Arco gas?

You must be a lawyer... ;-)

What, pray-tell, is the difference between the two to the consumer?

 

Exactly correct, Gene. From the original post, it would appear that he was
referring to
credit surcharges. A cash discount would come off the pump or advertised
price.

 

Maybe. But maybe only in the local blend you're using.

 

It is really easy to find out. Carefully check your gas mileage running
your favorite gas and then try the Arco and check.

I have an older carburetor 'non computerized' engine tuned for 91 or
higher octane. When I run ESSO premium I can get over 350 highway miles
to a tank or 23 mpg and have one normal 200 mile trip to test mileage on.

When I run regular, I drop to 275 'max' per tank and when I run any
alcohol mix, I am 'out' of gas before 225 miles. On both of these the
engine has a serious bog and rattle over 65 mph no matter what gear I am
in, it just can't push the wind...

I was stuck once and tried 'Olco' premium gas and was pleasantly
surprised to have all the power and all the gas mileage of ESSO.

If I run Petro Canada or Shell gas of any octane, I get the 225- 250
mile per tank and loss of power. Petro Canada 'fuel' is so bad my
engine won't even idle stable on it. These folks boast fancy additives
and who know how much alcohol...

Your Honda isn't likely to have near the extremes my old Jeep engine
has, but it still could show a difference, if not, then your engine will
not likely mind the brand.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's - Gone to the rust pile...
Canadian Off Road Trips Photos: Non members can still view!
Jan/06 http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2115147590
(More Off Road album links at bottom of the view page)

 

A Honda engine is no different than any other. As for ARCO, they pulled
out of my area so long ago that I didn't even realize they were still in
business.

 

Shell 93 doesn't have any more DETERGENTS than any other grade. Its just
a higher octane. And as far as detergent effectiveness, Shell is (at
best) second or third in rank. Chevron is definitely better.

 

Shell 93 doesn't have any more DETERGENTS than any other grade. Its just
a higher octane.[/QUOTE]

No, Shell's 93 does in fact have more detergents than their other grades.

 

It is really easy to find out. Carefully check your gas mileage running
your favorite gas and then try the Arco and check.[/QUOTE]

It isn't about the miles per gallon; it's all about the cents per mile.

You have to normalize using that method, because of fluctuations in gas
prices among brands. One brand may be more expensive to buy, but it may
or may not be more expensive to run.

 

Steve wrote:
:: wrote:
::
::: I noticed that Arco is the cheapest priced gas around.
::: Is there anything wrong with it or it bad for Honda engines?
:::
::
:: A Honda engine is no different than any other. As for ARCO, they
:: pulled out of my area so long ago that I didn't even realize they
:: were still in business.

Why buy Arco and give Hugo Chavez more profit?

 

No, Shell's 93 does in fact have more detergents than their other grades.
[/QUOTE]

Not according to Shell. "Same great cleaning in ALL gasoline grades!"

But Chevron is far better anyway- I make sure to run a tank of Chevron
through after every few tanks of Shell.

 

Maybe because you're confusing Citgo with Arco?

 

No, premium means higher octane, meaning more of the components that slow
down the burn and avoid pinging. Some engines run better on higher octane,
and some get higher mileage. Some don't. I was trying to figure out if mine
did.

 

Only because I can't think of a mechanism that would explain the car feeling
slightly better when running on premium, but getting slightly poorer gas
mileage. So I figured that the driving conditions varied enough that even
ten tankfuls of each wasn't enough to average out the differences, and I was
still seeing measurement noise. That was my original point. The car does
have a knock sensor, by the way.

 

I don't by Arco, by the way, because they're owned by BP, and BP has those
really offensive TV ads where they attempt to show how environmentally hip
they are. They do "person-in-the-street" interviews in which they let
inarticulate ignorant illiterate bimbos and schmucks tell them they ought to
be trying to find alternative energy sources instead of oil, and they put
them on TV as though they agree with them. Just be what you are: a goddamn
OIL company.

 

Only because I can't think of a mechanism that would explain the car feeling
slightly better when running on premium, but getting slightly poorer gas
mileage.[/QUOTE]

It's your mind, fool.

Here's an idea: have someone else fill up the car, but don't tell you
what's in it.

You have fooled yourself into believing that "premium gas" equals
"better" and so you THINK the car "feels slightly better".

You, sir, are a fuel marketer's dream customer.

 

You, sir, are a monumental asshole. I'd much prefer it if regular felt
better, because I do indeed run the car on regular.

 

Not according to Shell. "Same great cleaning in ALL gasoline grades!"[/QUOTE]

Can you quote me somewhere that says that?

How about this:

http://tinyurl.com/yo2roc

Quote:

"Shell regular and mid-grade gasolines contain more than twice the
amount of detergents required by the EPA. This level of protection helps
prevent the future build-up of carbon deposits on your vehicle's intake
valves or fuel injectors. However, if you use discount gasolines, you
may already have intake valve or fuel injector deposits, which may need
to be cleaned up. That is where Shell V-Power(R) comes in...."

"On today's tough, demanding roads, performance is what counts. At
Shell, we believe all great performances begin with a clean engine.
Shell V-Power(R) premium gasoline can clean up deposits on intake valves
and fuel injectors left behind by low detergent gasolines. That's
because it contains more than five times the amount of cleaning agents
required by government standards...."



So Shell's Top Tier fuels contain "more than twice the amount of
detergents" required by law while their V-Power--which, unfortunately,
comes only in 90-93 octane depending on where you live--contains "more
than five times the amount of cleaning agents" required by law.

So the fact is, you can't provide a link or ANYTHING from Shell that
says, "same great cleaning in all gasoline grades".

 

I can top that!

A few months ago when fuel prices were very high I was filling up and
an acquaintence pulls into the station. We exchanged comments about
the prices and he says that it's especially bad because he had to fill
with premium this time. I asked why and he said that he had a smog test
scheduled in a few days and the premium would help ensure passing the
test! I just turned back to my task without saying a word.

 

knock sensors are generaly there to retard ignition in the event that a
premium tuned car is filled with regular. protection the other way
around is not required, so what you're experiencing is probably ignition
that's /too/ retarded relative to the gasoline combustion rates, hence
smoother [lower yield] power strokes. and lower gas mileage.

 

rubbish. honda, [and to some extent toyota] were the ones to figure out
how to run low octane gas at relatively high compression thereby
getting better performance /and/ improved emissions. it took
fundamental design differences to achieve that - something detroit never
managed to figure out until honda [and later toyota] showed them how.