Honda Car Forum

"Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message
news:68r5a31jtlbrj9gog1h16ksmcmv85k44q6@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:45:27 -0700, piclistguy@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>>I noticed that Arco is the cheapest priced gas around.
>>Is there anything wrong with it or it bad for Honda engines?
>
> I hate ARCO. Too many of them won't let you use a credit card without
> making a trip inside because they charge more for the gas if you
> charge it.

This is strictly illegal in the state of Texas.. A provision of the state
Deceptive Trade Practices Act prohibits it, and fines and prison sentences
can result.

> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote
>
> Here's what you do: run several tanks of Arco, and figure out how many
> cents per mile it costs to run.
>
> Then run several tanks of Shell and figure out how many cents per mile
> it costs to run.
>
> It's all about the fuel cost per mile, and not at all about the price
> per gallon at the pump.

Unless you drive the same trip all the time, I think it'll take way more
than a few tankfuls to average out the noise in that measurement. I went
through ten tankfuls of regular in my car, and ten of premium, and got
slightly better gas mileage with regular (about 1%), which I don't believe
for an instant, especially since the car feels slightly better running on
premium.

It might be possible to make this measurement if your car has an MPG meter,
and you do the same test run on a particular piece of road at a particular
speed, on windless days.

--

Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailtoderocco@ix.netcom.com

["Followup-To:" header set to ca.driving.]

> Gas is gas, until the vendor adds its additive packages.

Even then....

On Jul 22, 12:45 am, piclist...@yahoo.com wrote:
> I noticed that Arco is the cheapest priced gas around.
> Is there anything wrong with it or it bad for Honda engines?

It's cheaper because they are not paying merchant discount on credit
cards. I tried buying gas twice in Arco stations outside of San Diego
and twice they screwed up the amount of the prepayment. There are
enough other gas stations around who have their act together that the
minor price difference with Arco is not worth it.

In article <B86dnRciba5WmDnbnZ2dnUVZ_rWtnZ2d@adelphia.com>,
"Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> Unless you drive the same trip all the time, I think it'll take way more
> than a few tankfuls to average out the noise in that measurement. I went
> through ten tankfuls of regular in my car, and ten of premium, and got
> slightly better gas mileage with regular (about 1%), which I don't believe
> for an instant, especially since the car feels slightly better running on
> premium.

You think "premium" means "better", which is what the gas company wants
you to believe.

In article <ghToi.27715$2v1.20392@newssvr14.news.prodigy.net> ,
hls@nospam.nix says...
>
> "Ashton Crusher" <demi@moore.net> wrote in message
> news:68r5a31jtlbrj9gog1h16ksmcmv85k44q6@4ax.com...
> > On Sat, 21 Jul 2007 21:45:27 -0700, piclistguy@yahoo.com wrote:
> >
> >>I noticed that Arco is the cheapest priced gas around.
> >>Is there anything wrong with it or it bad for Honda engines?
> >
> > I hate ARCO. Too many of them won't let you use a credit card without
> > making a trip inside because they charge more for the gas if you
> > charge it.
>
> This is strictly illegal in the state of Texas.. A provision of the state
> Deceptive Trade Practices Act prohibits it, and fines and prison sentences
> can result.

Once again, credit SURCHARGES are illegal in Texas; cash DISCOUNTS are
not.

--Gene

Paul D. DeRocco wrote:
>> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote
>>
>> Here's what you do: run several tanks of Arco, and figure out how many
>> cents per mile it costs to run.
>>
>> Then run several tanks of Shell and figure out how many cents per mile
>> it costs to run.
>>
>> It's all about the fuel cost per mile, and not at all about the price
>> per gallon at the pump.
>
> Unless you drive the same trip all the time, I think it'll take way more
> than a few tankfuls to average out the noise in that measurement. I went
> through ten tankfuls of regular in my car, and ten of premium, and got
> slightly better gas mileage with regular (about 1%), which I don't believe
> for an instant, especially since the car feels slightly better running on
> premium.

you measured but you don't believe it???

anyway, depending on whether you have a knock sensor, running a car
tuned for regular on premium /will/ result in slightly inferior gas
mileage. higher octane means lower combustion rate, so the gas needs to
be ignited earlier. if it's tuned for regular [with no knock sensor],
that won't happen, and you'll be getting less from each combustion cycle.

>
> It might be possible to make this measurement if your car has an MPG meter,
> and you do the same test run on a particular piece of road at a particular
> speed, on windless days.
>

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <_KPoi.56$4O5.43@newsfe06.lga>,
> The Real Bev <bashley101+usenet@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>>> I noticed that Arco is the cheapest priced gas around.
>>>> Is there anything wrong with it or it bad for Honda engines?
>> Gas is gas, unless part of it is water :-(
>
> Gas is gas, until the vendor adds its additive packages.
>
even then, different producers use differing catalysis yielding slightly
different base product qualities. results are within a few percent, but
they exist nevertheless.

In article <B86dnRciba5WmDnbnZ2dnUVZ_rWtnZ2d@adelphia.com>,
"Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@ix.netcom.com> wrote:

> > "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote
> >
> > Here's what you do: run several tanks of Arco, and figure out how many
> > cents per mile it costs to run.
> >
> > Then run several tanks of Shell and figure out how many cents per mile
> > it costs to run.
> >
> > It's all about the fuel cost per mile, and not at all about the price
> > per gallon at the pump.
>
> Unless you drive the same trip all the time, I think it'll take way more
> than a few tankfuls to average out the noise in that measurement. I went
> through ten tankfuls of regular in my car, and ten of premium, and got
> slightly better gas mileage with regular (about 1%), which I don't believe
> for an instant, especially since the car feels slightly better running on
> premium.
>
> It might be possible to make this measurement if your car has an MPG meter,
> and you do the same test run on a particular piece of road at a particular
> speed, on windless days.

Cars can run better or worse on different octane ratings. I've
experienced cars with an aggressive lean burn mode run less efficiently
when the octane is too high. The symptoms were exhaust buzzing, loss of
power, and reduced milage during light throttle cruising.

High performance cars may be physically designed for 91 octane. Most of
these can run on on 87 octane too but the engine will loose some
performance as the ECU tries to avoid pre-detonation conditions. I've
heard that lower octane reduces the milage but I haven't experienced
that personally. Driving conditions is likely the biggest factor in
what happens with de-tuned operation.

Good info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating

Paul D. DeRocco wrote:

>> "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote
>>
>> Here's what you do: run several tanks of Arco, and figure out how many
>> cents per mile it costs to run.
>>
>> Then run several tanks of Shell and figure out how many cents per mile
>> it costs to run.
>>
>> It's all about the fuel cost per mile, and not at all about the price
>> per gallon at the pump.
>
> Unless you drive the same trip all the time, I think it'll take way more
> than a few tankfuls to average out the noise in that measurement. I went
> through ten tankfuls of regular in my car, and ten of premium, and got
> slightly better gas mileage with regular (about 1%), which I don't believe
> for an instant, especially since the car feels slightly better running on
> premium.

Heh. My car runs better when it's clean.

--
Cheers, Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(On going to war over religion "You're basically killing each other
to see who's got the better imaginary friend." -- Rich Jeni