Different car fuel "feels" differently to you?

[epath13]

The question is pretty simple but I've had some issues wording it I'm not a car expert but I'm still curios about one thing - I've noticed that fuel (I use regular 87) from different companies sort of feels different. I usually fuel up only at 2 companies stations: BP and Road Ranger, but recently I was almoust out and fueled up at a different place next to local Walmart. 1st of all I was out of gas much faster than usual even though I put in slightly more that usual. Secondly the ride wasn't as smooth somehow. BP for me feels the best. Have any of you know anything about it? Why does it happen? Or I'm just seeing things and there's no difference?

 

[2010Dolby]

Engines are one of my obsessions so whenever people ask me a question about one my special interests I usually hear them say, "Just give me a simple answer" :lol:

The detailed explanation is that it could be many things, but Im pretty sure its because that new gasoline you tried is watered down. That doesnt mean literally watered down. It means that the fuel is dilluted with unecessary and useless extra stuff. The entire principle of a car engine is combusion. The plug ignites the fuel at TDC of the piston rotation and that forces the piston back down. If a fuel is watered down then the plug could have some trouble with ignition or late ignition. And with the less pure fuel, you're very likely to have a lot of engine gunk and carbon build up in your combustion chambers.

Another thing could be that its a different octane. Octane is basically a fuels rating of its ease to combust. Higher octane means it requires more compression to burn so it yields much more power. Thats why racing engines (and my Firebird ) need special racing pistons to withstand the more explosive burn of a high octane fuel. It puts the balls to the wall but its not a good idea to put it into a regular car or you can hear a ping or a misfire.

Simple anwer: That gasoline is the wrong fuel for your car, or cheap fuel not fit for ANY car.

Also, may I ask what you drive?

 

[epath13]

I've heard about watered down fuel and every time I hear it I can't take the "water"part out of mind even though I understand ir's not water
I remember my dad was trying to explain how combustion engine worked but all I could see in my mind (when I imagined engine from inside) was some fire and pistons pushed somewhere as long as I could't see the whole mechanism in my mind, how it worked from the beginning to the end, maybe even on the molicular level, it was hard for me to grasp it. But now you've started talking about it and I think I'm actually going to check some videos to be able to visualize. Maybe I finally get some inspiration to learn a little bit about cars so I'm not as clueless.

As for octane rating, from what I remember my car is not designed to run on high octane fuel (if it did, we wouldn't buy it, the fuel is too expensive )

So I guess no more unknown names gas stations for me...

And I have Chrysler Town and Country 2007... My husband drove it before me and it did get us through some pretty tough weather conditions, but honestly it wasn't worth the money at all (we're kinda stupid with that choice but that's another story). But despite of all the crap I'm already used to it and have become sort of emotionally attached to it even though it's probably time for a new car...


So do you fix all your cars by yourself?

 

[2010Dolby]

Yea, you should totally poke around on the internet or buy a repair manual for your car. Its pretty interesting and you'll end up saving a lot of money. Your Town and Country wouldnt do to good with some higher octane fuel but luckily that fuel just puts a bit of a ping in the engine until you refill with regular 87. Mostly just an auditory problem, nothing serious

Yeppers, I fix both of my cars up myself which is part of the reason why I bought such an old truck. My truck has such a small amount of wires and electrical components that its basically just a huge block of metal haha thats how I like it. Simple. Reliable. Cheap, easy, and fast to fix. The Firebird is a bit more tricky. Shes more high-tech because she's a performance racing car :/ The only things on cars that I dont work on and I hope I neeeeveeeeeeeer work on is transmissions. Ugh, so dang complex. Just a headache.

And if you ever have any car questions dont hesitate to ask! but just remember that your car is a 2007, and I've never owned a vehicle that we less then 15 years old haha

 

[epath13]

Yea, you should totally poke around on the internet or buy a repair manual for your car. Its pretty interesting and you'll end up saving a lot of money. Your Town and Country wouldnt do to good with some higher octane fuel but luckily that fuel just puts a bit of a ping in the engine until you refill with regular 87. Mostly just an auditory problem, nothing serious

Yeppers, I fix both of my cars up myself which is part of the reason why I bought such an old truck. My truck has such a small amount of wires and electrical components that its basically just a huge block of metal haha thats how I like it. Simple. Reliable. Cheap, easy, and fast to fix. The Firebird is a bit more tricky. Shes more high-tech because she's a performance racing car :/ The only things on cars that I dont work on and I hope I neeeeveeeeeeeer work on is transmissions. Ugh, so dang complex. Just a headache.

And if you ever have any car questions dont hesitate to ask! but just remember that your car is a 2007, and I've never owned a vehicle that we less then 15 years old haha

My dad has always been doing all the repairing himself but with the new cars he doesn't even want to look inside anymore, if something happens he'd probably bring it to the garage right away... good luck with fixing up the truck

 

[ThDude]

87 octane is not always 87 octane. I have seen several videos reports where gas stations were putting fuel lower then 87 octane in the 87 octane pump.

Same goes for the higher ones. Just stick with your old gas station