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Originally Posted by Robo Squirrel
i have only ever put shell v-power in my M3s
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all you're buying is a brand name. there isn't anything more special about shell v-power than any other top tier fuel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finnegan
Maybe there's something to it, but I tend to be cynical about claims and read that as m a r k e t i n g. Show me some data--I have an open mind--and will change it if the data support doing so.
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+1. marketing is everything in an industry that doesn't have a whole lot of brand loyalty. let's face it...most people go out and buy the cheapest, most convenient gas they can find. so how do you generate loyalty? give it a fancy name and say it's got magical nitrogen in it...couple that with some spiffy commercials and decorate their employees in bright shirts adorned with happy colors and images and you've got the makings of something called a marketing campaign. that's how you begin to establish loyal customers in a tough loyalty market...and when you get that, you can charge more for your product.
call it the 'apple effect'...it's advertised as better, therefore it must be, right? not always the case...but since droves of zombies now buy into it, they can put a premium price tag on everything because people believe they're buying a better lifestyle. puhhhleazeee
as mentioned, all gas comes from the same sources. its made in a refinery, not necessarily the brand's refinery, shipped down a pipeline to your region, pumped into a tanker truck that contains trace additives already (and when i say trace, it can be as little as a quart of additives for a whole tanker), mixed through an intricate sloshing procedure called driving down our shitty american roads, pumped into your neighborhood station's tanks, then into your tank. the gas that comes out of the pipeline, barge, or tanker ship is all the same from whatever refinery is sending it through the pipe that day. the additives are so trace in nature that it would probably take hundreds of thousands of miles to really quantify which one is better.
now the biggest variable in the whole gas debate is the store owner. he's the one that has to worry about his small profit margins, putting food on the table, getting the kids through school, and living comfortably. he's also the one that has the most say in what does or doesn't go in his gas, if you know what i'm saying. most franchise stores won't have fuckery like that of mom and pop off-brand gas stations, which i wouldn't use to fill my tank if it was the last gas on earth. costco is not an off-brand. i've used costco in my cars tons of times, but since i don't live remotely close to a costco, i don't use it often. if i did, sure i'd use it all the time. costco gas still has many of the same detergents used in all the other brands, it's just not sold with the big fanfare.
everyone here has basic judgment skills, i hope. most of us can spot something legit from something a little shady. don't buy the shady stuff and don't buy marketing campaigns. either way, you'll be ripped off.
now if i could just find a pump without that damn ethanol stuff in it.
