Well, Unca Joel. Tax time is coming up and I'm sure glad you're not
keeping my books.
With absolute accurate records like yours the IRS would decide right away
that I was hiding something.

Stan

On Thu, 27 Dec 2001 17:14:53 -0600 Joel Walker <jwalker17@EARTHLINK.NET>
writes:
> > All of this should be considered along with the driving
> environment.
> It
> > seems that an engine under higher and prolonged loads, such as a
> > hill-climbing Westy, is probably going to benefit from the more
> expensive
> > gasoline.
>
> in my experience, the octane makes no difference in MY buses ... not
> a
> nickel's worth of difference. over the years, i've tried to even up
> the tankfuls of the three octanes available in my area, just for
> testing purposes. but since i'm cheap, the 87 octane usually has
> twice
> as many tankfuls as the other two octanes. ;)
>
> here's the results ...
>
> 1988 Vanagon
> Thursday   27 Dec 2001                                         Page
> 1
>
> Brand   Oct Tanks    Gals     Cost     Miles    MPG $/g   $/mi
> Amoco   R87    46   592.0   654.38  12,077.3 20.4 1.11  0.05
> Bp          R87    46   574.5   627.48  11,577.0 20.2 1.09  0.05
> Chevron  R87    46   617.6   689.15  12,214.0 19.8 1.12  0.06
> Exxon     R87    46   617.5   679.13  12,270.3 19.9 1.10  0.06
> Shell       R87    46   595.6   665.00  11,553.2 19.4 1.12  0.06
> Unocal    R87    43   580.1   618.57  11,418.2 19.7 1.07  0.05
> Z-other    R87     2    27.0    28.62        533.6 19.8 1.06  0.05
> Z-start     R87     1    15.7    14.10            0.0  0.0  0.90
> 14.10
>       Total        276 3,620.0 3,976.43  71,643.6 19.8 1.10  0.06
>
> Amoco   R89    23   300.2   343.26    5,774.0  19.2 1.14  0.06
> Bp          R89    23   313.6   367.39    6,231.3  19.9 1.17  0.06
> Chevron  R89    24   309.1   375.84    6,283.3  20.3 1.22  0.06
> Exxon     R89    23   297.8   345.06    5,655.4  19.0 1.16  0.06
> Shell       R89    23   301.6   353.11    5,997.0  19.9 1.17  0.06
> Unocal    R89    21   269.1   311.73    5,332.1  19.8 1.16  0.06
>       Total         137 1,791.4 2,096.39  35,273.1 19.7 1.17  0.06
>
> Amoco   P92    25   333.5   440.92   6,605.9 19.8 1.32  0.07
> Bp          P92    25   308.9   397.89   6,139.3 19.9 1.29  0.06
> Chevron  P92    25   316.2   418.87   6,377.1 20.2 1.32  0.07
> Citgo       P92     1       9.7     15.52     101.7 10.5 1.60  0.15
> Exxon     P92    25   315.5   410.99   6,427.0 20.4 1.30  0.06
> Shell       P92    25   325.5   413.68   6,561.0 20.2 1.27  0.06
> Unocal    P92    21   274.1   349.98   5,581.4 20.4 1.28  0.06
> Z-other   P92     1        3.5      4.28        55.6 15.9 1.22
> 0.08
>       Total       148 1,886.9 2,452.13  37,849.0 20.1 1.30  0.06
>
> Totals            561 7,298.3 8,524.95 144,765.7
> Averages per Tank       13.0   15.20     258.0 19.8 1.17  0.06
>
> the z-start is the very first tank i put into the bus. i separated
> it
> out like that to keep from lowering the stats for the brand/octane.
> z-other is off-brands that i used over the years ... when i
> couldn't
> find a station that i had a credit card for. :)
>
> to my untrained statistical eye, there ain't a bit of difference
> between them. now, it LOOKS like the premium is slightly higher.
> and
> if you didn't know me, you'd think that, too ... but my tendency is
> to
> fill up with premium only before  a trip, so the mpg is a bit
> skewed
> that way: the 91/92/93 (all condensed into 92 octane) gets a tad
> more
> highway miles than, say, the 87 octane (which gets used mostly on
> around-town trips).
> and i don't think that 0.5 mpg would be a 'significant' result, in
> this more-or-less unscientific test of mine. too many variables, i
> think. :)
>
> anyway, as far as i'm concerned, in MY buses, using the gasolines
> available in MY area of the country, and with MY driving style,
> there
> ain't enough difference to warrant use of the more expensive
> gasolines.
>
> so why do i do it? :) old habits die hard ... i kinda semi sorta
> somewhat think or believe that maybe, just maybe, the higher octane
> fuels 'clean' the injectors or something. oh, and i'm trying to be
> fair in the test. yeah, that's it! ;)
>
> unca joel
> 1988 GL
> 1987 GL Camper
> 1991 Carat
>
________________________________________________________________
GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO!
Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less!
Join Juno today!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.