Fun4TAZ

What do you guys think about the Top Tier Gas...? Think its really necessary? Most of the gas stations in my area not ones on the list...

My car calls for premium fuel.... which really is the premium? I have 91, 93, 95.....

05A632

Pretty sure the gas cap says 91.

cha777

http://www.toptiergas.com/

Mind you, top tier gas standards still allow the manufacturers to blend ethanol in your gas. Also, ask where the fuel is sourced from by the manager of the gas station. You'd be surprised to find out that the "Shell" station really gets gas from another company and that the no-name really gets their gas from Exxon.

That being said, I try to fill Top Tier when possible but as long as you use 91 or above, the ECU and fuel sensor should run your engine optimally.

Inclined

all the base gasoline in your area usually comes from the closest generic refinery , the only difference is the " bucket " of unique- to -each brand additives package added to the tanker headed for a Shell station vs one headed for a Chevron, etc.
Heck, I think the driver carries additives for all the accounts on his route and just dumps " x " amt of a brand A's additive directly into the holding tank and then at the next stop, dumps " x" amt of brand B's additive, with a simple chart telling him how much to add per number gallons he pumped in.

vigilan388

Can you provide any proof of this? Not that I don't believe you, but I'm really curious to see if it is actually done this way.

uberwgn

91 or better for those in the USA.

Top Tier stations are everywhere (in the USA).

78lion

I spent 2 years consulting to Amoco Operations Planning and saw first hand the co-mingling of product from the transport leaving refineries to the pump. Every step from bidding and putting product into a transport (tanker or pipeline) to taking product out of a storage facility to put into a delivery truck (where additives are added (what makes now BP gas - BP gas).

Key factor for this process is not identification of who refined the product, but what the product is. That is all that matters.

DDowS4

Gentlemen, I've spent over 30 years working in the industry including several years running distribution terminals and trucking operations. Yes, there are many arrangements out there where company A is purchasing or exchanging gasoline from company B. It would be cost prohibitive for every major brand to refine and distribute only thier own product to all markets.
What differentiates brands is the type and quantity of Deposit Control Additives (DCA's) added to the base gasoline. DCA's are injected at the loading rack and are very specific by company. Typically a full truck load is delivered to a single site - drivers are not hand dosing product. Where a split load occurs, the trucking company is making deliveries to two sites of the same brand. In the case of 'Top Tier' brands, the level of DCA is roughly double that of non-Top Tier brands.
To answer the basic question, yes it is significantly better than generic or big box brands, and the only thing I would ever put in my S5.

dmbcrew36

I get free gas from Sunoco. It isn't on that list but I guarantee there is absolutely zero difference in performance between the 93 Octane at Sunoco or the 93 at Mobil across the street. As far as 'deposits' or whatever - I don't care because I lease the vehicle.

DDowS4

You should care, deposits on your injectors will rob you of performance.