Why top tier street fuels matter | Fuel Tips

When you stop to fuel up your street car, what’s the most important draw? Price? Location? Points? Clean toilets? Artisan sandwiches sporting the perfect amount of lettuce?

Probably not the gasoline itself, right? After all, aren’t all pump fuels the same?

Comments

rpasea New Reader
4/7/21 8:50 p.m.

I wonder what they mean by "19 times less". Does it mean 5% of the deposits of the non detergent fuels?

Patientzero HalfDork
4/7/21 10:34 p.m.

I have a Conoco and Phillips 66 in my town. Neither advertise as having Top Tier fuel. The Phillips 66 a couple towns over does have the Top Tier sticker on the pump and I have noticed an increase in fuel mileage with that fuel. I drive the exact same 100 miles everyday so it's pretty well controlled.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
4/8/21 1:44 p.m.

rpasea said:
I wonder what they mean by "19 times less". Does it mean 5% of the deposits of the non detergent fuels?

You can read the entire report, but here are some of their findings:

timcking
8/9/22 11:58 p.m.

In reply to Patientzero :

I go to an Arco station that has top tier fuel and it's one of the least expensive sources in our community.

David S. Wallens Editorial Director
8/11/22 9:21 a.m.

In reply to timcking :

Wow, haven't seen an Arco in years.

kb58 SuperDork
8/11/22 9:43 a.m.

Was talking with a auto repair shop and the owner said that they see a near 100% corelation between cars with gummed up valves and the owners using off-brand/mini-mart fuel.

RaceRed New Reader
10/1/24 9:08 a.m.

Also remember that more valve deposits are created by PCV Systems than fuel, especially on direct injection motors where the fuel does not come in behind the intake valves to help clean them, but comes into the combustion chamber by passing the valves. So a good catchcan or oil separation system is pretty much a must.

Duke MegaDork
10/1/24 11:04 a.m.

Since we bought turbo DI cars for the first time in our lives, I've been almost exclusively running Top Tier 93 octane fuels in them. We do about 12,000 miles a year between 2 cars, so it just doesn't make sense to try and save a few bucks on cheaper stuff.

Most places don't have the Top Tier sticker but my understanding is that big name brand stations meet the standards with their premium grades. Regular grade is of course a commodity and not guaranteed to even match the brand of the station.

Exxon, Shell, BP, and Sunoco are the 4 most common around here, in that order.

Coniglio Rampante GRM+ Memberand Reader
10/1/24 11:13 a.m.

Here's the current list if interested (just fyi).

https://www.toptiergas.com/gasoline-brands/

Duke MegaDork
10/1/24 1:09 p.m.

In reply to Coniglio Rampante :

Wow, thanks. That's a much longer list than I would have expected.

I also didn't know that to get Top Tier status, *all* grades have meet the standard. I was given to understand that low-grade regular was a commodity item purchased from whatever distributor was closest to the given station, regardless of brand.