[lateapex]

Some of you may be familiar with this article, but it appears that it is best to switch gasoline brands at certain intervals to minimize deposit buildups.

The author says he works for the largest gas retailer in the world, has 28 patents, and his specialty is gasoline additives. He has invented some for his employer.

http://vettenet.org/octane.html

[lateapex]

Weird.  Everything I've heard is that there is no difference in cleaners contained in premium  vs regular fuel.

Only a few brands have met the automobile manufacturer’s “Top Tier� standard for detergent quantity/effectiveness. One reason for this is that to qualify for the Top Tier list, you must meet the standard for EVERY grade of gas you sell, everywhere in the country. BP/Amoco, for instance, only meets the Top Tier standard with their premium gas, Ultimate; not their 2 lower grades. Therefore, the Top Tier consortium excludes BP from the “approved� list. Back around the time the initial Top Tier list was released to the press, BP claimed in a press release or ad that their premium gas far exceeded the Top Tier standard. I believe they claimed that it included 5 times the minimum EPA detergent additive amount. By the way, BP does NOT make their own additive package, for the U.S. market at least. BP acknowledges that a “specialized chemical manufacturer� makes it for them. Not implying that is good or bad.

According to the Top Tier site, since the EPA established gasoline detergent standards in 1995, most refiners have reduced the amount they add to get closer to that minimum standard. Before the government standard, adding a detergent package was seen as a measure of quality and superior technology and it was a major part of their advertising campaigns. After the standard, everyone’s gas had detergents, and it was no longer viewed as worth advertising so heavily by the majors in the industry. Some, like BP, started once again to advertise it heavily to try to get customers who didn’t need high octane to upgrade to premium anyway just for the increased detergents. Even if at some point they decide to meet the Top Tier standard with their lower octane grades, they may still add more detergents to Ultimate if they find that promoting it like that increases premium gas sales enough. Premium grades have a higher profit margin for the refiner.

Back in the 80’s when detergent additives were first introduced and up through 1995, most of the refiners who included it only added it to their highest octane fuel. You (the general public) did not need to buy “Supreme� just because it had higher octane, but also because it was a truly “premium� product.

This post has been edited by lateapex: Nov 14 2005, 01:37 AM