Top Tier gasoline?
 

Since recently buying a 2014 Scion xD with about 165k-miles for $5000 from Lakes Auto Sales and Detailing in Tilton, close to Home Depot, I have become something of a car guy or a car nut. This 4-cyl 5-speed Scion xD has a 125-hp engine similar to a Corolla engine and I must have got very LUCKY with this car because it's a real winner car with NO oil consuming engine like the Scion xB with a Camry engine. Sometimes, you just get l-u-c-k-y! .... :eek:

Anyway, Citgo vs Irving gasoline?

To my surprise Irving is not Top Tier rated, while Citgo is Top Tier rated which means that Citgo has better detergent and additives than Irving, or something.

And, I always thought that gas was gas, and only thing that matters is the price.

Another surprise is that Penguin Gas is Top Tier while Haffner is not which seems surprising to me but maybe my information is wrong on this? ...... :eek2:

Top Tier
 

I do know that Haffner’s is not a top tier gas. Easiest way to tell is to simply look for the top tier logo on the pump or go to this website…

https://www.toptiergas.com/fuel-stations/

Dan

I suspect that gas from any BUSY station is fine but if you wish split hairs...

Irving may have the closest refinery.

Is it a difference of days, weeks or months?

Unknown.

Just buy gas from a busy station!

PFE is the ingredient in fuel cleaners that does it best.

TechRon concentrate plus w/ PFE is most recommended fuel cleaner, about $8

Gum Out all-in-one, and Gum Out regain hi-mileage w/ PFE, about $4-each

Both Gum Outs are lower price than TechRon but still good to use, maybe not as effective with less PFE

All the low price el cheapo fuel cleaners are nowhere near as good as the above with PFE. The cheapies have different ingredients with less cleaning ability.

I don't know how much of a difference Top Tier gas is, but in my town it's only five cents more per gallon than the lowest priced station, so I go with it.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

Top Tier gas
 

I'm sure folks heard about engine nightmares of today's highly efficient engines. I will be talking about the TSFI engines from the Volkswagen Auto Group, which I am familiar with. TSFI means Turbo Stratified Fuel Injection. I'm not going into the details here, so ChatGPT is your friend.

2.0 liter TSFI engines are easily capable of producing 300+ HP and 25+ mpg. Compare to my 340 Rallye Challenger that produce 240HP and 13mpg, this is a huge efficiency step! Both requires premium gas, and both have knock sensors that retard timing should you use regular fuel.

TSFI engines tends to run 'dirty' i.e. significant carbon buildup in the combustion chamber. Top Tier gasoline uses detergent to help combat this. Plus, Euro spec synthetic oil helps keep the piston rings from carbon buildup. Engines that don't get top tier gas and Euro spec oils have problems of oil consumption and eventually ring failure.

So, it depends on how efficient you engine is. Most engines on the market may run great on cheap gas and oils. I also heard these engines start having problems as they hit the 100K mark. A good share is due to carbon buildup or slug in the oil. Most folks trade their vehicles in before or when this happens.

Cheap gas is great if you are planning on getting rid of your new car before the 100K mark. I keep my autos until rust takes over. So I'm not taking chances of an engine failure.

Riding this I am reminded that there are additives that can be added to fuel, the number of refineries in the world are limited. In the reading I have done on this subject, it comes down to additives, to help with a variety of issues. Carbon Buildup, gum build up, etc. etc...

With all that said, most additives you can by in the auto parts store... so the question becomes do you want to pay for additives up front in the price of gas, or do you want to pay for additives that you add.......

The only thing in fuel I would worry about is Octane level, and Ethanol percentage.... some vehicles require higher octane......Interestingly as you move around the country you will also note the Octane levels can very... For instance this summer in my travels in Colorado you could get Octane level 95...
going through east Texas I stopped at a place that only had E15, and minimum octane level of 97......

With all that said, looking at the list of "top tier" gas stations and seeing who is and isn't one it.... makes me think it is a contrived list based on opinion....