[ember1205]

Originally Posted by 2SS Capt

I would say when you can't buy Top Tier gas, put in the minimum that you need to get where you are going and until you can get Top Tier... Or what I would do, is pay the higher price for that fillup (Is $5-$6 worth the risk) and hit Costco whenever it is convenient...

Throwing a bottle of Techron Fuel Cleaner in once in a while wouldn't hurt anything either... Remember the detergents in Top Tier do more than clean the valves (which in our engines never get sprayed on) they also keep your injectors and the rest of the fuel system clean as well...

Not unreasonable.. In the situation I was in this morning, however, It would have been closer to $10 for the full tank (on top of the actual $40 that it was already). I'm not complaining about the price of gas for this car - I knew going in that it only uses premium. But, I'm also not looking to needlessly spend more than I have to, if that makes sense.

[FarmerFran]

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

Licensed Retail Brands Countries
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[SSDan]

Originally Posted by ember1205

I forgot about the blending piece - good reminder.

I'm kind of in that mindset that "occasional" should be fine. I guess what I'm really striving for is how to get to a reasonable definition of "occasional."

My car has had a total of 254 gallons of fuel put into the tank. I can't account for the first 19 gallons because I don't know what the factory plus dealer put into the tank. Of the remaining 235 gallons, 54 gallons were from BJ's while all of the rest were from Top Tier stations (one Citgo for 15.5 gallons and the rest from Costco).

My driving is predominantly around town with a few longer drives built in when I took the car to visit my parents. Am I already at the "occasional level" or am I using too much gas from BJ's so far?

The term occasional is subjective but my quick math says you use top tier 80% of the time. I'd call 20% of the time as being occasional. Keep in mind there is still at least some of that Costco gas in the tank when you put the BJ gas in there. So all said - I wouldn't sweat it. I think you are fine.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by SSDan

The term occasional is subjective but my quick math says you use top tier 80% of the time. I'd call 20% of the time as being occasional. Keep in mind there is still at least some of that Costco gas in the tank when you put the BJ gas in there. So all said - I wouldn't sweat it. I think you are fine.

But there's also some of that BJ's gas in the tank when I get back to Costco. lol


Honestly, the only reason that I've used as much fuel from BJ's as I have is because I didn't realize at first that their gas wasn't Top Tier. Out of the four times I've filled at a BJ's station, three of them were within the first few weeks of owning the car.

Today's fill-up was the first time I've put in the car since last November before it landed in the garage for the winter. So, it's mostly a mix of degraded ethanol-laced fuel from five months ago and "doesn't have the best detergents in the world" stuff. If it ever stops raining around here so I can drive it casually, I'll be able to run some more of the Top Tier stuff through it.

[Brudda*Termite]

Top tier also refers to standardized percentages of detergents and blending, and their final destinations are required to maintain their tank farms to a higher standard of dosing to eliminate bacteria, water, and other nasties crawling around. At my shop, we used to control the fuel and it was top tier but when our fuel station went down, we switched to fuel cards, and we are already experiencing more fuel-related maintenance issues due to drivers getting fuel wherever. I believe in top tier...

[foshjowler]

I haven't ever seen anything other than anecdotal evidence around top-tier fuel. For the last few years, and cars, I've filled up almost exclusively at BJ's and haven't ever had any problems. When I had my ST, I ran around with my Cobb AP up, and the only time I ever saw anything other than ideal was when I filled up at a random Shell station on a trip, and even that wasn't bad.

If I was to guess, top-tier is more of a certification that gas companies have to pay to be certified. A non-top-tier gas company may produce gas that meets or exceeds the standards, they just didn't pay for the certification to save money.

It would be kind of like IP-68 waterproofing standards on phones. A phone may meet or exceed the standard, but still not be IP-68 certified because the company decided not to pay for it.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Brudda*Termite

Top tier also refers to standardized percentages of detergents and blending, and their final destinations are required to maintain their tank farms to a higher standard of dosing to eliminate bacteria, water, and other nasties crawling around. At my shop, we used to control the fuel and it was top tier but when our fuel station went down, we switched to fuel cards, and we are already experiencing more fuel-related maintenance issues due to drivers getting fuel wherever. I believe in top tier...

Good point about requirements to maintain integrity at the station as well... No point in bringing Top Tier fuel in and pouring it into storage tanks made out of wire mesh.

[2SS Capt]

https://newsroom.aaa.com/2016/07/aaa...created-equal/

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by 2SS Capt

https://newsroom.aaa.com/2016/07/aaa...created-equal/

Thanks... That's one I had seen and I have questions on...

"Among brands tested" - well, which ones did you test? What other tests were done on the fuel in terms of things like water infiltration or other contaminants that have nothing to do with the fuel itself and are the direct result of conditions at the station? Did you sample fuels from a specific brand across multiple stations? How did you even track this for any real length of time to determine the amount of deposits that built up in an engine? Was the sampling time long enough to understand whether the buildup was linear and continual? Or, did it level off at some point? What VEHICLES were tested, and specifically what engines?

The other part of all of this that makes me go "hmmmm" is the fact that Top Tier standards are based on Sponsor car manufacturers contributions to the entirety of the creation and maintenance of the standards. I'm not sure how the manufacturers would make that sponsorship money back by throwing support toward certain fuel companies unless that's a back-room thing that we consumers don't get to see.

[Rhobz]

Man, I got to pay closer attention to where I get gas!!!

[Mike Aruba]

Does this apply for E85 as well? I'm limited to a few stations that have E85 in my area, only one of them would be considered "top tier".

[Heat Magnet]

This is a pretty enlightening topic for me. I've only filled up with gas at my local Costco so far. I've flirted with filling up at the Quik Stop near my parents' house but after reading thr comments here, I should just stick to Costco. Also, that Quik Stop is notorious for people getting their credit cards hacked (my parents, oldest brother and his wife). The only reason why I flirted with the idea is that sometimes I go to the Costco when it's just jammed packed with people.

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Mike Aruba

Does this apply for E85 as well? I'm limited to a few stations that have E85 in my area, only one of them would be considered "top tier".

That's an interesting question, and I personally don't know the answer. Since E85 is "only" 15% gasoline, maybe it doesn't fit in the "Top Tier Gasoline" category? On the other hand, the Top Tier designator seems to be tied directly to the brand and has nothing to do even with specific octanes of the gasoline.

Sounds like a great question to float to the Top Tier web site!

[Brudda*Termite]

Originally Posted by ember1205

That's an interesting question, and I personally don't know the answer. Since E85 is "only" 15% gasoline, maybe it doesn't fit in the "Top Tier Gasoline" category? On the other hand, the Top Tier designator seems to be tied directly to the brand and has nothing to do even with specific octanes of the gasoline.

Sounds like a great question to float to the Top Tier web site!

My experience, E85 is the wild west, definitely not a top tier concern. Also, I've never gotten better than 63% ethanol from where I can get E85 in my location...