Crap Gasoline Rant

[yotewacker]

I have 25 Ford F250 vans. They all get around 12-13 mpg.

A couple of months ago I was told almost all gas stations switched from a winter blend to a summer blend.

Now my vans has dropped to 9-10 mpg. I'm told it's common with the summer blend.

I'm thinking the summer blend is watered down with something to make fewer gallon go further for resale.

But, the gas prices have not changed and I"m using around 20-25% more gas to cover the same distance.

Does anyone else check there mileage with every tank?
Have you noticed the summer difference?

Two of the vans have less than 10,000 miles. So it is not plugs or such.

 

[fallenangel1]

My mileage fluctuates by about 50 miles per tank, between 250-300 .. I tend to blame my driving more than the gas though. Ive never heard about summer or winter blends .. I always thought gas was gas. :-/

 

[Cameramonkey]

my rant is that it goes "bad" even with stabilizers in it. more than 3 months old and my trimmer and ESPECIALY my snowblower refuse to run on the stuff. go buy a brand new gallon and they both fire right up.

Not sure what is worse, the crappy chinese knockoff engines or the gas...

 

[Scutter01]

I carefully track my gas mileage as I drive quite a bit for work. I haven't seen any drop.

 

[fallenangel1]

my rant is that it goes "bad" even with stabilizers in it. more than 3 months old and my trimmer and ESPECIALY my snowblower refuse to run on the stuff. go buy a brand new gallon and they both fire right up.

Not sure what is worse, the crappy chinese knockoff engines or the gas...

haha .. Id blame the weed eater .. or at least the seal on the gas tanks. I have my standard white trash cars sitting in my front yard and theyve had the same tanks of gas for nearly a year and they start and run just fine.

 

[Cameramonkey]

shhhh... dont tell him I just started siphoning gas out of his truck for my lawnmower... LOL

Seriously thought, I have seen that problem before. gas miles drop dramatically and you discover gas isnt going out of the tank the usual way...

 

[Brandon]

My mileage fluctuates by about 50 miles per tank, between 250-300 .. I tend to blame my driving more than the gas though. Ive never heard about summer or winter blends .. I always thought gas was gas. :-/

I thought winter blends had fewer additives in it, allowing for more gas plus the cooler temps to help increase mpgs.

Summer gas supposedly has more additives which equals less gas.

I get between 275-300 with the M5 per tank. My truck, 250 would be a good tank.

Never had an issue starting a lawn mower with the gas from the previous season or the snow blower for that matter.
The generator has an easy fuel cut off that I use so never had an issue there either.

 

[jesse485]

I've nearly always had better mileage in the summer months. I was under the impression that winter blend had more additives. Are you getting all of your gas from the same station or brand?

 

[The Keymaster]

I always seem to get BETTER mileage with summer blend...usually 3 MPG or more.

 

[Brandon]

Fuel Mileage Dropping? Blame The Winter Blend Gasoline

I was half way right :-/

 

[IndyUSMC]

According to this article, gas milage should increase.

Refineries begin rolling out summer blend as gas nears $4 mark | Fox 59 News – fox59.com

 

[mayor al]

My Ford F 150 has a monitoring info readout on fuel consumption and range left on the current tank of fuel.

When we fill it up we have an anticipated range of 640-650 miles. (37 gallon tank.) I average 18.5-19.7 mpg according to the truck's computer. No big difference in the seasonal changes. BTW wife's Ford Focus gets double the mpg (36-39mpg)

 

[Dufus]

I have 25 Ford F250 vans. They all get around 12-13 mpg.

A couple of months ago I was told almost all gas stations switched from a winter blend to a summer blend.

Now my vans has dropped to 9-10 mpg. I'm told it's common with the summer blend.

I'm thinking the summer blend is watered down with something to make fewer gallon go further for resale.

But, the gas prices have not changed and I"m using around 20-25% more gas to cover the same distance.

Does anyone else check there mileage with every tank?
Have you noticed the summer difference?

Two of the vans have less than 10,000 miles. So it is not plugs or such.

------------------
It's likely the amount of alcohol in the fuel. There's not nearly as much carbon in EtOH as there is in gasoline, so it takes more to get the same power out. Are you sure we've not switched to E15 fuel in defiance of the ban?

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

Do you fuel the vehicles at the same place ?

I use the 66 and my car runs fine and I get around 400 miles a tank .

If I get Speedway fuel my mileage DROPS and my car runs like crap .

 

[Brandon]

Do you fuel the vehicles at the same place ?

I use the 66 and my car runs fine and I get around 400 miles a tank .

If I get Speedway fuel my mileage DROPS and my car runs like crap .

I refuse to use speedway gas for the same reasons. I'm sure there will be someone here to say gas is gas but speedway gas has never been good in any o my vehicles.

 

[horsehaulin]

Winter blend gas is just that, it's a blend of gas and gas antifreeze, that's why mileage drops in the winter.

Winter blend diesel has kerosene added to it to lower its gel point. Also reducing economy.

As for your reduced economy now. The switch has taken place, but some refineries are still using the last of that fuel. These last couple of fills could be the bottom of the tank if you know what I mean. Give it a few weeks, if it does not improve, change fueling stations and brands. If economy still has not changed, replace all fuel filters and report back any change.

PM me if you want more advice or help. I manage maintenance on my families fleet of tow trucks.

 

[bobbittle]

I refuse to use speedway gas for the same reasons. I'm sure there will be someone here to say gas is gas but speedway gas has never been good in any o my vehicles.

I use premium from Speedway in my '12 Focus. Currently getting 44ish mpg. I only fill up at BP, Shell, or Speedway. 90+% Speedway.

I also make a point to only fill up at BUSY gas stations. That way (theoretically) the gas turnover is higher, so it's fresher.

 

[IndyUSMC]

Winter blend gas is just that, it's a blend of gas and gas antifreeze, that's why mileage drops in the winter.

Winter blend diesel has kerosene added to it to lower its gel point. Also reducing economy.

The first statement is false.

The second statement is true, not sure about the kerosene but the intent is to lower the gel point.

 

[nascarfantoo]

I work for one of those evil oil companies at a refinery. Every year we go through the cycle of summer-winter blend then back. Here is a decent article on the difference ..

HowStuffWorks "Summer-grade versus Winter-grade Fuel"

Also, what a most people don't know is that gasoline in Indy may not be the same as gas in Louisville. There are hundreds of "blends" of that are made. The differences are with the as RVP, additives, ethanol, etc. and in most cases are dictated by state and local regulations. I am told that a refinery and terminal may have to "blend" over 50 different formulations for the different markets. Adds to the cost.

Regulatory (mostly EPA) requirements add a bunch. EPA is considering further reductions in sulfur in gasoline that could require our refinery similar to ours to invest in excess of $100,000,000 in order to make that gasoline. Doesn't increase production capabilities.

 

[Kagnew]

I'm sure there will be someone here to say gas is gas

To a certain extent, yes - gas is gas. Gasoline which meets certain minimum octane and detergency standards is considered a fungible commodity. The differences between brands occurs at the rack when different companies' proprietary additives are added. Gasoline refined by - say - BP at Whiting enters the pipeline. It might come out of that pipeline at a Marathon terminal. If there is no Shell terminal in that particular area, the Marathon terminal will maintain of supply of Shell's additive package which will be blended into the transport at the loading rack before it is delivered to a Shell station.

There was a time when gasoline purchased at - for example - a Texaco station had been delivered by a Texaco transport or tankwagon from a terminal or bulkplant which had received it via Texaco-owned or -leased railway tank cars. It had originated at a Texaco refinery which processed crude from Texaco-owned or -leased wells. That scenario, however, is far, far in the past.