once.... from that point on (high performance, turbocharged car) I only bought from name brands. I stick to Marathon mostly now though. BP if there isn't a Marathon around.... and if I can't do either, I just get it where it is available. For the most part, it doesn't matter.
07-27-2010, 02:19 PM
#19
2020 Sport
Just because you design the stations doesn't mean you know anything. Additives are added to the gasoline at the rack (splash blending) where the trucks are loaded. There is a difference between the brands because they all use different additives. While the terminal may store fuel purchased from different sources, if it is a branded station, you can be rest assured that it has branded gas in the tanks.
Retail stations (BP, Exxon, Valaro, Marathon, etc) use their own gasoline. There are wholesale stations (Speedway, Pilot, Kroger/Sams Club/BJs, etc) that buy their gasoline from wherever they can get it cheapest. One week they could have BP fuel, another Valaro. It varies.
Your annalogy is all wrong. You basically said that BP gas is BP gas no matter where you buy it (true).
To make your analogy work correctly, you have to consider it like this:
Pop = Gasoline
Pepsi = BP
Coke = Exxon
Minute Maid = Valaro
etc.
No matter what Pepsi you buy, you are getting Pepsi. It makes a difference though what kind of pop you buy.
Retail stations (BP, Exxon, Valaro, Marathon, etc) use their own gasoline. There are wholesale stations (Speedway, Pilot, Kroger/Sams Club/BJs, etc) that buy their gasoline from wherever they can get it cheapest. One week they could have BP fuel, another Valaro. It varies.
Your annalogy is all wrong. You basically said that BP gas is BP gas no matter where you buy it (true).
To make your analogy work correctly, you have to consider it like this:
Pop = Gasoline
Pepsi = BP
Coke = Exxon
Minute Maid = Valaro
etc.
No matter what Pepsi you buy, you are getting Pepsi. It makes a difference though what kind of pop you buy.
The above is 100% true and the rest of the replies are all BS. I'm the guy who makes sure you get the gas you are paying for at stations. I load and delivered 4-6 stations a day and price has a lot to do with it for the off brand. For example Valero will have us pull gas out of Conoco Linden Terminal which is a major Exxon supplier. Why? Because it's cheaper.
When we load for larger companies like Sunoco we have to select branded sunoco mix which add their special additives HOWEVER if we are loading for a Wawa we load non-branded sunoco gas which has a base additive.
BTW we load out of BP terminals a lot but every load I have taken was not delivered to a BP.
In closing it's always best to stick with a name brand of your choice. Try to always get gas and properly ran stations and any dumb**** can look at a station and know if it's a good place to get gas (appearance, service, employees). I can't tell you how many times I roll into a (non American owned) station and they had ordered to much 87 reg and they say "you put in prem tank, yes?". There are some drivers that will for a few bucks which means you are paying for reg at prem price. Oh and another thing, we check for water in every tank on every delivery. This is standard at Exxons and Sunoco, Wawa, BP and shell
07-27-2010, 03:09 PM
#20
Senior Member
Valero doesn't even use their gasoline all the time? I guess I assumed they refined product so they would sell their brand. I guess I am not surprised though...
It is nice to see there is somebody else who knows a little about the industry... sometimes it is so hard because everybody knows it all, and they are CONVINCED they are right. >_<
I don't know how much this matters to the general public, but often times branded trucks going to branded stations get priority. So if you are not a BP driver and you show up at a BP terminal, you might not be allowed to fill your truck if there are BP drivers there. Certain trucking companies are allowed to pull X number of gallons, and that is it. So the driver could be sent elsewhere.
It is nice to see there is somebody else who knows a little about the industry... sometimes it is so hard because everybody knows it all, and they are CONVINCED they are right. >_<
I don't know how much this matters to the general public, but often times branded trucks going to branded stations get priority. So if you are not a BP driver and you show up at a BP terminal, you might not be allowed to fill your truck if there are BP drivers there. Certain trucking companies are allowed to pull X number of gallons, and that is it. So the driver could be sent elsewhere.