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Where the Heck is the premium going?

mogley98mogley98 Member Posts: 18,291 ✭✭✭✭
edited June 2008 in General Discussion
I have a 1996 Chevy pick up that I always burned premium in since new, a few times I tried running lower octane but everytime the truck pings, I even tried adding octane boost to no avail, however since I can no longer afford premium and the truck is getting old I decided to start running mid or low grade guess what no difference? Hmmm I wonder if the premium they can't sell is getting mixed in with the other gas?
Why don't we go to school and work on the weekends and take the week off!
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Comments

  • agman1999agman1999 Member Posts: 981 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    89, or 91 octane premium?
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  • kristovkristov Member Posts: 6,633
    edited November -1
    Actually sales of higher grade fuels are up. When you are looking at $4.50 for regular or middle grade at $4.60 (typical prices here) this a only about a 2% cost difference. You might as well fill up with the higher grade fuel since the 10 cents a gallon you'll save with regular when multiplied by a 15 gallon purhcase is a whopping $1.50, or not even enough to buy an extra half a gallon of gasoline.
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  • mogley98mogley98 Member Posts: 18,291 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Now lets see with a tag line like yours it is hard to believe you posted that with no credability Here are several sites easily found by using a thing called a search engine like Google
    http://www.autoblog.com/2008/06/19/sales-of-premium-fuel-fall-sharply/

    http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ieTHDq9E01yDNpjvmzHE-oFfcRdgD91D0N580
    http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/article633947.ece
    quote:Originally posted by kristov
    Actually sales of higher grade fuels are up. When you are looking at $4.50 for regular or middle grade at $4.60 (typical prices here) this a only about a 2% cost difference. You might as well fill up with the higher grade fuel since the 10 cents a gallon you'll save with regular when multiplied by a 15 gallon purhcase is a whopping $1.50, or not even enough to buy an extra half a gallon of gasoline.
    Why don't we go to school and work on the weekends and take the week off!
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  • jimdeerejimdeere Member, Moderator Posts: 26,286 ******
    edited November -1
    My bike burns min. 91 octane. Had to stop 3 places the other day on I-77 to find a station that sells premium.
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  • kristovkristov Member Posts: 6,633
    edited November -1
    I read it in one of the papers here in SoCal a couple of weeks ago. Sorry but I can't document it but I think that the numbers speak for themselves so far a how much extra fuel you'd get by buying regular vs. the next higher grade. A buck fifty savings on 15 gallons won't get you very far at $4.50 per gallon. $1.50 will buy you 1/3 of a gallon of gasoline. If your vehicle gets 21 miles to the gallon you got an extra 7 miles out of that 15 gallon purcahse. Motor on down the road!
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  • 1911a1-fan1911a1-fan Member Posts: 51,193 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    if you do the math by time you add a good octane booster your paying the same amount if you filled up on premium


    i've always got 1-2mpg better gas mileage on premium
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  • moonshinemoonshine Member Posts: 8,471
    edited November -1
    quote:

    I have a 1996 Chevy pick up that I always burned premium in since new, a few times I tried running lower octane but everytime the truck pings, I even tried adding octane boost to no avail, however since I can no longer afford premium and the truck is getting old I decided to start running mid or low grade guess what no difference? Hmmm I wonder if the premium they can't sell is getting mixed in with the other gas?


    I had a 96 chev. and run 87 oct. in it all the time no problem!!
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  • kristovkristov Member Posts: 6,633
    edited November -1
    It is important to keep a few things in mind when you use a commercial octane booster added directly to your fuel tank. The important one is that it has been manufactured to work with every manufacturers gasoline rather than one specific product. Because of this the actual anti knock index increase (so called iso-octane rating) varies widely between fuels; it works great in some and has little impact on others. When you purchase premium fuel from a specific manufacturer the additives used are designed to work perfectly with that manufacturers gasoline base stocks. I cannot document this in a link but I did spend five years as a petroleum engineer at a Union Oil refinery.
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  • givettegivette Member Posts: 10,886 ✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by kristov
    It is important to keep a few things in mind when you use a commercial octane booster added directly to your fuel tank. The important one is that it has been manufactured to work with every manufacturers gasoline rather than one specific product. Because of this the actual anti knock index increase (so called iso-octane rating) varies widely between fuels; it works great in some and has little impact on others. When you purchase premium fuel from a specific manufacturer the additives used are designed to work perfectly with that manufacturers gasoline base stocks. I cannot document this in a link but I did spend five years as a petroleum engineer at a Union Oil refinery.


    Good to know. Can you tell us what octane boosters in your experience work best with________________brand gasoline? Joe
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  • KSUmarksmanKSUmarksman Member Posts: 10,705 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Kristov,
    is there any noticeable advantage to using premium if your car was designed for regular? I always assumed that the difference in power is negligible.
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  • mogley98mogley98 Member Posts: 18,291 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    In most countries (including all of Europe and Australia) the "headline" octane that would be shown on the pump is the RON, but in the United States, Canada and some other countries the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, sometimes called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI), Road Octane Number (RdON), Pump Octane Number (PON), or (R+M)/2. Because of the 8 to 10 point difference noted above, this means that the octane in the United States will be about 4 to 5 points lower than the same fuel elsewhere: 87 octane fuel, the "regular" gasoline in the US and Canada, would be 91-92 in Europe. However most European pumps deliver 95 (RON) as "regular", equivalent to 90-91 US (R+M)/2, and even deliver 98 (RON) or 100 (RON).

    The octane rating may also be a "trade name", with the actual figure being higher than the nominal rating.[citation needed]

    It is possible for a fuel to have a RON greater than 100, because iso-octane is not the most knock-resistant substance available. Racing fuels, straight ethanol, AvGas and liquified petroleum gas (LPG) typically have octane ratings of 110 or significantly higher - ethanol's RON is 129 (MON 102, AKI 116) reference[1]. Typical "octane booster" additives include tetra-ethyl lead, MTBE and toluene. Tetra-ethyl lead is easily decomposed to its component radicals, which react with the radicals from the fuel and oxygen that would start the combustion, thereby delaying ignition. This is why leaded gasoline has a higher octane rating than unleaded.
    Why don't we go to school and work on the weekends and take the week off!
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  • SCorversSCorvers Member Posts: 2,063 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Unles you have a "High Performance" Chevy truck, it was designed to run on 87 octane. Higher octane fuels will do NOTHING to add to the performance of your truck. If it is pinging on 87, you most likely have carbon build up in the cylinder head causing "hot spots". Try running a can of top end cleaner through it. SeaFoam makes a good product.
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  • IAMAHUSKERIAMAHUSKER Member Posts: 2,479 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    He is right Seafoam is the BEST cleaner readily available. That stuff works wonders. Been using it for years.
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