A little bit of interesting data some may like to know.A little back story..... Due to farm tax expenses and other side businesses I have had over the years, I recorded my full ups for my truck. I have been using an app called aCar for the past five years due to how easy it is and have even started using it for all my vehicles whether I needed it for taxes or not. I usually add notes to each record on what I towed, how much the computer showed, and how much city/highway. Any-who, being the analytical mind that I am, I decided to pull my records into excel to see if I notice any trends. I immediately noticed one glaring one when I took out my towing full ups and separated winter/summer fuel. Each fuel brand hovered around a certain average mpg with the highest and lowest brand averages being 1 mpg apart.In my truck Chevron was the highest with an average of 17.2 mpg, followed by Shell with 17.1 mpg, then Buc-cee's at 16.8 mpg, Exxon at 16.5, HEB at 16.4, and Love's & Valero at 16.2 mpg. I pulled the data for my diesel car as well and noticed the same trend with Chevron being higher than the rest by a decent amount. Not only that, but my highest recorded mileage of both diesel vehicles was with Chevron. To be fair, I only fill up at one Chevron station close to my house and cannot speak for other stations or Chevron as a whole. Anyone else notice different mpg's with each diesel brand?

Ugh... So glad I just DRIVE my truck these days and dont sweat the little stuff. There are so many variables that affect mileage outside of where you buy.

I have not checked mine. But not a surprise if you do a little googling, you will find some tables posted by different people listing the cetane ratings for different brands. The brands you got your best mpg are the ones with the higher cetane ratings. And the lower mpg are from those with lower cetane ratings such as Loves, Valero, and Flying J.

I'm with you on those brands and the drop off on mileage after Shell is where bio enters the equation.I won't discuss off road diesel. :W

N-Trouble wrote:Ugh... So glad I just DRIVE my truck these days and dont sweat the little stuff. There are so many variables that affect mileage outside of where you buy.Seriously? Why post passive aggressive comments like this? I am a former senior purchasing analyst, looking at data and breaking it down is actually stuff I like to do. Not every on is the same and there is probably stuff you do that others think is stupid so don't hate.

FishOnOne wrote:I'm with you on those brands and the drop off on mileage after Shell is where bio enters the equationNo bio other than the standard 5% on all my diesel vehicles.

MPG with different diesel fuel brands | Good Sam Community

Copperhead
Explorer
Mar 04, 2018
As one who has tanked fuel in the past, there is no substantive difference between station branding and diesel fuel. In any location, it all comes from the same fuel terminal(s) in the area, which fuel is sourced from a variety of refineries. The only major difference is in winter, where it is dependent on the station manager to specify fuel blending (#1 and #2) based on cold temps, and that can affect fuel economy to some degree. #1 offers lower fuel economy than #2, but it has fewer issues in cold weather. And stations may vary in the blending amount and when they do it.

I still go thru about 20,000 gallons of diesel a year. I purchase fuel in various locations, various outlets, in several different states, year round. I run meticulous spread sheets on my fuelings and mpg's, and have done so for over 3 decades. There is nothing substantive about different brands.
FishOnOne
Nomad
Mar 02, 2018
DustyR wrote:
N-Trouble wrote:
EV2 wrote:
Pretty close to meaningless as that percentage of difference is experienced on variation in tank fills from the SAME source depending on elevation change, speed, wind speed, wind direction, etc. Add to that the effects of different additives on different combustion design temperatures, humidity, etc. and any pattern would be impossible to establish based upon the myriad variables.

Exactly my point...

X-2

Largest variable in my sig vehicle is A/C on or off. Noticeable difference.

I'm pretty sure during that 2-5 year period of running those different brands of diesel that included winter periods that did not require running the ac.

Again if your samples includes all variables across each group (fuel brands) this is still very respectable statistical sample. Also included in Shiners data is summer blend and winter blend fuel.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Mar 02, 2018
For 6 years I had the same 660 mile a week commute I made with a '01 Dodge/Cummins 235/460 for about 2 years and then a '03 Dodge/Cummins HO 305/555.
Both trucks were refueled with three different truck stop brands depending on which truck stop had the lowest fuel price so the truck may be fueled for several weeks from one brand.
One brand didn't offer any mpg gains over the other on that same commute. Winter gave the lowest mpg for all three brands.
I live out so no city and all county roads and highway miles.
DustyR
Explorer
Mar 02, 2018
N-Trouble wrote:
EV2 wrote:
Pretty close to meaningless as that percentage of difference is experienced on variation in tank fills from the SAME source depending on elevation change, speed, wind speed, wind direction, etc. Add to that the effects of different additives on different combustion design temperatures, humidity, etc. and any pattern would be impossible to establish based upon the myriad variables.

Exactly my point...

X-2

Largest variable in my sig vehicle is A/C on or off. Noticeable difference.
Dadoffourgirls
Explorer
Mar 02, 2018
ShinerBock wrote:
A little bit of interesting data some may like to know. ...

You definitely have a thinking problem, and I appreciate it!

I did not have 5 years of data, but I did notice a 1 mpg difference based on diesel fuel brand in my last truck. Of course, I did not have data to differentiate all the different variables related to a 550 miles of driving each week.

I have also noticed it with gasoline fuel.

All of this is negligible compared to the impact of the driver. In a house with four daughters and a wife, I do have sufficient data to identify who achieves better fuel mileage for their driving style :D
patperry2766
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2018
EPA RFG gasoline

Here in the DFW area, they run the reformulated gas which has different properties/additives to reduce smog, which I have noticed has resulted in lower MPG on my truck. When I was making regular trips to West Texas to see my dad, they don't use have the same RFG gas, and I noticed roughly 1-1.5 MPG better.

Also, we have a winter blend fuel as well which lowers the MPG even further.
winter blend

I don't know what county you live in, but could either of these two factors have a result on your observations?

2nd question...

Is there a big enough price difference between the top MPG fuel and the mid-range fuel to justify paying more? Here if the FTW area, the big chains such as RaceTrac and QT are generally cheaper that the name brand fuels and I haven't really observed a significant enough difference to pay more.
ktmrfs
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2018
ShinerBock wrote:
The 5% bio-fuel sticker at the Chevron where I get my best mpg. I average 43 mpg in my car from the fuel at this Chevron, high 42's with Shell, and 41 or below from the other brands.

I have seen Chevron stations that either have "premium diesel" with a higher cetane rating And Chevron stations that advertize #2 high cetane diesel as the diesel they sell.

that could account for the difference in economy.
ktmrfs
Explorer II
Mar 02, 2018
Bedlam wrote:
I know the bio blends should have less energy density than the true dino fuel, but my older diesels drink less of it and I can only contribute that to less friction.

#2 diesel is about 129,500 BTU/gallon.
20% B20 is 127,200 BTU/ gallon.

about 1% lower BTU value, but higher cetane.

pretty small difference,
ShinerBock
Explorer
Mar 02, 2018
The 5% bio-fuel sticker at the Chevron where I get my best mpg. I average 43 mpg in my car from the fuel at this Chevron, high 42's with Shell, and 41 or below from the other brands.
hone_eagle
Explorer
Mar 01, 2018
ktmrfs wrote:
hone eagle wrote:
Related maybe, but both this truck and my 7.3 have always got noticeably less mileage on US purchased fuel vs Canadian fuel .
That is across any state and a couple of provinces,I was told canadian cetane minimums are higher?
44 vs 40 ?
I dont know but I buy both sides of the border since 2001 and its been consistent and noticeable but very slight.

it is possible the canadian diesel must be higher Cetane. Most of european countries have much higher Cetane requirements than the U.S. as well. Primarily because so many of the vehicles are small displacement high RPM diesels which require a higher Cetane rating to complete the fuel burn at the rpm they run. In the U.S. Cetane ratings initially were set based on what a industrial diesel (class 8 truck etc.) required and those being very low rpm engines could run on a much lower Cetane rating.

As a result U.S. "high rpm" diesels are designed to run on the lower Cetane rating, which does restrict the power that could be attained with a higher minimum Cetane rating.

interesting
thanks