Can You Save Money With Generic Gas and Not Harm Your Car?

As the price of fuel goes up and up more drivers are thinking about using generic gas from stations that are not affiliated with the big international gas companies like Exxon or Shell. The question is, can you get the same quality of gas from ABC gas station as you can get from the big guys? Will the XYZ gas run your car with out causing damage to your engine?

The answer simply is, there is not much of a significant difference between the generic gas and the more expensive gas except for some additives which each company has added to it's gas. To really understand how this is possible a short look at how the gas refining system treats gas makes the picture easy to see.

Gasoline produced at refineries is a generic product. A good example to illustrate the gas terminal concept is California where all gas sold there has to meet the same environmental specifications. Since all the gas in California has to be to the same specifications it doesn't matter whose gas the refiners use, it's all the same. Because of this, the refiners often trade gasoline and store gasoline at shared terminals where all the gas is in common tanks.

The gas that is made at one refinery is pretty much the same as any other refinery. They all make generic gas. The additives that are put into the generic gas are what makes one brand of gas different from another brand of gas. Each has it's own particular recipe or formula of additives.

Such blending or adding of these brand chemicals or additives typically takes place when the gasoline is being loaded into a tanker truck for further distribution. In other words all the brands are starting with essentially the same generic gas as their main component. So generic gas is basically the same as the branded gas.

Just to make sure, there have been some studies on the difference between generic gas and branded gas. A joint study on this was done by ABC News and the Maryland State Comptroller's office.

Scientists at the Maryland Fuel Testing Laboratory engaged a battery of tests on generic and branded gas. The gas was scrutinized for many things including contaminants like excessive sediments or diesel mixed with the gas. The scientists put the gas through an elaborate engine to make sure that the gasoline was the same 87 octane level. The scientists at the lab even made sure that the gas was formulated properly as mandated for the current season.

The good news for the consumer is generic and branded gas had nothing but minor differences. They found that by and large the gas was one and the same. The primary difference between competing brands of gasoline is the amount of detergent or additives the distributors add to it. Even then the differences are small.

So basically gas is gas and all the gas sold in stations whether it is from a branded station or a generic station will work just fine in your car. The biggest difference it turns out is only price.

It is reported that the average gas consumer could save between $100 and $200 per year by using generic gas. To save yourself some cash next time you fill up use the generic station.

Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/

Scott Siegel has written a 143 page manual of automotive industry insider information on saving gas and money at the pump. Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
This and other unique content lower gas costs articles are available with free reprint rights.

Please Rate The Above Article From The Automotive Category
Article Title: Can You Save Money With Generic Gas and Not Harm Your Car?

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated

Syndicate Automotive Related Articles Via RSS!

Boost your websites' search engine ranking! Attract more repeat visitors!
Automatically, consistently update your content via Really Simple Syndication (RSS). To syndicate the above article and other Automotive related articles on your blog or site, simply click on the XML Icon above to grab the RSS feed -- It's FREE!

Subject to Orbitaloc.com's Publisher Terms of Service, you may reprint this article on your own website, blog, and ezine. (English only) You may also syndicate the article via Really Simple Syndication (RSS). It is free of charge.

Free Articles on Automotive and Other FREE Content Article Topics
The preceeding is an informative article from the Automotive category.

Visit Our Sponsor for 2 Free Quarts of Liquid Vitamins