Curious if anyone has experienced any legit differences strictly going to top tier gas - my dad has become a devout follower swearing his cars run considerably better, and i just finished reading an article from AAA/Consumer Reports claiming significant differences in carbon buildup on the intake valve...if it's really that big a deal i'll spend a few pennies more but i'm wondering with the CX-5 if others have experimented
Using Top Tier Gas
- Thread starter LarryB78
- Start date
boandlkramer
US Specs in Europe
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- '17 CX-5 GT AWD; '18 BMW X3
Ive read that using super plus is a waste of money for cars that call for regular.
Although it wouldn't hurt if you're using the high end kind with detergents in it every now and then.
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Although it wouldn't hurt if you're using the high end kind with detergents in it every now and then.
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- 23 CX-5 Premium
Top Tier has nothing to do with octane rating, but rather the formulation of the additive package. here's what the proponents of the standard have to say about it:
Since the minimum additive performance standards were first established by the EPA in 1995, most gasoline marketers have actually reduced the concentration level of detergent additive in their gasoline by up to 50%. As a result, the ability of a vehicle to maintain stringent Tier 2 emission standards has been hampered, leading to engine deposits that can have a big impact on in-use emissions and driver satisfaction.
Eight top automakers have raised the bar. TOP TIER™ Detergent Gasoline helps drivers avoid lower quality gasoline which can leave deposits on critical engine parts, reducing engine performance. That's something drivers and automakers can get behind.
Since the minimum additive performance standards were first established by the EPA in 1995, most gasoline marketers have actually reduced the concentration level of detergent additive in their gasoline by up to 50%. As a result, the ability of a vehicle to maintain stringent Tier 2 emission standards has been hampered, leading to engine deposits that can have a big impact on in-use emissions and driver satisfaction.
Eight top automakers have raised the bar. TOP TIER™ Detergent Gasoline helps drivers avoid lower quality gasoline which can leave deposits on critical engine parts, reducing engine performance. That's something drivers and automakers can get behind.
Who "doesn't" sell top tier gas?
I wouldn't know....the only gas stations around my area are top tier only. (Circle-K, Chevron, Shell, QT, Costco)....even ARCO gas is top tier.
...FYI top tier has nothing to do with octane. The above gas stations and many more sell top tier 87 gas.
I wouldn't know....the only gas stations around my area are top tier only. (Circle-K, Chevron, Shell, QT, Costco)....even ARCO gas is top tier.
...FYI top tier has nothing to do with octane. The above gas stations and many more sell top tier 87 gas.
i'm aware that it has everything to do with detergents & nothing to do with octane, merely asking about performance/fuel economy differences others have experienced...around here we have plenty of top tier stations but also plenty of off-brand stations as well as some big names that don't conform to top tier standards (such as sunoco & speedway)
NelsonLewis
Banned
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- 16.5 CX-5 GT AWD w/Tech BRMica
He got jokes.
sadly none of the costco's here on Long Island have gas
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- Plano, Texas, USA
I use Top Tier gas all the time, specifically Shell. You can use Costco gas which is Top Tier too but with very low price. Top Tier gas won't give you immediate engine performance, but will give you long-term benefit of keeping your engine internal clean from carbon deposit.
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- 2014 QX70 AWD
So LarryB78 quoted yrwei52 from a post 2 minutes into the future???
(uhm)
(uhm)
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- Plano, Texas, USA
He may be just typing much faster than me?
I also noticed several Chris_Top_Her Mom's F-Type posts are gone? (uhm)
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- 2014 QX70 AWD
I assumed you deleted your initial post, then reposted it a few minutes later...
Mine has had nothing but Shell gas in it since the day it was picked up. So has my wife's Mazda 6 and both of my motorbikes. Does it make a difference? I don't know. None of the engines have been torn down so I don't have any way to know. It's a few cents difference (less with the rewards card) so no big deal if it's marketing hooey.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Yes, I believe that's exactly what happened. LarryB78 caught my working version which I deleted a bit later.
Greetings from 2021. Just came by to say..
I use Top Tier gas all the time, specifically Shell. You can use Costco gas which is Top Tier too but with very low price. Top Tier gas won't give you immediate engine performance, but will give you long-term benefit of keeping your engine internal clean from carbon deposit.
so said a wise man I once knew.
It's *generally* too hard for an individual to determine whether top tier was beneficial to their car but the studies are conclusive that more detergents, and some studies specifically tested top tier gas, prevent carbon deposits. With that being said, I believe the most damaging place to have carbon deposits is on the intake valves and in a traditional car, the gas is constantly sprayed on the intake valves so top tier gas cleans/prevents build up on them but in our CX-5'S, the gas never touches the intake valves since they're direct injection engines. So we miss out on that benefit but top tier gas will still prevent deposits from elsewhere in our engines - I just don't have enough knowledge to know whether deposits in those areas are very concerning or not.
My last car (which was NOT direct injection) had a bad shake for tens of thousands of miles using the cheapest gas available but two tanks of Chevron (a top tier member) took care of the shake and increased mpg by 4 miles so it clearly cleaned up deposits somewhere that the cheap gas allowed to build up so I've always used top tier gas ever since and will continue to in my cx-5 since I want to get to 200K miles and I'm quite confident that over that many miles, preventing deposits will be helpful.
My last car (which was NOT direct injection) had a bad shake for tens of thousands of miles using the cheapest gas available but two tanks of Chevron (a top tier member) took care of the shake and increased mpg by 4 miles so it clearly cleaned up deposits somewhere that the cheap gas allowed to build up so I've always used top tier gas ever since and will continue to in my cx-5 since I want to get to 200K miles and I'm quite confident that over that many miles, preventing deposits will be helpful.
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That's exactly what my dad keeps talking about, how his grand marquis suddenly stopped shaking and got better mileage once he went strictly to BP
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- 2016.5 CX-5 GT AWD titanium/black 2016 Miata Club ST MT white
I think that where the differences between top tier and others show up would be in long term use, not tank to tank. Those deposits take a while to accumulate.
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