Which gas to use
 

I know this has been probably discussed over and over, but i have not seen any posts after searching on here. I know that this topic has been beaten to death on some of the local boards i am on. but i want to get a perspective of a wider audience i guess...
So what is the better brand of gas to use for our trucks? People seem to stand by Shell as it has no Ethanol, but i have read now that Ethanol is included in Shell gas as well, is that true? Does it even make a difference wether or not the gas contains Ethanol in it...

Around here, shell's premium (v-power or whatever) contains no ethanol.

Beaten to a pulp...a quick search pulls up pages of threads.
For exp, see thread #3, 5, 9 and, a few on thread pages 2, 3, et al.

Xoutpost.com - Search Results

GL, mD

I figured it would be, i did try searching and nothing showed up for some reason...

I'll dig trough your link. Thanks a lot

This thread can be closed now :)

Posted links that are searches generally don't work

Canada requires 5% ethanol minimum, averaged across all sales. Usually that is achieved by 10% ethanol in the 87 and no ethanol in the 91, with the 89 being blended at the pump, resulting in 5% ethanol in it. If the station sells 94 then it is ethanol free, and the 91 will have some ethanol. If the pumps aren't blending pumps then all grades could have ethanol.

Ethanol isn't good for some fuel system components, attracts water which reduces the octane rating, and reduces your mileage. It also raises the price of food and promotes a culture of subsidies. Personally, I try to buy fuels with no ethanol.

I like Chevron (refinery is here in Vancouver) or Esso. Shell if I have to. Petrocanada only if I am really stuck. No one else, especially not Costco, Superstore, Husky, or the second tier brands.

Thanks for the reply JCL.

The link posted above worked for me and i could find some information about ethanol...

I thought Esso had ethanol in it's premium gas - i'll stop by tomorrow to have a look what the it says at the pump...
I don't think i've ever seen a 94 here in Calgary... the highest i've seen was 92 and i think that Husky with 10% ethanol...
I'll be honest, I never cared about ethanol percentage in the past so i never really paid any attention as to how much ethanol was in the fuel...
Will definitely stop buying gas at some places now, for sure...

what did you mean by the blending pumps? How can you tell if one is blending or not? Having the same nozzle for all three grades?

That is great if MD's link worked. Not for me.

Don't necessarily trust the labels. Also, they refer to maximum, not actual %. Sometimes it is easier for the station to put labels that say maximum 10% ethanol, and not worry about it. Most purchasers don't care, and some want ethanol.

A blending pump isn't about the nozzle, but rather the underground tanks. Pumps with three grades used to have three tanks to draw from. Each was separate. Modern pumps often use two tanks, one for 87 and one for whatever the highest grade fuel is. All the other grades are blended in the pump. 89 is 50% 87 and 50% 91, for example.

You would need to ask the station operator. Even if they are blending pumps, though, they could be carrying ethanol blends in all of the tanks.

Costco Gas Quality
 

Can you please explain why you would avoid Costco gas? It seems to be good, has fuel additives to clean valves and injectors, (similar to Chevron), and exceeds the EPA requirement of fuel detergent by 5 times. I'm by no means an expert on fuel or the fuel system on our BMW's, just wanted your opinion and reasoning.

Fuel quality varies widely by region in North America. What my local Costco sells is not necessarily anything like what your local Costco sells.

There is one refinery in my town, and all the majors use fuel from it, with some variations in additive packages. There are at least two refineries in Calgary, where the OP was. Not sure where your local fuel is coming from.

Philosophically, I would buy fuel from a fuel company that has its own formula. Any discount retailer that buys from a succession of low bidders, week to week, is further down my list. That isn't to say that the fuel any one of them sell is bad, just that over many tanks, I think I will have more consistent results from someone who is in control of the production and distribution process.

There were many problems with (intentionally) reduced levels of fuel detergent additives years back, leading to valve deposit buildup and sludging problems on some specific engines. That led to the whole Top Tier gas program. These days, I think those problems have been largely addressed, which is why I don't worry about the Top Tier marketing program. I do think that ethanol content (actual, not what they think they are putting in it) is key. Ethanol is mixed in at the end of the process, and many driveability problems are due to ethanol levels far beyond what the distributor thinks they are or what they should be. I would trust a distributor who is in the fuel business to have more control over that risk, than a discount retailer.

Toptiergas.com