Using Costoc 93 for years. ZERO issues with any cars.

 

There is only store with pumps around here. We visit only when we shop and It is impossible to fill the Porsche gas tank as its frunk is too small to accommodate our costco purchases

 

You wouldn't believe how much stuff I can fit in the trunk of 996 on Costco trips.

 

Paper goods alone will exceed the frunk storage capacity for us.

 

Found a station that sells 100 octane today. Unleaded. Has Ethanol though.

Think the engine would run better?? I've heard there would be a slight improvement.

They sell 98 Octane no ethanol too, but not direct pump to the vehicle. You have to fill up your own can. That stuff is even more expensive. Maybe good for storing over the winter.

 

Filled up today. Sonoco 100 octane unleaded. Has ethanol unfortunately. Less than 10% though.

Drove 45 min to get it. They have 98 no ethanol, but you have to put it in a can (no direct pump).

All I can say is holy crap!

So much more responsive! The gas pedal is so sensitive and just moves with no hesitation or lag. It's not a placebo effect either! A huge difference! I'm telling you, day and night. Even at $7.00+ a gallon, I'm hooked!

 

Recent article in Excellence Magazine about ethanol.....

They claim, in Germany, high ethanol content is the norm & Porsches are tuned accordingly.

 

I've had bad luck with Costco gas, but that was in my Cayenne S- after two tankfulls I had a lot of hesitation, now I'm back to Sunoco 93, but inherently all gas in the Northeast switches over to a "winter blend" plus you have up to 10 percent ethanol mixed in. I'm not aware of anywhere where you can by "real" gas in PA. Sunoco doesn't participate in the top tier program but is outstanding and domestic/North American gasoline. BP - nope, most others nope.

As a further irrelevant aside Sunoco was acquired by a TX firm and sold it's refining assets in Philly, though it uses the same historical blend.

 

My concern with the ethanol is the water content during storage months. Got some Stabil, so no big deal. At the end of the day, it's just filler and less gas mileage with corn subsidies.

Was thinking about subscribing to Excellence. Seems like a good magazine??

 

Here are a few good references for gas:

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

http://pure-gas.org/

 

I usually use Sunoco ultra, but did costco the other day for $295. But I see sunoco is not on the list above... Hmmm.

 

I know - FWIW I actually called them - and they said the reason they don't participate in the top tier program is that it's expensive, there's a lot of testing done to insure compliance, but Sunoco blends their formulas - and always have to exceed whatever the most stringent detergency standards are. There are lots of stories of people that have used nothing but Sunoco and then when the ultimately had engine work done their valves were gleaming. Sunoco clearly spends booku bucks on advertising so it is odd that they just don't participate.

 

Top Tier is a marketing gimmick.

Detergency is not so critical in Direct Injected engines, the fuel never touches the intake valve, so it can't clean it.

Costco gets its gas from the same place that Exxon, Shell, BP etc do, it all common carrier, fungible gas and is shared interchangeably.

Sunoco is the only one left that makes their own premium and transports it separately all the way to the station. However there is nothing special about the Ultra 'blend;, other than it is 94 octane. Amoco used to do the same thing with Ultimate, but not because of octane, it was because they filtered it. BP stopped that when they took them over.

People spend way too much time fretting over perceived differences in gasoline, when really there aren't any.

Bottom line, Costco is as good as any, usually much cheaper, so if it's not out of your way and the lines aren't long, by all means use it.

 

Yep, folks obsess about it endlessly.. About 30 years ago I knew a distribution guy who at that time told me much of the fuel was brokered back and forth between the major refinery brands mainly to minimize transportation costs so you were never sure who's it was.. The most important thing was to avoid moisture content in the tanks at the end storage/ gas station location.

A lesson I learned in the aviation world where our main concern is getting the correct fuel ( ie not jet) and separating the moisture out in the tanks...

 

The best wait to avoid the chance of moisture? Go to newer, high volume stations. Wait, that's Costco...