jleung88

I am moving there, and I heard there aren't many octane level 93 gas stations, do you guys know of any? thanks!

Sleestack

No, all California gas is a maximum of 91 octane. There are a few 76s that sell 100 octane race fuel, however, not enough of them to make it rremotely practical.

E55AMG99

The Union 76 station on Almaden Expressway at Foxworthy in San Jose sells the high octane stuff. AFAIK, 76 is the only place to get anything higher than 91. You might contact their corporate offices to find out if they have any other stations in the BA that sell it.

Mr.PS

why dont they sell 93 octane in Cali ?

E55AMG99

My guess is that they can make more money that way.

Mr.PS

Hmm then they would sell it because 93 is usallu more expensive then your usual octanes.

Here in chicago its 83,87,93-94 some stations have 91 I seen a station with 104 octane.

What kind of gas does the C32 amg run on ?

E55AMG99

How much does the good stuff cost in Chicago? We are still paying over $2/gal for 91 in the Bay Area

Mr.PS

93 costs like 1.40-1.50 regular 87 is 1.29-32 I belive the stuff in downtown chicago is more expensive. but nothing close to 2.00 a gallon

CRB

The gas stations used to sell 93 octane until the latest round of state mandated fuel reformulations. We have a nasty carcinogenic chemical called MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) added to our fuels to limit emissions. MTBE also has a habit of finding its way into the ground water supply.

SO, California is moving to a gas/ethanol blend and decided to standardize the fuel supply at 91 max until after the transition to the new fuel is complete.

I also found this online:

"CARB isn't entirely innocent. Many of its standards for evaporative emissions and misdirected attempts at oxygenation have raised the manufacturing cost of high-octane gas, but it doesn't seem to be behind the sudden change to 91. Instead, according my super-secret oil industry mole, it all comes back to money. Unocal, you see, has a patent on the 173 easiest ways to make California-friendly 92-octane gas. As a result, every other oil company has to pay Unocal 5.75 cents for every gallon they make using one of these techniques. They haven't actually been paying it, but that's an issue for the lawyers to sort out.

Suddenly it's pretty obvious why our gas sucks, but why doesn't Unocal still sell us 92? Because it can't. In 1997, Unocal sold off all its 76 gas stations, and with them, its ability to decide what kind of gas to make. All Unocal can do now is look for oil, suck it out of the ground, and wish it had some way to make everybody else keep using its patents. You see, not only did Unocal screw us, they screwed themselves.

Ironically, the only gas stations in California with anything better than 91 octane are the ones Unocal used to own-the few 76 stations offering 100-octane race fuel. You can locate these elusive stations at www.76.com, but bring your wallet."

Which may explain everything or be total BS. After all, it is the Internet!

Mr.PS

That sucks I still love Cali though and would move there anyday. I think that all the states in the US should have Cars with Cali Emmisions Standards. In Chicago Like today you can see a thick Yellow Haze Espacially near the airport its brown.

Gas is gettin some expensive now I was watching Lethal Weapon the movie and they showed a Gas station in Cali the sign showed like 62 cents a gallon.

AMGDood

its still no different in california. At least in L.A it can be really disgusting.

Mr.PS

I live in the suburbs So when driving on the highway I cant see it but when I get close to O'hare and Chicago the sky just turns brown and yellow. Are any MB cars ULEV or LEV Yet.

E55AMG99

All new "passenger" cars sold in California are LEV, even the AMG models. Most SUVs over 8500lbs GVWR are not but that will change for 2004.

mis-u-jerr

From 76.com:
3010 Almaden Expy, San Jose

Great tip, thanks!

mis-u-jerr

Hmmm, just saw this on the Performance Upgrades & Tuning forum...
Does octane matter ?

E55AMG99

Buellwinkle is correct- if the engine is designed to run optimally on 91 octane as MB cars are, using 100 octane will NOT make more power.

Mr.PS

use 100 octane isnt that good also its very dry fuel. I knew someone with a 1994 540I that destroyed there engine from useing 94 all the time the fuel was just to dry and made to much heat.

Nektopoli

Been to L.A. lately? Read you MB owner's manual to will see that it has been tuned to use 91' octane gas(not 93).

NP

Mr.PS

Yep been to LA not to long ago should be going back soon. Yep thanks

breastroker

"use 100 octane isnt that good also its very dry fuel. I knew someone with a 1994 540I that destroyed there engine from useing 94 all the time the fuel was just to dry and made to much heat." is BS.

Using higher no leaded fuel will NOT hurt any high compression engine.

What is a dry fuel, where did you get that one?

I have made 100 octane gas before, and work on laser analyzers that formulate the 3 blends of gas in Kalifornia, and there is no dry spec.

And higher heat?

There are specs such as RON, MOn, distallation curve, sulfur content, benzine and arromatic specs, but no dry specs.

I also believe that all high compression MBs will perform better even if they were "tuned for 91 octane gas".

I know when I have added 100 octane gas in Vegas, the cars perform better!

DarkXerox

Ugh I know. I went down there to visit some schools a few months ago and I was disgusted with how the air looked. I forgot what a smoggy sky looked like since it stays so clear up here. Not really looking forward to living in that the next few years...

As for MTBE, I'm pretty sure they phased it out of fuel as of last year at the latest. I've used it in the lab before as a base substitute for THF or diethyl ether....but thats off topic haha.

C32ken

100 is good but its $$.... there is a Torco racing fuel station in Sunol... 680 between pleasanton and fremont. 100 on pump, $5.89/gal worth it to blend half tank of 100 and half of 91.

JRAMGV8

He's right.

whoover

Actually, he's been right for four years now.

JRAMGV8

I know that..