Best fuel?

TDR

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Shell and Esso are ethanol free. PCan is not. No names are hit and miss depending who they buy from.
 

altaredneck

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Little concerned filled my turbo nytro up with 94 petrocan haven't ran it yet should I drain it out. What are people's experiences. Ps just bought it am I better off to just run shell v power 91
 

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Not all Esso's. The two by my place are 5% ethanol on 91 and 10% on 87 and 89. Some stations are ethanol free though on 91
 

ABMax24

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I'll elaborate on this a little:

Ethanol is "bad" for a few reasons;

First it attracts water and emulsifies it with the fuel, meaning water can't just be separated off if moisture occurs in storage tank.

Second if enough water is present the ethanol and water mixture will separate off leading to issue 3

Third Ethanol is used as an octane booster as it has an octane of 100 by itself, so when it separates off due to large quantities of moisture in a holding tank the remaining fuel is of lower octane than it should be.

Fourth Ethanol is an Oxygenate fuel, meaning it carries its own oxygen, which requires changes in jetting or fueling to ensure enough fuel is present to avoid a lean condition. Although this oxygen can create more power is used effectively, being the reason E85 vehicles often have 2 power ratings with the E85 rating being higher, and then reason high performance engines often run methanol (another oxygenate alcohol fuel).

Fifth Ethanol is a stronger solvent than traditional gasoline and can wash the oil off of cylinder walls and bearings and expedite wear, now modern oils and engine should be designed to cope with this, and its effect is often argued it's however still a factor to consider.
 

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Besides the PetroCan 94, has anyone seen a pump lately that has a dedicated premium nozzle? Seems they are now always combined. One nozzle, three grades. At best you're getting several litres of the Yaris before you's 87 that the hose is charged with before the 91 comes. That's assuming the switching valves inside the pump are functioning. Also, a lot of the PetroCan's started carrying the 94 but I didn't see any new tanks installed. Obviously there is some 'magic' blending going on in the pump to make four grades out of two?
 

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Hmmm, isn't that from an old article from the '90s? Fuel tank at PC stations are dipped for water on a daily basis, like most stations... Theoretically, should never have a water issue. I've used PC 94 octane on all my sleds since it became available, and never an issue. Especially with fuel injected engines, one should never have an issue with ethanol, and if nothing else, talk about clean injectors :). Ethanol isn't blended at the stations. All the different grades and additives are blended at the racks(where they dispense into the tanker trucks) ... Keep in mind shell, Esso, and PC are all similar blends with as many as 26 additives installed into trucks going to their own stations... Costco, CTire, Safeway and all the no name brands, buy their stock from the big 3, and usually just get the 1 button pushed, and sometimes, gas deicer, depending on purchaser, and this can be ethanol or methanol or a combination.... So "cheap" fuel. The big 3 get up to 26 additives installed, which include octane boosters, rust inhibitors, several types of cleaners, flashpoint boosters, etc..... So, I'll always stick with the big 3 for all my vehicles. I've toured all 3 refineries in the Edmonton area, and it is a real eye opener....


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bourgon

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Wife's car had some injector probloms runs prem fuel, mechanic said stop using Costco and superstore fuel it was crap! That's all I know! I like shell never had probloms with it and I get air miles
 

Summitric

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Costco is straight raw graded fuel... No additives. They can sell it cheaper that way..... You get what u pay for, and they're still making good money on you, for inferior product.


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pfi572

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Costco is straight raw graded fuel... No additives. They can sell it cheaper that way..... You get what u pay for, and they're still making good money on you, for inferior product.


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And where do you get this info from?
Again Costco fuel comes right from the Shell refinery.
Your telling us that they make special fuel for Costco??
My info comes right from Shell bulk supplier as it pisses them off that they sell for less.
I would think they would know?
 

Ol' Sarge

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Costco is straight raw graded fuel... No additives. They can sell it cheaper that way..... You get what u pay for, and they're still making good money on you, for inferior product.


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I have no dog in this fight and I've never bought a liter of fuel from Costco in my life. My guess is they went through the effort and cost to get Top Tier designation so that people wouldn't make unfounded claims like this. The testing requirements are listed here:



No doubt the primary focus for their fuel standard is deposit control but other parameters must also be met. Note that not only is the final retail fuel tested but the original base fuel must also be tested to prevent a retailer from loading up poor fuel with enough additives to pass the test. This same outfit gives it's stamp of approval to Shell, Chevron, Esso, and PC. If Costco fuel meets the specs then why do people keep on with the internet rumours?
 

X-it

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The best fuel is Aspen fuel. You can get it in straight gas or 50-1 mix. I use it in all my small engines, power saws, weed wackers, generators and outboards. End of fuel problems with this fuel.
 

slededjr

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All the fuel in N.A. is the same until it gets put into the trucks at fill station on 92 Ave and 1 street. Every Truck from Shell, P Can, Esso, AFD, 4 refuel etc is filled at that Depot. When being filled is when the additives ( for each vendor) are added to the fuel. Until then it sits in the bulk storage as the same fuel. That's what I was told by them a few years ago.

To the point of Costco being a raw fuel, Ric may be right.
 

LennyR

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Costco is straight raw graded fuel... No additives. They can sell it cheaper that way..... You get what u pay for, and they're still making good money on you, for inferior product.


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Is the lack of additives a bad thing for the performance or longevity of a snowmobile engine Ric. ?

ps, or any other engine ?
 

Keith Brown

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I to have used PC 94 and probably will continue to. PC 94 was ethanol free when I checked before I started using it. But Jr claimed in this thread that PC 94 in GP had alcohol which lead me to the PC web site where I found this. "Does Ultra 94 contain ethanol? Does Petro-Canada still offer an ethanol-free gasoline?
Ultra 94 contains ethanol. Due to the fact that various fuel grades are blended at the point of sale, most grades of Petro-Canada fuel may now contain up to 10% ethanol. This represents a change from the previous state, where premium fuel was ethanol-free at Petro-Canada."

The other nugget of information I got from this is that they (the truck driver) are blending at the station. I am assuming for example that you mix equal parts 94 and 89 will give you 91.5 and so on. I am not sure how I feel about "blending at the point of sale" sure hope the truckers math skills are good??? Just wonder how much off spec fuel the consumer buys

2Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]1603]Hmmm, isn't that from an old article from the '90s? Fuel tank at PC stations are dipped for water on a daily basis, like most stations... Theoretically, should never have a water issue. I've used PC 94 octane on all my sleds since it became available, and never an issue. Especially with fuel injected engines, one should never have an issue with ethanol, and if nothing else, talk about clean injectors :). Ethanol isn't blended at the stations. All the different grades and additives are blended at the racks(where they dispense into the tanker trucks) ... Keep in mind shell, Esso, and PC are all similar blends with as many as 26 additives installed into trucks going to their own stations... Costco, CTire, Safeway and all the no name brands, buy their stock from the big 3, and usually just get the 1 button pushed, and sometimes, gas deicer, depending on purchaser, and this can be ethanol or methanol or a combination.... So "cheap" fuel. The big 3 get up to 26 additives installed, which include octane boosters, rust inhibitors, several types of cleaners, flashpoint boosters, etc..... So, I'll always stick with the big 3 for all my vehicles. I've toured all 3 refineries in the Edmonton area, and it is a real eye opener....
 

Summitric

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And where do you get this info from?
Again Costco fuel comes right from the Shell refinery.
Your telling us that they make special fuel for Costco??
My info comes right from Shell bulk supplier as it pisses them off that they sell for less.
I would think they would know?

comes from whichever refinery they get best deal from... I believe they do have a contract with Shell right now for supply. Like I said, when a tanker pulls into the Shell dispensing rack, they get 1 or 2 buttons pressed for their basic fuel supply. Shell would probably get at least 20 buttons pressed for all their different additives... I'm quite sure they're not giving Costco their "blended" fuel... Like I said, Ive toured all 3 major refineries, and it is quite interesting...
 

Summitric

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All the fuel in N.A. is the same until it gets put into the trucks at fill station on 92 Ave and 1 street. Every Truck from Shell, P Can, Esso, AFD, 4 refuel etc is filled at that Depot. When being filled is when the additives ( for each vendor) are added to the fuel. Until then it sits in the bulk storage as the same fuel. That's what I was told by them a few years ago.

To the point of Costco being a raw fuel, Ric may be right.

each refinery has their own dispensing rack... the PCan rack is at the refinery, as is the Shell rack... the Esso rack is on about 42 street and 92 avenue(just south of the Esso refinery).... these three producers fuel most of western Canada from what I understood. Fas Gas, obviously has a small refinery down on the QE2. So for example, if a tanker pulls into the PCan refinery and delivering fuel to a PCan station, then there are approx 20 or more buttons pressed, depending on the grade of fuel, for all the additives etc....... whereas another truck may be delivering to Canadian tire, and only get 1 button pressed and "zero" additives.
Now they sell for the same price at the pumps, but I know which fuel I'd be running.
The big 3 all have similar formulas, and I like all 3, but I do prefer the 94 octane of the PCan for my sled. I use Esso for everything else if I can because of the airmiles :)
 
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