Do You Avoid Buying Gas When...

[Malcolm McLeod]

Quite an onion here...
Mr. Yetka is correct: there are water and sediment traps, plus fines filters in many cases, on every fuel delivery system I've ever seen. On-site maintenance of those devices likely runs the gamut from OCD to 'What filter?'. Caveat emptor.

I have no inside knowledge of pricing philosophy for the semi-national retailers*, i.e. Costco, Love's, Pilot, etc, but locally owned stations in my area (NM/CO/TX/OK) always seem locally competitive and aligned on gasoline prices. Diesel not so much - prices can vary 30-40cents on opposites sides of the highway, and vary 70cents in 200miles. And then there are the 'taxe$' in CO - - I've seen gas prices climb >1.50$/gal between Texline & Trinidad. CO vs TX state published motor fuel tax rates only have a $0.02 delta, so no idea why the huge difference.

*Major O&G companies got out of the retail biz a couple of decades ago, so $$ differences are determined by locals - - your respective friends and neighbors??

Octane...
...has essentially nothing to do with horsepower. I am not a chemist, but my fittingly simple minded explanation of octane is that as any engine's compression ratio increases, the fuel's octane rating needs to increase to prevent detonation. This is why the Mountain West sees 83-85 octane :: at 9000ft ASL there is just less air in the cylinders.

Avgas is a wonderful onion all by itself...
FAA has probably not certificated a new GA engine twice in the last 3-4 decades? So, the current piston-engines require 100LL per the FAA. EPA has been trying to nuke 100LL for at least 1-2 of those decades. Who wins?!? ...Govern'mental' at its finest.

Then there are those mags... We have dual mags on GA engines for safety/redundancy. Really? When is the last time any car newer than 2000-ish mis-fired or needed plugs? Or any electronic ignition work at all? I have a 2007 Toyota FJ @290kmiles running on the original plugs. Only the headlights are dual! (Tiny dose of hyperbole here; no need to beat me with the taillights.)

And I finally just switched to canned fuel for my chainsaws. Ethanol dissolved the fuel system guts of my previous one. No more.