What oil is best? and what ratio?

[lilspenny]

As a consumer you dont and cant. Brand of the station is meaningless as often the fuel isnt refined by the station brand. One refinery can make top rate product one week and garbage the next. Its just how it is. You roll the dice and take your chances.
As for top tier. Thats mostly marketing. The refinery I work for makes top tier gasoline and plenty of crap still gets blended in just like everyone else.

Dangum. Well, thanks for the straight answer. It is what it is.

 

[bwalker]

Dangum. Well, thanks for the straight answer. It is what it is.

Which is why many of the deposits you see in the 4mix and blame on oil are actually from the fuel.

 

[Jusgunn3]

As a consumer you dont and cant. Brand of the station is meaningless as often the fuel isnt refined by the station brand. One refinery can make top rate product one week and garbage the next. Its just how it is. You roll the dice and take your chances.
As for top tier. Thats mostly marketing. The refinery I work for makes top tier gasoline and plenty of crap still gets blended in just like everyone else.

So being loyal to a brand like Chevron is a scam? We should get what ever is the cheapest ?

 

[bwalker]

So being loyal to a brand like Chevron is a scam? We should get what ever is the cheapest ?

Very much so. I would use which ever station that moved the most fuel.
I once worked across the street from a Marathon pipeline terminal. At one time or another I saw every brand in the area pull into that place.

 

[lilspenny]

Which is why many of the deposits you see in the 4mix and blame on oil are actually from the fuel.

Oh.... I started my re-test on Red Armor yesterday. I have good fuel to work with now and enough to last. Very interesting what I saw. After running 2 tankfuls of RA I pulled the plug and this flaky stuff was showing around the insulator material in the space between the ceramic and the wall. Looked to be bad deposits that we're releasing. I always brush the plug between oils but that space is very difficult to clean and I never saw that flaky stuff with any other oil. Every oil is different and RA appears to be cleaning house. That's just 2 tanks, but has my attention.

 

[pbillyi69]

Very much so. I would use which ever station that moved the most fuel.
I once worked across the street from a Marathon pipeline terminal. At one time or another I saw every brand in the area pull into that place.

i have friends that live in california by all of the refiners and the trucks go to which ever plant is make whichever gas that they need for their delivery. maybe one plant is just making 87 and the next one is makeing 93. the plants are all different. shell, chevron and the like. all of the trucks from all of the name brands and generic go to which place is making the gas they need that day. they put the brand specific addatives in at the station when they fill the tanks or it put in a seperate tank that adds it when its pumped like at costco

 

[pbillyi69]

gas branding is a total scam

 

[pbillyi69]

there is a chevron station by my house. i have never seen a chevron tanker there ever

 

[Tomos770]

gas branding is a total scam

Over the pond rafineries does not have any sistematization of fuels? Like SIST EN 228 (gasoline) or SIST EN 590 (for diesel)???

 

[Chumango]

As for top tier. Thats mostly marketing. The refinery I work for makes top tier gasoline and plenty of crap still gets blended in just like everyone else.

Top Tier cares about the detergency, which allows a range of compositions that meet the proper overall burning characteristics. Top Tier requires roughly 2-3 times the detergency than the minimum required by the EPA.

In my area there is a pipeline terminal where I think all the brands and off brands go to get fuel, they just add their own detergent package. The detergent package is the only differentiation.

 

[bwalker]

Top Tier cares about the detergency, which allows a range of compositions that meet the proper overall burning characteristics. Top Tier requires roughly 2-3 times the detergency than the minimum required by the EPA.

In my area there is a pipeline terminal where I think all the brands and off brands go to get fuel, they just add their own detergent package. The detergent package is the only differentiation.

I am aware of all that and I have a vested interest in the stuff.. With that said believe me when I say that top Tier doesn't mean squat and that you will never know the differance.

 

[bwalker]

gas branding is a total scam

Very much so.

 

[bwalker]

Oh.... I started my re-test on Red Armor yesterday. I have good fuel to work with now and enough to last. Very interesting what I saw. After running 2 tankfuls of RA I pulled the plug and this flaky stuff was showing around the insulator material in the space between the ceramic and the wall. Looked to be bad deposits that we're releasing. I always brush the plug between oils but that space is very difficult to clean and I never saw that flaky stuff with any other oil. Every oil is different and RA appears to be cleaning house. That's just 2 tanks, but has my attention.

I will tell you that I have never personally seen a two cycle oil clean up old deposits. And I have inspected with a bore scope.

 

[Chumango]

With that said believe me when I say that top Tier doesn't mean squat and that you will never know the differance.

The summaries of studies I have seen show that Top Tier does make a difference. I'd have to look to find them, it's been a while. Otherwise, why would car manufacturers create and promote the Top Tier standards?

 

[bwalker]

The summaries of studies I have seen show that Top Tier does make a difference. I'd have to look to find them, it's been a while. Otherwise, why would car manufacturers create and promote the Top Tier standards?

I won't speculate on the why part, but I can say for certain it doesn't mean squat. And I am well aware of those tests. What I will tell you is that if you ran one car on top tier and another on non top tier for 100,000 miles and then tore them apart you would be hard pressed to discern any differance. In a two cycle it would be even less so by several magnitudes.
Then there is the fact that you don't even know if your actually getting top tier fuel. The company I work for owns a large number of gas stations and I can say for certain that even those company owned stations are not always getting fuel we make.

 

[EFSM]

My car doesn’t care for Kroger fuel, otherwise I can’t tell a difference between stations. I wonder if Kroger is stretching their fuel with something junk.

 

[bwalker]

My car doesn’t care for Kroger fuel, otherwise I can’t tell a difference between stations. I wonder if Kroger is stretching their fuel with something junk.

They are probably getting their fuel form the same sources as every other station in your area.

 

[lilspenny]

I will tell you that I have never personally seen a two cycle oil clean up old deposits. And I have inspected with a bore scope.

Honda HP2 40:1 cleaned the (Ultra) piston crown on my 30 year old 029. It also poured oily gunk.