I can make you cry... check out these gas prices.

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Bad

quote:

Originally posted by Tedbear
Stick with what the people who designed and built your car recommend in the Owner's Manual!

You said what I was trying to say. My car is meant to run on 91Octane. As other have said and posted, running premium in a car designed to run on lower octane serves no purpose.

In addition to this forum, I also frequent a "car blog", and I can tell you that at least 2/3 of the questions that people ask about their cars are actually very basic issues that are clearly addressed by the Owner's Manual.

Many of the repair problems that people experience as their cars age are the result of not following the manufacturer's maintenance schedule that is contained either in the Owner's Manual or in a separate booklet provided by the manufacturer.

Also, many people ask questions about the terms of their warranty coverage when that information is also contained in either the Owner's Manual or in a separate booklet with an appropriate title.

All of this leads to the question of why it is so difficult for people to open the glove compartment, take out a booklet (or two), and do a bit of reading. One person, after being advised to refer to her Owner's Manual, responded with a scathing reply to the effect of, "Why would I read something technical that was not written so that the average person could comprehend it?" In reality, car Owner's Manuals are written on, at most, an 8th grade reading level, and the only communication problem related to those manuals is the apparent difficulty in getting people to actually open them and read them.

So, just like the issue of the appropriate octane for one's car, virtually every other issue related to the safe and economical operation of a car can be found in booklets that are sitting in the car's glove compartment. However, I am dumbfounded by how few people actually take the time to consult these easily comprehended booklets. I guess that it is just one more example of the lack of personal responsibility that is so rampant in society today.

But, to return to the issue of octane, many people spend needless money on premium gas even though their Owner's Manual clearly advises the use of regular gas. They have a mistaken idea that using higher octane gas will give them more power, or that it will keep their engine cleaner. And, conversely, there are also people who wind up with engine damage because they operated their car on regular gas, despite warnings in the Owner's Manual that only premium gas should be used. These are classic examples of added expense that could have been avoided simply by reading the materials provided by the car's manufacturer.

quote:

Originally posted by Guilty One

Are there any higher Hi-Test pumps that anyone knows of ?

It varies. 91 is pretty much the minimum here in the Midwest but I see 93 fairly often and in Ogden, Illinois in 2006 I found 94.5. 92 and 94 don't seem to be as common, though. Mid-grade is usually 89 although some places sell 90 or even 91 (usually 93 is the premium grade then), and at least 1 chain (Road Ranger) sells 89 as its regular grade.

There's a Citgo in Park Falls, Wisconsin that has a pump for 100-octane unleaded. Surprisingly, over the years (I pass through once a year) it's been fairly immune to the price fluctuations of the other grades (always around $4.50 or so, give or take a little) but it'll be interesting to see what it is this year.

quote:

In the 60's in the west Chevron Custom Supreme was like 125 or better.

Octane was measured differently back then; this was most likely the Research rating. Octane ratings today are the average of the Research (higher) and Motor (lower) ratings; that's what the "(R+M)/2" sticker on the pumps means.

As a side note, some stations sell a 90/10 ethanol blend for regular and midgrade but 100% gasoline for premium.

Brad

I just seen a report on a news web site that gas in England is now almost $17.00 a gal.
Thats US dollars. They price thier gas over there by the pint I belive.
And on top of it there is a shortage due to some strike.
Chow Jim

England is by the liter. They switched over to metric. But they are close. You still get a quaffable brew by the pint.

This is officially out of control. At least officially in my house.

This is only a couple weeks since my last picture and it's up 60 cents.

I have to repeat that this is not Furnace Creek, Death Valley,
It's suburban Redwood City, Ca just a short ride from four major refineries.



At least folks that can run regular are still in under 5. Oh boy.

Gas prices and the holiday weekend:
 
Here in the Los Angeles area the price of a gallon of regular gas has gone from $4.27 down to $4.05 in the last two weeks.
 
Wednesday I drove to Needles, CA which is on I40 on the Arizona border.  I noticed (and gasped) that a gallon of regular at all of the stations was $4.69.  I wondered how the locals could afford the gas there while also wondering what supported the people that lived there.
 
I left Needles Thursday morning after filling up my tank.  To my horror, the price of a gallon jumped 20¢ to
$4.89 overnight.
 
My only thought is that Needles is a holiday weekend destination because of the Colorado River.  There is nothing else there!
 
Price gouging should be a criminal offense.

Mar, we paid 3.79/gal this past Tuesday morning in Kingman. We stopped for lunch that day in Needles, and it was ... 4.59, I think, at the station next to Juicys. I was really surprised. I'd say they all definitely jacked it for the holiday. Just awful.
 
But it was nice, over the course of a 12-day trip, to see the prices fallfallfall.

Totillie,
I was about to make the same comment comparing Needles (the high price) to Kingman,AZ just 50 miles away and ALWAYS considerably lower. The odd thing is the gas for Kingman comes on trucks from Long Beach CA, and those are the same trucks that deliver gas to Needles on their way to Kingman !!!  Needles has ALWAYS been a rip-off location as far as Gas goes ! I do my best to have enough aboard to avoid the prices there.
 
BTW we bought regular at Costco in Louisville Saturday morning for $3.71/gal.

Gas has dropped to $3.55 in Knoxville.  Strange as I had my mother, Mamaw Smith out day before yesterday and she was gripping about the price of gas.  Quietly, I thought to myself, she has not bought gas, tires, battery or car wash for her car in almost four years.  I have paid for it all.  Sorta funny in a way.  Mamaw is going on 90 years old and I stopped her from driving about four years ago when I saw her driving on a heavily traveled Alcoa hwy at 15 mph.  I now take her every place she needs to go.  I am retired and I really have nothing else to do anyway.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

mayor al


Tony,
I can run my truck and car on the usual 'regular' fuel, until I get out west in Utah and Wyoming where 'regular' is 84 or 85 octane and the elevation is often over 6000 feet, making the oxygen level drop as well. Then I have to use the higher grade of fuel or listen to the pinging and mis-firing of the engine anytime I head up-hill!

 
I drove through there a few years ago, and I was shocked at how bad my then gf's brand new Jetta was running at those heights. I knew it would be affected a little, but it was ridiculous. I didn't realize higher grade fuel would help it out.

When we lived in the High Desert area nE of L A, we were at about 4ooo' ft elevation. i could run the 87 octane regular with no trouble. But we often went on weekend trips up into red-rock country in southern Utah and Nevada where we were in the 6000 and above level for extended period of time. Combine that with the Maverick or Stinker Convenience Store gas stops and we found ourselves fill with premium or adding some Octane booster at each fill-up. Using the Octane Booster from Walmart proved to be the cheapest way out...we got to the point of carrying a bottle of it in the truck on any trip into the Intermountain area.

Just as a side note about the prices in Needles.  If you go off the highway at the turnoff to Bullhead City AZ (11 miles North of Needles) and cross the bridge into AZ, you'll see that Chevron on your left as you head north, their price is normally a dollar cheaper than the I40 Chevron price, it's about two miles to that second station.  Also, keep driving North into Mohave Valley (5 miles) and the price drops even lower.
 
In Bullhead City, AZ, last night on my way home I paid $3.539 per gallon.  I noticed the Maverick station in Bullhead City was priced at $3.599, yet the Maverick in Golden Valley (20 miles away) was $3699, we pay about ten cents a gallon more here than in Bullhead City or Mohave Valley for the same gas off the same truck.
 
Photto

Phottoman,
We have a lot of very good memories of weekends spent in Laughlin/Bullhead City. Glad to hear the gas prices are within the 'miserable range' that we face back here in the East.