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Cheap Gas vs. Expensive Gas

 

I'm sitting in my car now waiting to meet someone for lunch, and I was thinking about the different brands of gas you can fill your car up with.

Over in California here, you have many choices of gas stations to pick from: Arco, 76, Shell, Chevron, Exxon/Mobil, BP, among others.

The gas stations that are the cheapest price, in general, are Arco and 76. And the most expensive usually is Shell.

When I fill up with "cheapo" gas from Arco, I seem to notice a lack of power and pickup; but when I fill up with "good" gas at Shell, my car feels like it's ready to accelerate at any time. Car seems to drive smoother, and I wouldn't feel surprised if I got better mileage (will need to test this) which then compensates for the higher price u pay for the gas. Driving with Shell gas makes the driving experience much more rewarding.

Does anyone else feel this way?

And does Shell gas actually have something inside (additives or chemicals)which accounts to its more expensive price?

Or am I just imagining things and gas is just gas, and they're all the same if u buy the same octane level?

- Anthony

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14 Comments view entire thread 

Have you tried Costco gas?

 
By: DRMW : September 28th, 2008-11:04
Arco is know to car enthusiasts as really bad grade of gasoline. I recall that in the past the Porsche forum guys had a technical post about the different gas available in Southern California. Costco if there is one close by is inexpensive and good gasoli... 

OUCH ...

 
By: bimbeano : September 28th, 2008-14:18
... A PUNCH UNDER THE BELT ...... LOL, .... SO YOU SAY HE DRIVES A DAF VARIOMATIC ? Cheers, Filip...  

Thinking of buying one ....

 
By: bimbeano : September 29th, 2008-02:40
and selling a few other cars ... then maybe i'll have some money left for a FF ... LOL filip

I've tried the various brands with the exception of Arco

 
By: masterspiece : September 29th, 2008-12:57
and found that I pretty much get the same mileage no matter which I use. As for the performance, I purposely used the various brands to see if there would be any change in performance but I didn't notice any. I need to use the premium, higher octane. But ... 

Knock sensor

 
By: BDLJ : September 29th, 2008-20:37
If your car has a knock sensor, it will compensate for the lower octane rating by modifying the ignition curve - basically retarding the ignition a little. This may account for the worse consumption (as well as the lack of 'zing' that Anthony notes)