What oil is best? and what ratio?

[bwalker]

Maybe it's naive, but I like to take a more optimistic view of the car makers in this case. They have a vested interest in that they don't want to have a reputation of cars that don't run very well.

I don't know how to find out if the car makers get any money back from what I presume the fuel producers need to pay to become part of the program. I have not looked into what it takes to be listed on their site.

Im certain a fee is involved...

 

[drumbum]

Collusion?

SOP in the 21st and a quarter century

 

[MtnHaul]

SOP in the 21st and a quarter century

SOP ever since the dawn of "Haves" and "Have Nots".

 

[Nutball]

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

That explains why costco gas smells weird. Not as bad as kroger gas, but it stinks in a different way.

 

[jakethesnake]

Yes, I have been inspecting engines for years.
Have even inspected auto engines run long term on 50:1 marine oil.

How’d they look? I’ve ran a tank or few through my 22 re. That engine was burning motor oil though so when the heads came off they had a lot of ash buildup. Assuming from the motor oil passing rings. Motor ran fine until timing chain broke.

 

[bwalker]

How’d they look? I’ve ran a tank or few through my 22 re. That engine was burning motor oil though so when the heads came off they had a lot of ash buildup. Assuming from the motor oil passing rings. Motor ran fine until timing chain broke.

To be honest I was expecting worse.

 

[bwalker]

That explains why costco gas smells weird. Not as bad as kroger gas, but it stinks in a different way.

I have never noticed a differance in smell between brands. Its all made from the same components and to the same specs thanks to the EPA.

 

[Nutball]

I have never noticed a differance in smell between brands. Its all made from the same components and to the same specs thanks to the EPA.

Makes me wonder what else you haven't noticed.

 

[drumbum]

Makes me wonder what else you haven't noticed.

He surely didn't notice my new hairdon't.

I went to the bathroom and cried.

 

[bwalker]

Makes me wonder what else you haven't noticed.

Makes me wonder if sniffing gasoline is normal in your area.
I was politely telling you that you are full of it BTW.

 

[bwalker]

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

So, refineries all produce various streams of different quality and octane levels. It has to be this way as you need a way to use every product we make. So what we do is we take high quality streams like Alkylate, Platformate, etc and blend them with lower quality streams like straight run, naptha and FCC gasoline. Again, every refinery does this. As far as premium vs regular gasoline goes. We just blend in a little more or a little less Alkykate to hit the desired octane number. Its a simple as that. Same quality, same stuff, just different proportions.
In relation to this topic ethanol mandates allowed refiners to blend in more crap and still hit 87 octane as ethanol is a high octane stream. The decrease in gasoline quality started with the oxygenated fuel mandates.
Out of curiosity I just looked at all the refineries. In the LA Basin and sure enough they are all configured very similarly. They are also all huge complexes.

 

[Outback]

I don't always huff gas, but when I do I like an affordable mid tier with an aromatic additive package.

 

[lilspenny]

Makes me wonder what else you haven't noticed.

Back in "the day" when we had leaded gasoline I had a friend who used to whiff gas until he got what he called "so high". I passed on that. Had another friend that passed me a cigar to toke like a joint. It was dark in his car so I asked him to turn on the interior light because I was starting to see wild colors. Turned out that the wrapper was still on the cigar! He said you get off better that way.

 

[Nutball]

Makes me wonder if sniffing gasoline is normal in your area.
I was politely telling you that you are full of it BTW.

Would you agree that blends vary by region? I smell the difference around here. Gas cans stinking up the garage.

 

[Chumango]

The blend is different in CA, and I think only CA refiners provide it. The different spec, captive market, and high taxes all contribute to the high pump cost. This is exacerbated by refineries in CA closing down recently.

I don't know if other states or regions have specific requirements, but summer and winter fuels are different.

 

[bwalker]

Would you agree that blends vary by region? I smell the difference around here. Gas cans stinking up the garage.

They do given RFG, but its just the same ingredients in different proportions. The proportions are not much different either.
You mentioned different brands in the same area smelling different...which probably are coming from the same source.
It all smells similar.
Why do you have a bunch of gasoline vapors in your garage?

 

[bwalker]

The blend is different in CA, and I think only CA refiners provide it. The different spec, captive market, and high taxes all contribute to the high pump cost. This is exacerbated by refineries in CA closing down recently.

I don't know if other states or regions have specific requirements, but summer and winter fuels are different.

I think you guys believe that gasoline is like baking a cake with a set recipe. Its not. Its just a set of parameters that must be met with a variety of ingrediants that change by the hour. We control these parameters with a couple clicks of the mouse.
There is nothing special in regards to California gasoline. My employer is actually exploring the idea of railing in gasoline to California because the prices are ridiculously high.
Summer and winter fuels are not vastly different either. Winter fuel just has slightly more light ends to aid in cold weather starts. There is not one ingredient in summer fuel that also not in winter fuel.

 

[MustangMike]

I do notice a difference in mileage with winter fuel, usually a decline of 2-3 MGP (or more). I often do the same trip with my F-150 from home to my cabin in the Catskills and back. Half the trip (on Rte 17) is very hilly and results in poorer mileage, especially when hauling the ATV and other stuff.

The 2.7 EcoBoost with the 10-speed does very well on flat ground, but when there are hills and a load, things change fast!

 

[MtnHaul]

The blend is different in CA, and I think only CA refiners provide it. The different spec, captive market, and high taxes all contribute to the high pump cost. This is exacerbated by refineries in CA closing down recently.

You left out the fact that companies will almost always charge as much as they can for almost any product. Travel around CA and you will find quite a variance in fuel prices even if you just look at the major brands like Shell or Chevron. "Whatever the market will bear" seems to be the universal mantra rather than a price based on actual costs. Cynical? Heck yeah! Even locally there are two Chevron stations about 10 miles apart and one is always about 25-30 cents more per gallon than the other.

 

[bwalker]

I do notice a difference in mileage with winter fuel, usually a decline of 2-3 MGP (or more). I often do the same trip with my F-150 from home to my cabin in the Catskills and back. Half the trip (on Rte 17) is very hilly and results in poorer mileage, especially when hauling the ATV and other stuff.

The 2.7 EcoBoost with the 10-speed does very well on flat ground, but when there are hills and a load, things change fast!

Your mileage will decrease in the winter, but ita not the fuel itself. Its the fact that during cold weather to maintain the correct fuel to air ratio the engine requires more fuel. That and the fact that the engine management system pours the fuel to the engine just after it starts to warm the catalytic converter.