AAA says not all gasoline is the same
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A customer puts gas in their vehicle in Miami. A new survey from AAA finds that saving a few pennies on non-brand gasoline can eventually hurt your car’s fuel economy.
Many motorists are clogging their car’s engine by not using gasoline with enough added detergents.
That’s the conclusion of a study released Thursday by the AAA auto club.
Federal rules in place since 1996 require all gasoline to have some engine-cleaning additives, but many major brands have extra detergents. AAA said tests it commissioned from an independent lab found that lesser gasolines left 19 times more deposits on engine intake valves than so-called top-tier fuels after the equivalent of 4,000 miles of driving.
AAA said carbon deposits reduce a car’s mileage, increase emissions and hurt performance, especially on newer cars.
The auto club said gasolines with extra detergents cost an average of 3 cents per gallon more. And that could be their undoing.
Three-fourths of consumers surveyed by AAA buy their gas based on price or the service station’s location. Only 1 in 8 picked a brand because it has extra detergents.
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AAA’s director of automotive engineering, Greg Brannon, said car owners can undo some deposits by switching gasoline for a few thousand miles.
The program to promote higher-detergent fuels grew out of concern by some car makers that the EPA standards for fuel detergents were too weak to prevent buildup that affects car performance. General Motors, Honda, Toyota, BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are sponsors.
The Michigan-based Center for Quality Assurance runs the program and charges gas stations a fee to use the Top Tier seal of approval. Two executives of the group declined to disclose the fee.
32 responses to “AAA says not all gasoline is the same”
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So what are the brands? What should I look for? Where’s the information? If you’re going to write this type of “informational” article, then include the information you are trying to present. Or at least a reference!
I just rechecked “GasBuddy” on my smartphone. Station like Costco or Aloha sell “Top Tier” gasoline, the Top Tier icon will be visible.
And yes, Costco at 525 Alakawa St is a Top Tier gasoline seller.
“Top Tier fuels may not contain metallic additives, which can harm the vehicle emission system and create pollutants.” Used to Be that “Lead” was added to Gas to prevent the ‘Valves’ at the cylinder top banging themselves do death. ‘Lead” (metallic) was banned ages ago. so other additives were added to replace the so called JOB of “Lead” (I’m a retired Journeyman (Licensed) Mechanic) “Lead” made Dirty & Hazardous to Everyone, exhaust.
Lead was used to increase octane an anti-knock additive. Knock is pre-ignition of fuel before the piston reaches “top dead center”. So the higher the octane, the less volatile the gas. This is to prevent the compression from igniting the gas before its supposed to. Anyway, it has nothing to do with detergents.
A quick glance shows the following:
Top Tier: Costco, 76, Shell, Chevron, Aloha.
NOT Top Tier: Tesoro, Safeway, Freedom, AAFES, NEX.
Oh, also add Sam’s Club to NOT Top Tier.
Star advertiser you left out the most important information. Guess I will have to go to AAA to find the information that you should have reported in the first place.
All you have to do is install “GasBuddy” on your smartphone, check gas prices by location. If a station like Costco or Aloha sells “Top Tier” gasoline, the Top Tier icon will be visible.
And yes, Costco at 525 Alakawa St is a Top Tier gasoline seller.
“Top Tier” is more a Trade Name for an “Additive”, Not a Rating. Just like (“Sterling Silver” Beef. where Safeway doesn’t carry it.) Other Brands of Gas also have other Names for High Detergent Gas. in the 1050s “TPC” was a ‘copy-rite’ Trade name for an additave in only ONE brand.
For instance (“PEA is the best gasoline detergent you can get. … “The chemical name is PEA developed by Chevron, the trade name”)
Since I read an article in an automotive magazine back in the ’80s, I have used nothing but Chevron with Techron in all of my cars and never had a problem with deposits. Pricier gas, to be sure, and I don’t know if Techron is any better than the others that are now out there, but it seems to work well so I’ll probably stick with it.
a very misleading article. ALL GASOLINES ARE THE SAME IS A FACT. What is also a fact is that not ALL BRANDS OF GASOLINE ARE THE SAME. Yes all brands have different additive packages which make them different but the gasoline is the same. Most major brands have the ‘TOP Tier” ranking, I would think that many independently owned stations that sell “unbranded” gasoline might have only the minimum additive package as required by law. We only got 2 refiners in Hawaii so all the brands are using “gasoline” from one of the 2 refiners.
Ditto!
Not very informative if brands are not listed. If as your article states, most of us buy gas because of lowest price, not additives, then Costco gas customers are in deep kimchi. Costco offers the lowest prices in town but does it’s supplier (Aloha ?) deliver the worst perfoming gas?
Aloha advertises that it is ranked as a “top tier” gasoline but no one knows if the gasoline they sell to COSTCO has the same additive package. If I had to guess I would believe that the gas at COSTCO is the same as ALOHA so COSTCO would have ‘TOP TIER” gasoline. Majors like SHELL, 76, TEXACO,TESORO, would have top tier gasoline.
butinski – Ahhh the whining of a rookie poster never ends. All you have to do is install “Gas Buddy” on your smart phone, check gas prices by location. If a station like Costco or Aloha sells “Top Tier” gasoline, the Top Tier icon will be visible.
And yes, Costco at 525 Alakawa St is a Top Tier gasoline seller.
Rookies………….
Thanks for the info but I take exception to your “rookie poster” dig. Never had a need to look up gas quality before. FYI, I’ve probably been posting comments on SA long before you so enough of your insulting snide remarks.
So btthead is better than you. Period.
What should have been stated is that most pump gas contains ethanol which is crap and causes alllll kinds of problems for engines of all sorts as well as gas tanks and the entire fuel system! I don’t care how much “detergent” is added to ethanol gas, its still rubbish! Fortunately, there are more stations offering Non Ethanol gas now and believe me it is much better for any type of motor than ethanol.It was mentioned a while back that since it cost Hawaii more to produce ethanol gas it was going to switch back to non ethanol fuel. When is this supposed to happen????
“Boing – Boing – Big head” W H A T people didn’t know Gas was DIFFERENT?
Costco and Sam’s Club sell Top Tier gasoline.
IDK. Gas Buddy doesn’t indicate Sam’s Club as having Top Tier gasoline.
It’s all the same to car thieves.
“Top Tier” gas brands and retailers: http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers/
I would disagree slightly with some of these on the list as they have been known as junk but apparently they still claim to rank up with some of the better and more expensive retailers.
Had great success using an additive like BG 44K in a full tank of gas. This stuff was a carbon buster and would clean the combustion chamber and valves as evidenced after taking apart engines that we had used it and those that had not. Gas mileage would increase a little and felt like there was more power for that full tank also.
Where do you purchase BG 44K. Thanks.
So whose fuel does AAA recommend?
So they advertise these facts but don’t tell us the culprit. It’s like telling us there is a new way to increase mileage and spend a whole article on it but don’t tell us what products not to use. Nice!
Wait a second guys… the Michigan “Center for Quality Assurance” runs the program and charged the gas company a fee to display the name “Top Tier.” And, apparently, they are the ones telling us to use it.
I smell conflict of interest here. Did AAA follow up independently? Are they on the tale, too?
Duh.
Useless article!
As I understand it there are only 2 refineries for gas in Hawaii. Somebody should speak out from either refinery what additives are used for gas here in Hawaii.