Top Tier Gasoline Brands

[amitvarghese]

http://www.toptiergas.com/media/TOP_...2016-08-22.pdf

TOP TIER™ Licensed Retail Brands
76
Aloha Petroleum
Amoco
ARCO
Beacon
BP
Break Time
Cenex
Chevron
CITGO
Conoco
Co-op
Costco
CountryMark
CountryMark Plus
Diamond Shamrock
Entec
Esso Express
Exxon Holiday
Kwik Star Stores
Kwik Trip
Mahalo
MFA
Mobil
Ohana Fuels
Petro-Canada
Phillips 66
PUMA
QT
Quik Trip
Road Ranger
Shamrock
Shell Shell (Puerto Rico)
Shell V-Power
Shell V-Power NiTRO+
Sinclair
Standard
SuperAmerica
SuperFuels
Tempo
Texaco
Tri-Par
Valero

[Airstreamer67]

I usually buy Shell, which is a Top Tier brand and seems to do really well in my Mazda3.

[14Corolla]

Even though where I get E0 fuel is listed top tier. (more than one) When it comes to E0. They don't bother to advertise or make any kind of big deal out of it. When one wants E0. It's; "gimme the hard stuff...I don't care".

Right now, I'm rationalizing, this 'top tier' is mostly advertising. After all, who isn't on that list?

[gregsfc]

A huge percentage of fuel sold across America is not top-tier. Top tier is important. It has to do with the amount of detergent; not a specific brand or quality.

Speed Way, Murphy Oil, Marathon, Pilot just to name a few that sell a whole lot of gas across the country and they have decided that we don't need what auto/engine manufactures say their engines need. According to truckers, Speed Way is Marathon detergent formula but at the minimum detergent level allowed by the gov't., so when the driver pulls up to the additive machine and they're driving a Speed Way truck, they get less detergent than the Marathon trucks, and Marathon is not on the list. This is the difference between gasolines; not the gasoline itself, but the detergent formula and the amount of it put in the tanker truck.

Top tier did not come from a marketing gimmick of a fuel company, and in fact it is not highly marketed even by those who sell it, because most consumers have never heard of it. Top tier came from a recommendation by many auto/engine makers who believe that their engine designs need a higher detergent level than the federal mandated level. If a fuel company does not add enough detergent to be top tier, then they are putting in only the federal minimum, which is obviously inadequate if the manufacturers say it is, because they have no motive to lie; at least in this case.

The specific brands of detergent formulas are advertised and promoted, but in my mind, that doesn't even count or matter, if it's not top tier level, because it can be the best detergent formula ever made, but if it's not high enough to keep fuel systems clean as specified by the engine manufacturers themselves, then it is inadequate. Generic gas brands do not make additives. They buy it from the big guys, and so when those generic gas trucks get their gas, which is the same gas for everyone, they go to one of the big fuel company lines where the additives are (maybe sometimes by contract; maybe sometimes not) and that additive formula is squirted into their truck; it may be Exxon; it may be Shell, who knows, but it's going to be the federal minimum level of additive, and therefore, not top tier. So in my mind, the only thing that matters about gasoline is that it's fresh gas that's not been at a retailer for a year, it's the right octane for my vehicle (not higher; not lower), and that it is top-tier.

On the other hand, some fuel companies put in a much-more-than-adequate level of detergent in the premium octane only trying to get folks to buy premium that don't need premium in their cars, because, as most auto-smart people know, there is nothing premium about premium. I do not fall for that trick either. The engine manufacturers call for a specific level of detergent that is higher than the federal minimum, but there is no evidence that an even higher level of detergent does any good, and in my mind, too much detergent could burn up valves or cause other problems over time, so I stay away from those Nitro's additive packages, etc.

[benlovesgoddess]

Interesting, i wonder if it is the same over here. I switch between 97 and 99 octane, every 4,000 miles or so i stick some Redex in. I am sure the Toyota saleswoman tucked me up good with the "special" fuel additive at service time...!

[gregsfc]

Originally Posted by benlovesgoddess

Interesting, i wonder if it is the same over here. I switch between 97 and 99 octane, every 4,000 miles or so i stick some Redex in. I am sure the Toyota saleswoman tucked me up good with the "special" fuel additive at service time...!

In general, fuel-quality in North America sucks as compared to the rest of the industrialized world, as the oil company lobbyists over here have convinced our congress that high fuel quality is not something we need. As an example, in the late 90s the USEPA wanted to enact a fuel-neutral policy, meaning that diesel-powered vehicles would have to meet the exact same emissions standards as gas cars; meaning that particulates of matter and nitrogen oxides coming from future diesel tail pipes were going to have to be cut by around 95% or so from the then, current levels. The engine manufacturers, led by Cummins insisted that in order for the technology to make this happen to reach such low levels of PM and NOx, sulfur levels of refined diesel fuel would have to go from 500 ppm to 15 ppm. Even with the entire auto industry insisting that the fuel industry clean up the fuel, and even though diesel was already being refined with low sulfur levels for much of the world; a lot from these same fuel manufacturers, there was still a long, protracted fight just to get diesel fuel up to a standard that had long been met in Europe.

So most likely you're good with the cheapest stuff, but I can't be sure.

As for consumer-purchased additives, I once contacted STP and asked them if adding any of their branded additives would bring my fuel up to top-tier level if I was using non-top-tier fuel. Their answer was that it would help, but would not bring the detergent level up to top tier. That answer told me that most of that stuff is junk, because it wouldn't take much detergent additive, added by the consumer, to bring gasoline up to top tier.

[trollbait]

Kleen strip paint thinner seems as effective as Gumout in my cars.

[Fuelish1]

I had been filling up at the local franchise car wash brand for a couple of years to save 7 cents per gallon. I have recently ran 3-4 consecutive tanks of Valero with good results. The car seems to run smoother and has better pick up.
I do not think that the discount brand I was using has as strict quality control, allowing a higher percentage of ethanol causing a decrease in performance.

[trollbait]

More likely the cheap gas had minimum required additives, that resulted in some deposits, and the Valero cleaned them out.

[tommypress]

It's a nice list. Good to see that all of the premium brands are involved.