Somehow missed this thread and almost sorry I came across it but being in the refined petroleum pipeline business I can let you in on some of the Oil company "secrets" that are not really secrets.
1. Gas is gas.
What I mean is that although some make a "top tier" rated gas, it gets pumped into the same pipeline where most often it is commingled with other gas and maybe even bought and sold to someone else before it gets to it's destination a few days later.
When it gets there, it is likely put into a common tank with everyone elseÆs gas and only separated by a number on the inventory sheet. With 50,000 barrels of gas in a tank with 15-20 other shippers, which 1000 barrels belongs to Company XYZ? Trucks comes in and load out of the same rack for several "Major brands" out of the same piece of pipe.
So if gas is gas, what is the difference between Brands??????
2. Additives..that's what.
As each truck is loaded EVERY load of gas is FEDERALLY MANDATED to receive a minimum amount of additive.
Why??
The Federal Government has done actual research and found that it cleans the engine, makes it run better and cleaner, and allows for improved mileage...which is good for the ozone and conservation...don't you know.
Some Major Brands put a lot of R&D into their brand of additive and claim it cleans engines better and will make your engine run better and last longer.
By the way, the Major Brand of additive put in your gas is extremely minimal...Like .00017 to .00034 of a gallon per gallon of gas. The Fed req min is around .00012
The cost of additive is around $5.00-$15.00 per gallon and must be injected into the truck via it's proprietary injection system at a cost of $150,000 to install.
Some don't think it's worth the R&D or cost and "Share" additive. Some inject this "generic" additive at higher rate.
3. Acetone, alcohol, and other go better additives.
These type of things cannot be put in the pipelines so they will NEVER come out of a refinery.
In AZ we inject 10% alcohol into the truck at the rack into the "winter blend" of fuels to "reduce emissions". This is a lower octane because alcohol is a natural octane boost. Alcohol is around 114-115 octane. They also get a tax break on it because they are helping the Midwest farmers produce corn.
If acetone did a better job, I'm sure we'd inject that...then again maybe not.
That would depend on availability, cost to produce, transport, and inject. This of course would be only after they determine what it did to engines, seals, and ground water.
You remember MTBE? It was actually a petroleum product with many characteristics of alcohol except it ate rubber seals and ruined ground water if and when it got there. It is now banned. Do you want Acetone in your well water when a gas station develops a leaky underground tank?
Those are just SOME of the reasons that the oil companies do what they do and don't do what you do when you add a few ounces of acetone to your rust bucket.
I could go on, but I have written a novel already and my index fingers are tired from typing. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/notooth.gif" alt="" />
