High Gas prices

[Bender1]

I bought my car last May and have 22k on it at this point. This year should be lower.

Anyone have actual concrete evidence/studies from credible sources (unbiased, not sponsored by oil companies) that show that Chevron, Shell etc. have better gas than the cheaper places?

Brand only matters when it comes to detergent packs, which really don't impact us with direct injection. That said, a busy station is more likely to have better gas than a slow one (slow stations will have more sediments in their fuel and also a higher likelihood of water).

If you can buy from a station that fills from their own refineries, you are in the best position (for example Sunoco here on the East Coast).

 

[Tetsuei]

If you can buy from a station that fills from their own refineries, you are in the best position (for example Sunoco here on the East Coast).

Based on that I should be getting gas from Chevron here in Northern California, but I can't find a Chevron card that gives me 5% back like my Shell card does...

 

[Bender1]

Then definitely the Shell!

 

[Tetsuei]

5% is definitely nice.

 

[krische]

Yeah I have 5% with the BP Visa Card from Chase. Works great because there are TONS of BP stations around here. Not many Shell stations though.

 

[MofoG23]

I see you have a Fusion and a GTI which one is better on gas? :iono:

It's usually a small car and a truck/SUV combo...

they are both pretty close actually...overall the Fusion is a tad better but the GTI gets better HWY miles. The only reason I have the Fusion is that its a company provided vehicle...no way would I have bought one.

Big Red on the other hand takes the cake - 10mpg on the highway! :w00t:

 

[MofoG23]

Guess what? I still think that fuel is too cheap.

...and your reason would be?

 

[Bender1]

...and your reason would be?

Petroleum based fuels are, long term, fully unsustainable. It doesn't matter if you reflect on it from an economic position, foreign policy position, or an environmental position; there will be a day when they are too expensive for the average person to rely on. People need to be ready for that.

The first step in getting people ready should be revoking the $60 Billion (yes, $60 Billion) that the U.S. Government gives in subsidies (gifts) to the oil companies. That cash should be redirected into Nuclear, Clean Energy, and Smart Grid implementation.

The natural result would that gas prices would be reflected at their actual cost, rather than hiding their cost in our tax dollars.

The writing is on the wall for production of new internal combustion engines. I think the end is still very far off, but its now definitely on the horizon.

 

[ElectricEye]

I bought my car last May and have 22k on it at this point. This year should be lower.



Brand only matters when it comes to detergent packs, which really don't impact us with direct injection. That said, a busy station is more likely to have better gas than a slow one (slow stations will have more sediments in their fuel and also a higher likelihood of water).

If you can buy from a station that fills from their own refineries, you are in the best position (for example Sunoco here on the East Coast).

All brands, even the cheapies have to meet a sort of RDA detergeant level.
In effect, they are all good enough.
Various companies - Chevron, Shell, Sunoco etc. play with their own detergeant mix.
Does it matter?
I dunno...
If you are leasing a car and will be turning it in three years later probably not.
If your car is a keeper for the long hall Top Tier and other high end brands might be preferable.

 

[Manheim81c]

they are both pretty close actually...overall the Fusion is a tad better but the GTI gets better HWY miles. The only reason I have the Fusion is that its a company provided vehicle...no way would I have bought one.

Big Red on the other hand takes the cake - 10mpg on the highway! :w00t:

Big Red is gets worse gas mileage than my Wrangler....:lol:

 

[x_paradoxal_x]

I just moved back to the US after a 2 year stint in the UK, and wow, petrol here is cheap. I have come from paying nearly $8.50 to $9 for diesel/petrol (I had a diesel mk6 there). The high prices in america may be a good thing for the quality of our vehicles. In europe 50% of the vehicles are diesel engined, why? Because they need to be as efficient as possible. No one wants to drive a petrol engined car with an auto box, because it uses too much fuel. I have a mk6 GTI and my dad's car is a mk6 TDI, and although the TDI was more expensive, and wont pay for its premium for a long time if petrol prices stay below $4 per gal, there is always the possibility that petrol/diesel will go through the roof, and the diesel will be sipping the fuel.

The US government puts so many restrictions on diesel engined cars, and sets very high standards for them, the auto makers (Ford, GM, Asian cars) do not want to spend the extra money to develop different diesel engines than the ones they use in the rest of the world. With fuel prices sky rocketing (30 more cents a gallon is not that bad, unless you drive thousands of miles per month), the government may look to make more effecient vehicles quickly. The answer to that is the diesel engine. Lift some of the restrictions and flood the market with more diesels, perhaps more manual trannys, and people can get ridiculous fuel economy like the rest of the world enjoys. Trying to get fuel prices down is ridiculous, that will never happen, they will always be on the rise no matter how slowly or quickly. The thing to do is try to make the most of the fuel you have, not sqaundering it on an SUV that you, let's be honest, probably don't NEED. Driving a Vauxhall diesel eco 1.2 or 1.4 or a Ford fiesta diesel with barely 100 bhp may not be pretty, comfortable, or posh, but you will be getting around bloody cheap.

When it comes down to prices on fuel, we the motorists will always buy petrol, even if it was $10 per gallon. What we will change however is, what we drive, and how we drive.

I really wanted to get the GTD here in america, but sadly that can't happen. I love my GTI, but I also love diesels. Why can't VW sell the Polo, Fox/Lupo, Golf Bluemotion?

 

[mitsuplexnyc]

Petroleum based fuels are, long term, fully unsustainable. It doesn't matter if you reflect on it from an economic position, foreign policy position, or an environmental position; there will be a day when they are too expensive for the average person to rely on. People need to be ready for that.

The first step in getting people ready should be revoking the $60 Billion (yes, $60 Billion) that the U.S. Government gives in subsidies (gifts) to the oil companies. That cash should be redirected into Nuclear, Clean Energy, and Smart Grid implementation.

The natural result would that gas prices would be reflected at their actual cost, rather than hiding their cost in our tax dollars.

The writing is on the wall for production of new internal combustion engines. I think the end is still very far off, but its now definitely on the horizon.

I hope the recent explosions experienced in Fukushima and around Japan do not become a deterrent for civil nuclear development. IMHO, now is the time to consider new safeguards for facilities rather than devolve public progress and duality towards this form of energy.

 

[krische]

I hope the recent explosions experienced in Fukushima and around Japan do not become a deterrent for civil nuclear development. IMHO, now is the time to consider new safeguards for facilities rather than devolve public progress and duality towards this form of energy.

Yeah that is what I'm afraid of. Everyone will be like "look how unsafe nuclear is" and not take into account that:

A) That nuclear plant was build in the 1970s.
B) It was tested to withstand up to a 7.9 earthquake, last reports I heard was the main quake was 9.0 at the epicenter.

 

[x_paradoxal_x]

When fuel to heat homes, cook food, heat your shower, power the lights, and generally keep the world turning goes up in price, the public will be much more aimiable towards nuclear power. Let's face it, wind energy is a black hole for money, solar is too inefficient, and there is only so much in the way of fossil fuels. Since the development of nuclear power there have been only a few nuclear power plant disasters that were bad, Chernobyl, the recent Fukishima, and in the 50's Windscale. I think that the benefits of cheap and almost limitless nuclear power far outweighs its costs.

 

[vwjunky]

Has no one considered the power of flatulence? Think about it... 7 billion people on this planet all releasing a viable alternative fuel from their anuses every day. I'm speaking of course of Methane.

If every man, woman and child were to wear a butt-plug with a methane collector attached to it we could, dare I say it, solve our energy crisis overnight.

Discuss.