Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:24:13 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: While Talking About Fuel
In-Reply-To: <000d01cb0e56$76889530$6399bf90$@com>
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---- Robert Fisher <garciasghostvw@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> I've had occasion to talk to several different gasoline tank truckers
> (because they interrupt me when I'm working), and they've all basically told
> me that gas is gas is gas... _except_ for Chevron, and some of the other
> "premium" brands with the additives. They would fill the truck and drive
> from ARCO to Fastrip to whatever with the same load, but with something like
> Chevron they would put the additive package in the tank, fill it with the
> base gas and go from Chevron to Chevron.
We don't have Chevron stations here (central Oklahoma), but I travel regularly to West Texas, as I have an aging aunt who lives near Odessa, and part of her care falls to me. By chance, she worked for Chevron (first Gulf, but moved over with the buyout) for many years. The company is dominant in the area, and one non-branded vendor and one Chevron dealer told me that if you buy gasoline in Monahans, Texas you will be getting Chevron gasoline delivered by a Chevron truck, doesn't matter what the store front name is. My aunt won't buy any gasoline except from Chevron dealers, because she says, "They pay my pension." I once pointed out that she earned the pension, and loyalty to the company isn't a requirement, especially since despite her getting a 5 cents per gallon retiree discount, she still pays 8 - 10 cents more if the store front says Chevron. She gave me a bad nephew look, and said something about 35 years meaning something.
<stuff cut>
> As for elevation, we're over 2000' and all of the gas here (as well as north
> and west into higher elevations) is 87. I was in Durango in September almost
> 4(3?) years ago and I swear I think the gas I got there was 87, which I
> remember thinking at the time was very strange.
Just about every where I go in the mountain west (in fact, in the plains before getting to the mountains), the AKI rating posted on the pumps is 85 or 86 for regular. I make it a point to notice, and pay the extra for mid-grade if the regular rating is 85. However, whenever I've been stuck, as at a dirt road cross roads in Nevada, and ONLY 85 AKI was available, the waterboxer did not knock, and mileage was as usual (about 19.5 mpg). On that particular 4800 mile trip, however, my mileage varied dramatically, from 17.4 to 23.5 mpg. I assumed conditions (wind, temperature, grade) made the difference.
David McNeely
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