Premium Gas, In-car Satellite Tv

[uthorns1976]

On Friday, 7/15, ABC's 20/20 had a show about summer myths. One of the myths was that premium unleaded gas is better than regular unleaded gas. Their take: premium unleaded gas is a waste of money unless you drive a Corvette, Acura, Ferrari or other "high compression" vehicle. No mention of Lexus. Also, their take was that it doesn't matter where you buy your gas. No-name gas is the same as Exxon, Sunoco, etc. They even had two race car drivers--one was Joe Nemecek, I forget the other--that said that premium unleaded is a waste of money and no-name gas is the same as name-brand gas.

On Monday, 7/18, on the CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer, there's going to be a segment about in-car satellite TV. The tease is something like, "You've got DVD in your car?? This guy has satellite TV." I plan to check it out.

[SKperformance]

Everyone has their own ideas,

The easiest way to is to have measurment data being gathered while the car is being driven and not by human senses doing the data collection.

I have a civic and if i use shell premium it is like using sunoco basic ,i have to use premium if i want the car to perform

In car sat should be nothign new as they have it for boats with a fast acting mobile antenna

[steviej]

No-name gas is the same as Exxon, Sunoco, etc.  They even had two race car drivers--one was Joe Nemecek, I forget the other--that said that premium unleaded is a waste of money and no-name gas is the same as name-brand gas.

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This is true and not quite true.

It is true in that the base gasoline is the same. For a given geographic area, there are huge tank farms that contain the same base gasoline in mulitple grades. All the tanker trailer trucks pull up and fill up there. They then haul this gas off to a little filling station near you.

It is not true in that the different brands of gasoline (Mobil, Shell, Sunoco, etc) usually have a concentrate that the truck driver has to add to the tank when he fills up the trailer. This concentrate then mixes with the gas when the tanker is filled up and from the motion of the vehicle. The concentrate, however, is specific to each brand. Each company requires/provides their own "mix". That mix is proprietory information. Usually detergents and other stuff.

How do I know this: my dad does this for a living.

steviej

[monarch]

I know a guy who drives a gasoline tanker truck for Chevron. And I also know a petroleum chemist who works for Shell. Both agree with what steviej said.

Both also use premium gas in all their own personal cars because it eliminates all pinging - both audible and inaudible - and keeps fuel injectors and intake valves clean without ever needing to additives to the gas. These three benefits, in turn, maintain optimal engine power, fuel economy and lowest emissions which in turn benefits the life of the expensive emission system componets.

Bottom line is regular gas is usually OK for the owner who sells / trades their car

ever 2-3 years. Premiun gas is a worthwhile investment for the owner who wants to drive hundreds of thousands of miles without encountering fuel or emission system problems, hesitations or other drivability problems and owners who want the smoothest, most responsive engine performance.

[uthorns1976]

When I started this thread, I neglected to mention that I wasn't agreeing with what ABC said in their report. I was merely repeating what they said. Obviously, those who posted here know quite a bit about gasoline.

I assume that no-name (Costco, Wal-mart, Race-Trac, etc.) 91 octane does not have the "concentrate" that the name-brand gasolines have and therefore the no-name stuff is inferior????

Thanks.

[SKperformance]

I can't say what the no name sutff has unless you follow the tankers to know who they are being supplied with.

Their are only a few gas companies the smaller ones just buy from them.

[uthorns1976]

On Friday, 7/15, ABC's 20/20 had a show about summer myths.  One of the myths was that premium unleaded gas is better than regular unleaded gas.  Their take: premium unleaded gas is a waste of money unless you drive a Corvette, Acura, Ferrari or other "high compression" vehicle.  No mention of Lexus.  Also, their take was that it doesn't matter where you buy your gas.  No-name gas is the same as Exxon, Sunoco, etc.  They even had two race car drivers--one was Joe Nemecek, I forget the other--that said that premium unleaded is a waste of money and no-name gas is the same as name-brand gas.

On Monday, 7/18, on the CBS Evening News with Bob Schieffer, there's going to be a segment about in-car satellite TV.  The tease is something like, "You've got DVD in your car??  This guy has satellite TV."  I plan to check it out.

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The segment on the evening news about in-car satellite TV was a total waste. All they said was that the pancake antenna on the roof of the guy's Lincoln Navigator cost $3,000 and the service cost so many dollars a month. Other than that, nothing.

By the way, the owner of the Navigator admitted that he sometimes watches TV while driving. Very comforting to the rest of us.