I only use Chevron, Mobil, or Shell premium, in a high performance machine the gas is very important.

 

I live in S.Cali so I tried to find something in the Bay area for him, but I am not that familiar with the area.

Dave

 

I use Sunoco 93 as my preferred fuel. Will use Shell or Exxon as well. Never use anything less than 93 in my cars.

 

what's wrong with gas from Costco?

 

The lines!

 

The octane in Florida is 93 and that's what i am using in all of my cars (including my EVT700 Turbo) . I have never tried 91 outside of rental cars in California . I also have never tried race gas although I am told that it could add even more power to my Turbo .

I try to stick to Chevron or Shell but will use Mobil or BP if need be.
What's most important to me is NOT the brand . I understand that the "top tier" ratings exist but I also am skeptical of labels --especially if they fuel profit.
On the other hand I refuse to place generic gas in any of my cars.

I feel that beside the basic brands or octane it is also important to have fuel station pump cleanliness . For instance awhile back a beautiful Citgo station was opened with new pumps dug into fresh pipes . evenb though I did not use it for my Porsches I did place it in my BMW's and Hondas . I feel that a clean pump line with mediocre brand gas is still better than an old dirty line with top quality fuel.

 

Oh sorry. It's in the Bay Area, on the peninsula, just north of Menlo Park, between 280 and 101.

 

Gas brand is Gas brand. There is no difference between Shell, Mobil, Exxon, Costco etc. as they all purchase from the same 5 refineries (used to be 6 but one is down for repair) in the US depending on availability. Some local to your area gas stations purchase gas that use 10% ethanol to increase octane (ie Costco, Shell, etc) while others purchase gas that is further refined to increase the percentage of octane molecules in the final product. The Octane carbon string is more stable thus allowing for an increased compression in the engine. As you all might know, increasing compression is one of many ways to increase power from the engine. All engines have a max compression setting that is not adjusted electronically. When you use gas that is less than optimal octane, Porsches and many many other modern cars can marginally adjust the firing of the spark plugs so there is no premature detonation - also called knock. Using higher Octane than that recommended by the manufacturer does nothing to increase horsepower/performance because compression is fixed. Add a turbo, change the compression by reworking the engine or add a super charger are the known ways to increase compression.

I bet if you were to do a blind test and have someone put in 87 octane and 100+ octane is seperate tank fulls, you would not be able to tell the difference in performance - the only thing you'd notice in the 87 octane is that you might get knocking which is NOT good. So maybe just stick with any name brand gas that is 93 octane. And if that is not available some of the time, use 91 - it does not really matter.

Also, contrary to gas company marketing, all gas burns with the same degree of "clean." All additives are the same as required by Federal law. In essence, there is no special secret ingredient from one manufacturer to another.

BTW, not meant as a challenge to you all, just information. My good friend from B-school worked as a petroleum engineer at Exxon for years and laughed when I pulled up to a 100 octane pump and told me that story.

 

The wait? Or the pumps?

I've only had problems with their fuel when my M5 would throw an emission code from time to time.

 

While your understanding of this matter is better than mine, I was of a similar impression. I was told that gasoline is purchased on the spot market, and delivered to th stations. There is now ay to tell exactly what refinery it came from.

 

I meant the wait. Not sure how it is in Texas, but here it's painfully long. We have a lot of culturally diverse people here in California that move really slow when pumping gas. And, it seems the pumps at Costco are slow when everyone's using it at the same time. Not to mention they use so much gas that there is usually a tanker truck there 24x7 blocking 2 pumps.

It's true that most gas comes from the same refineries. As Larry stated, it's probably best to seek out gas stations that are newer rather than by brand.

As for the racing gas, I highly recommend avoiding running higher than 93 octane. A small amount of run time can do serious damage to engine internals especially when you get over 100 octane.