Couldn't agree more. Naysayer's will put it off to advertising but that's a holdover from when Top Tier went public, fuel company's are coming on board to get off the minimum requirements put forth by the EPA and provide the consumer with a quality fuel that does 'clean the engine' and boost economy. What does that tell us about our EPA's concerns??

 

A clean system is supposed to reduce unburned hydrocarbons from the exhaust...

 

While I use Top Tier gasoline about half the time, I sincerely believe that an occasional high-RPM run does a LOT towards keeping fuel injectors clean.

That's easier to do in a manual-trans car than an automatic, but it's still beneficial. You should see me screaming around in our Acura exercising the V-TEC.

My wife's minivan has been trouble-free as well, since I started driving it occasionally. < evil grin >

 

My wife always wants to know if I have done something to her Forester after I have driven it... All I've done is wind it up to red line a few times...

 

You use premium gas in the Forester, Right? I use Bp and they say it beats top tier. I sometimes throw Shell but the mpg goes down a little.

 

She says that she can feel the difference between premium and regular but she fills up with mid grade when she drives to San Antonio or Houston... She uses Exxon or Shell since they are all over the place here... She has gotten as high as 28.9 on out of town trips and averages over 23 around town..Her car looks like it just came off of the showroom floor and she got it in May of 2009.

 

That because your always cleaning it.

My wife notices it too. I laugh because she has pedal memory and the car almost gets away from her but she enjoys the extra power to much and I just use regular in her car unless there is a drive-ability problem. Mpg bad, the van on premium almost got the same mpg as her car on regular.

 

BP says they beat top tier because they've refused to be part of it and now realize the value of good pr. Now they're looking for a free ride... never been a BP fan, just not the type of company I would spend money on - sorry. For the most part NONE of the oil companies are of the type... It's the Top Tier concept brought on by a few motor car companies that makes sense to me. The oil boys do/are recognizing the value, both in performance and public relations.

As auto economy progresses I think we'll be seeing 'quality control' take center stage in fuel production. Right now it just seems too wide open on a national level. So much for a comprehensive energy policy.

 

I'll stick with 76 or Chevron. It was recommended by my tuner years ago for my WRX. My friend recently boosted his s2k and his tuner recommended the same two brands, as they are the least prone to detonation.

 

Back before reformulated gasoline came to Chicago, I used 76 and it was good gas 92 octane and no ethanol. It disappeared in the early 1990 because the refinery south of Chicago could not make the new fuel. They had many fires trying and had to close. Chevron was never here but it should be good gas. I even use Clark and though it was good and got premium for the same price of Regular and it disappeared. They got fuel from the same refinery that closed.

When tuning a car you want to use a fuel like Sunoco GTX or C16. Something that has no ethanol and has a air/fuel burn rate close to 14.7. GTX(14.4:1) and C16(14.8:1) Pump fuel are never the same even for the same station.