Types of Fuel for your GT

[EasyEric]

Hello all,

Just curious as to what brand and type of fuel you are using with your GT.

Although fuels in the USA should be fungible, I have found my Viper performs differently (better) with certian brands of fuel. For instance, I have found my Viper performed better with British Petroleum (BP) high grade fuel (93 octane).

Are Fords (or any car company for that matter) tested and baselined with specific oil company formulations? If so which one?

Thanks in advance for your inputs.

Eric

 

[THughes]

The owners manual suggests BP

 

[fjpikul]

Fuel

While the GT doesn't have it written on the fuel cover, the same time I picked up the GT I also picked up a new '06 Fusion. The fuel cover actually has written on it a recommendation for BP fuel.

 

[fjpikul]

Also, take note of Analogdesigners thread on having to replace his fuel cover and cleaning the spout at the gas station before inserting it.

 

[canibl]

I think that on the January issue of EVO magazine there's an article where they tested various fuels in England and concluded that Shell was the one that performed better both in turbocharged as well as normally aspirated engines. Anyway, if Ford USA says BP than BP it is.

 

[Piccola]

I had no idea there was such a difference between companies... :shrug

 

[Pipelion]

Anybody using Sunoco?

Allan

 

[427 Mitch]

Brand of gasoline:
Some of you probably know this, others may be shocked by it. Oil companies swap base gasoline all the time. Let's say I have a refinery in Houston and you have one in Dallas. It makes little sense for me to truck my Houston gasoline to Dallas and for you to truck your gasoline from Dallas to Houston when gasoline is a commodity product. So, I let you draw 100,000 gallons of base gasoline from my storage tank in Houston for your Houston gas stations, and you let me draw 100,000 gallons of base gasoline from your Dallas holding tanks for my Dallas gas stations. That way, we both save on shipping. Yup, Texaco gasoline may have come from a Shell refinery and vice-versa. At a gasoline terminal you may see trucks from up to six different companies all loading at the SAME terminal (that for example may be supplied exclusively by Shell). What comes next, however, is what makes Texaco Texaco and Shell Shell. Additive. Each company has its own additive and adds it to the base gasoline. So while the base gasoline may be the same, the additive is different, and hence the brand of gasoline you use is different because of the additive, not the base gasoline.

Copied from http://vettenet.org/octane.html

Mitch

 

[EasyEric]

Interesting tidbit 427 Mitch. If this is true, it would not bother me as long as they were CONSISTENT.

I have found that you CAN tell the difference between fuels in high performance sports cars like the GT and I plan on trying different brands in the GT. I will keep the forum posted on my findings.

Eric

 

[Kirby Vieira]

Eric, the next time your are near the suburb of Roswell, GA, stop in the Shell station at Crabapple Junction which has a 100 octane pump. Current price is about $5.50/gal but a little bit goes a long way

 

[AZGT]

Is BP a chain like Shell, or is it sold by someone like Shell? Maybe we have it here (AZ), but can't say it jumps to mind.

 

[Piccola]

Exxon, BP, Chevron, Shell, etc... they are all energy companies, & yes, BP is in Arizona. This web site has names of stores/locations you can find it. Hope this helps...

http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9004729&contentId=7008701

 

[canibl]

here's another tidbit of information. Gasoline sold in Cali is different from the one sold in Minnesota regardless of manufacturer. Beside the octane rating also the additives are different. Actually, LA gets its own type of gasoline from the rest of Cali. Because smog is a serious problem in the LA basin, their gas needs to burn much, much cleaner. Gasoline in North Dakota needs to perform well in cold temperatures while the one in Arizona in hot temperatures. ....it was all in a documentary on the Discovery Channel :rolleyes

 

[EasyEric]

Kirby,
Thanks for the tip. I may go there tomorrow and fill up (ouch!).

Eric.

PS, I'm going to take a "mini" road trip to up to Braselton near Road Atlanta tomorrow to see if I can talk to the Panoz or Superformance people about future mods and work on the GT. I'll keep you posted.

 

[Gierkink]

The January EVO article on different brands of gasoline (mentioned above) made the point that the most important factor in the performance of gasoline is how "fresh" it is. The article strongly suggested that gasoline is purchased from high volume stations vs. smaller stations where the gasoline might be older and have gotten "stale".

Rob

 

[Kirby Vieira]

Eric,
When you go to Braselton, meet Rob Ginn who owns the Superformance Dealership. I met Rob at the World of Wheels event in Atlanta. Absolutely great, knowledgeable, helpful car guy and genuinely nice person. His company is McMichael Motorsports. 770.965.9330.

 

[AZGT]

Exxon, BP, Chevron, Shell, etc... they are all energy companies, & yes, BP is in Arizona. This web site has names of stores/locations you can find it. Hope this helps...

http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9004729&contentId=7008701

Thanks.

Here it is ARCO and AM/PM. Those are everywhere here (except by me of course). Funny they are the recommended because I always thought of the AM/PM as a cheaper, discount gas, but I guess I was wrong. :frown

 

[dbtgt]

Is BP a chain like Shell, or is it sold by someone like Shell? Maybe we have it here (AZ), but can't say it jumps to mind.

FWIW, BP is the merged entity of British Petroleum (BP) and Amoco. It was called BP Amoco for a short while - now it's just BP.

 

[satx]

the recommendation of BP is probably a marketing effort on BP's part. Sort of like what Mobil 1 does with various sports cars.

 

[TrackDay]

If there are 25 brand names of gas available out there you will find 25 people saying one particular fuel has given them good seat of the pants results, etc.
Yes Chevron has their Techron additive and it is a very good additive. Amoco also had a good fuel / additive packages as well. Now that Amoco was purchased by BP who knows, likewise ExxonMobil have their additives, etc. However, what perhaps is the most important is the overall contaminates in the base fuel coming from the refinery. The big three are trying to get the large fuel producers to provide better fuel with less contaminates from the start. The current extended service intervals have resulted in a lot of cars coming in with sludge build up through out the engine, intake, injectors, etc. The oil companies don’t want to spend the extra money and time refining the oil so it’s a bit of a battle right now.
The whole reason additives are put in is to minimize contaminate build up, contaminates that already exist in the fuel.
Naturally the level / concentration of additive put in are as important as the overall additive package and it’s resulting effectiveness.
My general suggestion is to run a good cleaner such as Techron from time to time as part of general maintenance and run 100 octane gas from time to time too. When running 100 octane enjoy the car, meaning lay on the gas and let those injectors run at full duty cycle. You will be surprised how much junk gets blown out of the combustion chamber using 100 octane fuel. My cars never ran better than just after running several tanks of 100 octane fuel on the track and the tail pipes never looked cleaner! Just my thoughts.