Hess gas and Honda Use?

Hello,

I know this is going to sound like a dumb question, but does anyone
recommend or not recommend the use of Hess brand gasoline in Hondas, such as
a new Honda Accord? The Hess gas is 10-15 cents less per gallon than shell
in my area.

Thanks,

Al

 

It's not about the price to fill the tank.

It's about the cost per mile.

Run with Hess for a few months, and calculate your cost per mile.

Then run with Shell for a few months. Start with several tanks of their
93 octane (V-Power) to clean out all the crap and crud that resulted
from your using Hess, then go back to 87 octane and start measuring your
cost per mile for Shell gas.

It is possible to spend less to fill up the tank but more to drive each
mile. And it's very likely that's what will happen.

And, of course, there's the costs down the road. There's a reason Shell
is one of Honda's recommended gasoline vendors
(http://www.toptiergas.com).

Yeah, the Hess gas costs less for the same reason the McD's hamburger
costs less than the steak at Ruth's Chris.

 

I have been using QuikTrip. It is listed as 'Top Tier' and they have a lot
of stations.

Would you consider QuikTrip equal to Shell??

It's not about the price to fill the tank.

It's about the cost per mile.

Run with Hess for a few months, and calculate your cost per mile.

Then run with Shell for a few months. Start with several tanks of their
93 octane (V-Power) to clean out all the crap and crud that resulted
from your using Hess, then go back to 87 octane and start measuring your
cost per mile for Shell gas.

It is possible to spend less to fill up the tank but more to drive each
mile. And it's very likely that's what will happen.

And, of course, there's the costs down the road. There's a reason Shell
is one of Honda's recommended gasoline vendors
(http://www.toptiergas.com).

Yeah, the Hess gas costs less for the same reason the McD's hamburger
costs less than the steak at Ruth's Chris.

 

Okay thanks for the information. In my area there is Shell, Sunoco, Getty,
Citgo and Exxon/Mobil. We don't have Quiktrip or Philips, Chevron or
anything else like that. A friend of mine said to stay away from Hess/Merit,
so I thought I'd ask here.

Al

 

Not without knowing more about it.

But then, if it has a good additive package to keep the engine clean
(that's what Top Tier is really all about) and the fuel cost per mile is
no more than Shell, I'd have no beef with it.

 

I've been using Hess gas for 10+ years and have not noticed any
difference from that, then any other major vendor Sunoco, Shell or
Exxon.

 

I've been using Hess gas for 10+ years and have not noticed any
difference from that, then any other major vendor Sunoco, Shell or
Exxon.[/QUOTE]

You wouldn't, unless you actually compared it to Shell.

If you do, you'll see the difference. You'll see that the cheap gas (15
cents/gal less?) isn't keeping your engine clean and costs more per mile
to run, regardless.

 

that depends on calorie content. and the only way the layperson can get
any handle on that is to keep accurate records of consumption over the
same route in long term testing - just like you say.

 

that depends on calorie content. and the only way the layperson can get
any handle on that is to keep accurate records of consumption over the
same route in long term testing - just like you say.[/QUOTE]

yep. Although, given that it's regularly 15 cents/gallon cheaper than
other gas, I don't think I'd waste my time spending a few months
tracking the Hess gas cost/mile.

There's a reason it's cheaper. The fuel company in question has made a
marketing decision to appeal to those too dumb to understand anything
beyond "look, it costs 15 cents/gallon less to buy!".

 

yep. Although, given that it's regularly 15 cents/gallon cheaper than
other gas, I don't think I'd waste my time spending a few months
tracking the Hess gas cost/mile.

There's a reason it's cheaper. The fuel company in question has made a
marketing decision to appeal to those too dumb to understand anything
beyond "look, it costs 15 cents/gallon less to buy!".
[/QUOTE]

as you know, i'm very interested in this fuel calorie content thing, and
as a consumer paying for this stuff, i'd love to know what the heck i'm
supposed to be getting for my money.

i've noticed that when i put a bottle of injector cleaner in the car,
its performance improves. not massively, but noticeably. and it's easy
enough to tell because there's a hill near my home which has the perfect
grade to be a great gauge. at 60mph, crap gas, the car needs lots of
pedal and the old cable-controlled automatic transmission kick-down
operates. good gas, injector cleaner, it'll pull up there at the same
speed in top gear, never bats an eyelid. clearly the higher energy
content is giving it more "oomph".

if you look at injector cleaner contents, and as pointed out by tegger
recently, it's mostly kerosene. kero is denser and has a slightly
higher calorie content than regular gas. so the fact that the car runs
better with a little extra kero [and thus, energy density] in the tank
makes sense.

again, i'd really love to know what goes into my tank and what the
calorie content is. in fact, selling gas by the gallon /without/ this
information is like selling whiskey without disclosing the alcohol
content - a license [and incentive] to rip off the consumer. leaving
calorie content as the exclusive territory of the oilcos is absolutely
leaving the fox in charge of the hen house.

 

yep. Although, given that it's regularly 15 cents/gallon cheaper than
other gas, I don't think I'd waste my time spending a few months
tracking the Hess gas cost/mile.

There's a reason it's cheaper. The fuel company in question has made a
marketing decision to appeal to those too dumb to understand anything
beyond "look, it costs 15 cents/gallon less to buy!".
[/QUOTE]


An interesting note on Hess...

I attended the national Studebaker meet in South Bend, Indiana in 2002
when average fuel prices were around $1.20 per gallon. At the time, a
gas war in South Bend had prices closer to $1 per gallon and at the end
of the meet I decided to fill up before going on the RI.

Well, the gas war had ended and prices were in the mid $1.20 range
except for Hess which was around $1.10. As I drove by, the line at Hess
was too long so I just paid the higher price a little further down the road.

When I returned to Texas, I read of the woes of many meet attendees who
had serious fuel problems with the Hess gas.

Sometimes cheepah ain't bettah...

JT

 

You wouldn't, unless you actually compared it to Shell.

If you do, you'll see the difference. You'll see that the cheap gas (15
cents/gal less?) isn't keeping your engine clean and costs more per mile
to run, regardless.[/QUOTE]


Well unfortunately the closest Shell that I have is about 20 miles
away so that rules out being convenient for me to get it. I have tried
it and noticed no difference in the way the car reacts. I have also
tried Exxon, Lukoil and Sunoco, still no difference. It almost
impossible to compare fuel cost per mile to say one is better than the
other. There are too many variables to be able to get any accurate
count on this.

 

Well unfortunately the closest Shell that I have is about 20 miles
away so that rules out being convenient for me to get it. I have tried
it and noticed no difference in the way the car reacts. I have also
tried Exxon, Lukoil and Sunoco, still no difference.[/QUOTE]

You won't tell on one tank of gas. You won't be able to tell anything.
Not on one tank.

No it's not. Why do you say that?

If you do it over several months, most if not all of the variables come
out in the wash. If several people drive the car, if you drive it under
several conditions, so what? Over several months you'll do the same
thing for both gasoline tests.

Best to run the grocery store gas first and get that out of the way,
then run Shell or another top tier gas for 6 months.

I think you'd be amazed.

 

You won't tell on one tank of gas. You won't be able to tell anything.
Not on one tank.

No it's not. Why do you say that?[/QUOTE]

Well for one you won't travel the same road, at the same speed, at the
same rpms for two consecutive tanks. That also doesn't factor even how
many lights you stop and for how long.

 

Well for one you won't travel the same road, at the same speed, at the
same rpms for two consecutive tanks. That also doesn't factor even how
many lights you stop and for how long.[/QUOTE]

Did you read what I then said? It all comes out in the wash if you do
it over several months.

 

Did you read what I then said? It all comes out in the wash if you do
it over several months.[/QUOTE]

There is nothing on that website to prove your claim.

 

There is nothing on that website to prove your claim.[/QUOTE]

I didn't say there was. When did I say that? Can you quote me?

I personally did the testing, on my own, older car. Shell gas costs
less to run, per mile, than grocery store gas.

Further, you plainly know nothing about testing something like this.
Over one tank, your observations are valid. Over several months, you
drive the car the same way on average.

 

I have an unmodified 2004 Accord EX-L sedan 5-spd 4-cyl, purchased new
four years ago, now with 51K. Car is used primarily in suburban area
(75%) of northeastern U.S. with about 25% highway use. Rarely driven
in snow, but used as a daily driver.

I used CarCare software to keep meticulous track of MPG at every fill-
up (only full fill-ups) by brand of gas.

Here's the average track record for my Accord (four-years worth of
data):

Amoco / BP : 246 gallons total / 6792 miles traveled / 33 fill-
ups / average of $2.46 per gallon / 27.63 avg MPG
Exxon : 716 gallons total / 17,661 miles traveled / 91
fill-ups / average of $2.38 per gallon / 24.66 avg MPG
Hess : 26 gallons total / 649 miles traveled / 4
fill-ups / average of $2.82 per gallon / 25.09 avg MPG
Shell : 65 gallons total / 1729 miles traveled / 7
fill-ups / average of $2.08 per gallon / 26.47 avg MPG
Sunoco : 520 gallons total / 15,626 miles traveled / 73
fill-ups / average of $2.65 per gallon / 30.07 avg MPG

I believe I used the Shell brand early in the car's life, as the
average gas prices were quite low in the U.S.

I don't think I should rely on my Hess data, because it's
statistically not significant here.

 

there are a lot of QuikTrip (QT) stations in Dallas area. It is rated as
Tier 1.

But I wonder if it is as good as Shell, Exxon, or other 'majors'.

Also a lot of RaceTrac stations here but I didn't see RaceTrac listed as
Tier 1.

It's not about the price to fill the tank.

It's about the cost per mile.

Run with Hess for a few months, and calculate your cost per mile.

Then run with Shell for a few months. Start with several tanks of their
93 octane (V-Power) to clean out all the crap and crud that resulted
from your using Hess, then go back to 87 octane and start measuring your
cost per mile for Shell gas.

It is possible to spend less to fill up the tank but more to drive each
mile. And it's very likely that's what will happen.

And, of course, there's the costs down the road. There's a reason Shell
is one of Honda's recommended gasoline vendors
(http://www.toptiergas.com).

Yeah, the Hess gas costs less for the same reason the McD's hamburger
costs less than the steak at Ruth's Chris.