Friend REFUSES to buy any Gas besides 76!

[AccruedExpenditure]

So I went on a road trip with a buddy of mine from college. On the way there we had to fill up for gas. We pulled off the freewa and he drove past five different stations before found a gas station that he wanted to go to. At first I thought it was a price thing, but on the way back to the free I noticed that several of the other gas stations (all brand names) were cheaper. When I asked why, he told me that he only uses 76 gas because mixing gas types will "fvck up my engine"



There is no truth to this right?

 

[BlancoNino]

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure
So I went on a road trip with a buddy of mine from college. On the way there we had to fill up for gas. We pulled off the freewa and he drove past five different stations before found a gas station that he wanted to go to. At first I thought it was a price thing, but on the way back to the free I noticed that several of the other gas stations (all brand names) were cheaper. When I asked why, he told me that he only uses 76 gas because mixing gas types will "fvck up my engine"



There is no truth to this right?

You are correct. Your friend is dillusional.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

He's just trying to justify himself being a brandwhore.

 

[Bateluer]

They all buy their gas from the same sources.

 

[Colt45]

Was this by any chance a roadtrip to pick up some more crack?

 

[fs5]

actually it's good to regularly switch gases monthly. All the additives each company puts in their gas tend to build up. read it some where.....

 

[RedArmy]

That's weird, never heard of '76' before

 

[NaOH]

I mainly buy chevron whenever I can. I don't drive by 10 gas stations just to find a chevron though..........I like places that have additives.

 

[Akhen]

it does not matter but some are probably slightly better, I remember my mom filling up in a 76 and she said she got 550 miles on the tank which was a record.

 

[jagec]

I tend to consider Chevron to be marginally "better" gas due to their adding additives to ALL grades of gas, not just premium. But I buy pretty much any brand except for Arco (a friend of mine got noticeably worse mileage on Arco gas...so much so that it actually cost LESS money to fill up on Shell/76/Chevron).

You can certainly mix-n-match. You can even do that with oils (both weights and brands), though that's less recommended. You can also pour a gallon of ethanol into a nearly empty tank to help pass emissions, assuming you burn it all shortly afterwards and refill with good gas...*cough* did I say that?

All without harming your engine.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: Akhen
it does not matter but some are probably slightly better, I remember my mom filling up in a 76 and she said she got 550 miles on the tank which was a record.

How far behind the "E" was the gas needle?

/Seinfeld :heart:

 

[iwearnosox]

All gas is derived from the same lines- there is no difference beyond the detergents they add to it in the final processing. Cumulatively a certain brands detergent may be superior but a single instance of even "mainline" gas should show little to no difference. Your friend is delusional.

 

[maziwanka]

of course your friend is being stupid

BUT, just let him do what he wants b/c if you convince him to switch stations, one day his car will screw up for some reason and he will criticize you for the rest of your life. it's not worth the hassle.

 

[DrPizza]

My wife used to work for a gasoline distributor... they supplied the gasoline to hundreds of "consignment" stations, which was the vast majority of gas stations in the area. Same trucks went from station to station, regardless of the brand name of the station. i.e. All the stations had the exact same gas, regardless of brand. i.e. Truck would deliver to Sunoco, drive 2 blocks and deliver to Mobil. I was pretty shocked to learn this.

 

[NaOH]

put sugar im his gas tank....That'll learn him

 

[Eeezee]

That's because 76 has more gas fumes when you fill up, so your friend still perceives a difference because he's inhailing more fumes

 

[HombrePequeno]

Secretly put a different type of gas in his car. After a couple weeks ask him how his car has been running and when he says fine, tell him you've been filling it with another brand...On second thought, that idea seems a little too expensive nowadays.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
My wife used to work for a gasoline distributor... they supplied the gasoline to hundreds of "consignment" stations, which was the vast majority of gas stations in the area. Same trucks went from station to station, regardless of the brand name of the station. i.e. All the stations had the exact same gas, regardless of brand. i.e. Truck would deliver to Sunoco, drive 2 blocks and deliver to Mobil. I was pretty shocked to learn this.

Correct. But people, as you can see from this thread, still believe the BS advertising of "We add more additives to our gas..." line.


Buy the cheapest gas from a taken care of station, not the name on the store.

 

[gsellis]

Yep. All the refineries dump it into the pipeline and that gives them credit to get gas from the pipeline immediately ("their" gas may not arrive until days later). I think they don't even use a pig between octanes anymore.

Edit - forgot... as mentioned, he is delusional. He has been running Shell already

On "76". Was Union 76 for the longest time. 76 is a reference to 76 octane (there was once a battle on who could come up with better octanes.) Phillips 66 derives from the same.

 

[TraumaRN]

Your friend has issues....only places I wont buy gas from are Speedway and any other place that doesnt us 100% gasoline. If it has ethanol in it, I dont want it. Mostly cuz in a given week I'll put 300-500 miles on my car and well that 10% ETOH 90% Gas crap screws my mileage.

 

[phatj]

76 octane? or 76 gas station?

never heard of 76 octane

 

[SagaLore]

Actually, not all gas mixtures are the same.

My engine always sputtered after filling up at a Citgo.

 

[gsellis]

Originally posted by: phatj
76 octane? or 76 gas station?

never heard of 76 octane

That is because you are not old enough. I am not sure if it was the 1920's or 30's. Or it could have been later.

 

[Scarpozzi]

This is the same kind of crap that my exroommate's brother believed. Some brands with extremely cheap gas may be lower octane than what you're supposed to have. Generally, these lean mixes can cause spark knock or burn up an O2 sensor. You have to be careful when buying from stations that do not have obvious suppliers because some may buy from numerous suppliers and you, nor they know what they're getting for quality. But overall, you're safe to buy what's the cheapest and if 76 isn't it, they should be SOL.

 

[CrackRabbit]

Union 76 is a divison of ConocoPhillips now, it's mainly a west coast brand. It used to be independent until a few years ago.