I’ve been noticing a drastic drop in my MPG lately… in fact for almost 2 years.
I’ve been using Chevron gasoline RELIGIOUSLY since I first got my teg back in 1997. I’ve found that Chevron gave me the highest MPG out of several other brands. 87, 89, or 93 octane though never had any effect on my performance / MPG. (Stock engine)
I’ve checked and/or changed everything on the teg that I could think of that would result in reduced MPG, including fuel filter, cap and rotor, valve clearance, spark plugs, plug wires etc.
It was only until I was talking to member BR about it that he informed me about the Techron in Chevron gasoline is harmful to Honda injectors. This came up a couple years ago on G2IC and I think a lot of people said that Chevron gave them the best MPG too. Well I don’t know if I just got too much of a good thing, because when BR suggested I try 76 gasoline, my MPG went from 23 MPG to 32 MPG. With no drastic change in driving style. In fact I was more aggressive with the 76 fill up due to the moronic people who drive in West Palm Beach!
So maybe they changed their formula… or it just finally caught up with my injectors…
Nevertheless, my injectors (it seems) still ticks like crazy. But at least I have my MPG back.
Thanks for the tip BR!
BTW, I also noticed soot buildup while using the 76 gasoline. I have yet to figure out what caused this. I hope it’s a good thing… (carbon burning off maybe?)
interesting. i’ve never been able to tell a noticable difference in mpg when using different brands of gas. And i had always heard that chevron was good…not bad.
Heard anything about exxon or mobil? thats usually what i use.
Oh, and i forget if its shell or 76, but one of them i guess isn’t using MTBE anymore. Good for the environment, but from what i hear its bad for octane levels. I heard that the MTBE doesn’t raise the actual octane rating, but that it makes it seem higher. So a 91 octane w/ MTBE acts more like a 92 octane w/o MTBE. Can anyone vouch for that info?
yah i heard about chevron messin your injectors up. i normal use 76 that is good stuff:up:. honestly though ive never seen a difference like colin said.
oh well, although once i put 100 race gas and my car run a lot better maybe it was the grade:p
Maybe the quality of gas is going downhill. Having advanced timing it makes my car really picky about the gas i use. Honestly i think chevron is good for the first day or 2 then it starts to suck. On the other hand, when i use 76 it is much more constant over time, but less oommmph than the chevron. I THINK this is cuz there’s more fuel preservative in 76 than chevron but i duno. Personally i use chevron religiously, and occassionally 76 when prices are too high. My mileage sucks either way. I havent been driving long enuf to conclude that my mileage has decreased from 300+ to the low 200’s (ive only been driving for aroudn 2.25 years. Perhaps it is my driving style as i have gotten really aggressive with the gas pedal in the last year or so. It might also be my mods…like this damn fuel pressure thing or ecu off a g3gsr that could be feeding my b17 too much fuel which it is cuz i recently pulled my header and plugs and thoroughly conclude it is running way too rich with a new o2 sensor.
I havent seen anything about 250miles per tank in a while…by the way i do 99% street driving. I usually rev it out once a day if i can. Otherwise i stay between the 3-5k ranges.
Maybe you guys don’t notice a difference because there isn’t one.
I don’t know much about gas but I do know that I used to work across from a few gas stations and more than a few times, the same generic gas truck would go hook up at Texaco and then stop at amaco and I’ve seen the same trucks at a BP out here too.
I’ve always used chevron and my mileage has stayed the same, i heard that using higher octane of chevron is bad for honda injectors cause the higher concentration of that techron cleaning stuff in it, so im guessing the 87 or regular is o.k?
Personally I do not agree about the honda injectors not liking chevron gas…
I use Chevron like no tomorrow over here, as to 90% of the import scene does. I’ve been in the scene since '95, and NO ONE around here has run into problems with using Chevron on their Hondas all these years. And my friends aren’t exactly the type that drive once in a blue moon…they rack up about 30,000kms a year, avg.
Around here, if you love your car, you use Chevron. Nothing else. No one has yet to prove this wrong, and no one has had any problems.
I’ve heard of problems with Chevron and hence I stay away. I also spoke to a chemical engineer (he worked on gasoline) once about Techron and he said it was a detergent and that it could/would eat up your gas lines after a while. Well as far as I’m concerned the best gas is 76… no detergents what so ever.
ya i think its more of the buttdyno and inconsistencies in driving conditions than gas brand. ive tried to compare but always come up with inconsistent results. the only sure thing is that 87 arco gas sucks balls with advanced timing. anyways, i usually prefer mobil, chevron, then 76 in descending order, or whichever is cheaper. cant tell between 89 and 91 with 17.5BTDC so i just use 89.
what i wanna do next tho is try using the ngk ZFR6E-11 which is for 92-93 and one step colder, if i can find anyone that even sells em around here…
It’s gotta be different types of gasoline going to different regions of the US etc. Don’t they do something to the fuel during winter to reduce emissions or something like that?
Originally posted by E-DA9 Around here, if you love your car, you use Chevron. Nothing else. No one has yet to prove this wrong, and no one has had any problems.
did i tell you i never use chervon anymore? when i first got my black teg i used chervon as well. i only got 300km max per tank. and my car was sluggish. i tried arco and then switched over to Mohawk. and then my car went FINE. last tank i was trying Petrol Canada’s Super clean 91, and my car wasn’t as smooth as when i was using 89 from mohawk. having this experience, i think i will stick to mohawk.
I have to agree with Max, don’t use anything but Chevron. I even ultra sound, clean my injectors with concentrated Techron and I’ve never had a problem with dirty injectors or deterioration of my injectors in 9 years.
I think that there are just so many oil refinary’s in the U.S. or canada. I bet that for countys and states they all come from one place, it may just be where you live, not the gas station you go to :think:
I put in a full bottle of the chevron techron fuel injector cleaner with about 3 gallons of gas in the tank and drove it as far as I could before filling up again. I also got a k&N stock replacement filter a few month ago. Anyway within the last month or so my mileage went up from about 300miles max to about 350miles. That ended up coming out 29.something mpg.
BTW normaly I use 76 gas and get the lowest octane. I filled up at kroger the other day and had to fill up at 315 miles tonight. The thing is I don’t rev my motor. Maybe once a tank and I do mostly highway.
Originally posted by TR90LS Maybe you guys don’t notice a difference because there isn’t one.
I don’t know much about gas but I do know that I used to work across from a few gas stations and more than a few times, the same generic gas truck would go hook up at Texaco and then stop at amaco and I’ve seen the same trucks at a BP out here too.
this is very wrong about not being a difference. and is a common misconception. refineries are owned by different companies and are what makes the various types of fuel. hence, the refining process. there are not as many refineries as you think there are. example: shell/texaco have a refinery in baton rouge that serves the whole southeast. its products only go to that region. there is a second refinery that is in houston, its products go to the midwest and southwest. the los angeles refinery makes a special formulated gasoline for california. its products stay there. the anacortes refinery is for western canada and the pac-west area of the US. thats how many companies are setup. its about distribution, getting your product to your market with the most efficiency. refineries have always been located where they are accessible to ports or pipelines, and then their market place.
not all gasoline is equal. each company uses their own additive. i know, i have seen the tests and the results. they all get their base product (crude) from overseas or in the US. (sinclair oil, which my dad is now vp of, gets crude from only the US, not the mideast) the number one gasoline additive is chevron, the second is texaco/shell (they are the same company until the chevron/texaco deal in 2004), the third is bp/amaco, mobil/exxon takes up the bottom of the big companies. since, i am now familiar with sinclair, they are working on a new formula that will rival shells. not bad for a private oil company.
i learned alot about this because my dad headed up the fuel venture side of enron for 20 years. and i have seen the different test results of motors run on the different fuels. for a long time texaco system3 was top and used some of the techron technology. then shell took over texaco. these three top gasolines used on a motor for 50k miles. the injectors, the valves, piston chambers, etc. were very clean, no crud at all. the same cannot be said about lesser gasolines like mobil/exxon and those local places that are always cheaper. its worth spending the extra 2 cents. how much are you really saving in the long run?? to me, i want the best for my car, so use it. another point, you never want to fill up when the fuel truck is getting there, you are getting the bottom of the tanks…kinda like drinking from the bottom of the coffee pot. and there are, with any manufacturing process, inconsistencies. like texaco use to say, give it 5 tanks to thoroughly clean the motor up. (my uncle was on the team that developed system3 in the 80’s and became vp of refining for texaco).
i do have to ask, how is a gasoline harmful to injectors?
