The only Starbucks I like is their “blond coffee”, a milder version. A poorly run Starbucks smelling of stale coffee reminds me of skunk smells we used to have on the farm.
We use Costco’s Java Club whole beans, a medium roast Arabica coffee that sells for $14 for a 3 lb bag. Costco also sells Starbucks, now that a whole generation has been brainwashed to like burnt coffee.
“On the hottest days of summer, it would need premium.”
I found that my Toyota Matrix performed better with midgrade when the outside temp is over 90F, even though 87 is recommended.
I’m guessing the knock sensor kicks in and retards the timing in hot weather.
There’s was no difference in MPGs, so I only did it once as an experiment.
“Anyone remember Amoco 100 octane lead-free premium gasoline?”
That’s all my father put in his '68 Pontiac. He also never let it go below 3/4 full.
Sunoco’s blend pumps were a marketing triumph…The price sign on the street was for “Regular”…Every gallon you sold of a different grade meant a higher overall profit margin…The higher the octane, the higher the profit…Sunoco even had a sub-regular grade, 190, which the price sign reflected… but if you wanted 200 grade, regular, it cost you a couple of cents more…Consumers did not like that…
Caddyman “There are probably a lot of older “Premium Fuel” cars struggling along on this 50-50 blend.” My 1971 Mustang Mach 1 had 11.5 to 1 compression. In the mid 1980s 76 Union was the only brand selling leaded premium. The octane had dropped from the good old 100+ to 92 then 91 octane unleaded when leaded fuel was banned for on road use. I ended up driving 15 miles one way to the airport to fill two 5 gallon cans with 115/130 leaded aviation fuel for my wink wink race car. Mixing that with 3 parts unleaded premium worked fine. Of course when that aviation fuel was replaced with 100 low lead in the mid 1990s it was hardly worth the effort. I ended up selling the car.
asemaster Oregon has been trying to catch up to Washington tobacco taxes but my Pall Mall non-filters are $7.29. I’m wondering if you have the same reaction I do. If for some reason I can’t get my Pall Malls other non- filter and especially filter cigarettes are guaranteed to give me a sore throat. Now days my car is designed for and runs fine on 87 octane unleaded. My problem is mandated E10.
For some applications they made “low compression” (thick) head gaskets that let these cars run on lower octane fuel…They are talking about fazing out the 100LL av-gas…Sales are just to little to justify refineries keep making it…Apparently most piston aircraft will run okay on 92 octane unleaded…They might have to retard the spark a little or use an octane boosting additive…Octane is not the only issue…Av-gas is also very low vapor pressure to avoid vapor-locking the old carburetors, some of which are gravity-fed…
Exactly! Filtered cigarettes give me a cough and a sore throat. If I can’t find Pall Mall I don’t smoke at all.
B.L.E. When I was pumping leaded regular at a Chevron station in 1971 it was posted on the pump 94 octane. Premium was 100+ and Custom was 105+. How things have changed. Vintage vehicles have no proper fuel readily available. I live at an airpark so 100 low lead is readily available. My next door neighbor runs his vintage hot rods on it with a lead additive.
The problem with 100LL is that A: there’s no road tax paid on it, so if somehow you’re caught using it in your car, you could be subject to fines. B: The fuel is blended for high altitudes, and the additives really aren’t all that appropriate for cars. I know a couple of guys in the local Olds club chapter with 442s who’ve tried it with mixed results. One now just buys unoxygenated gas and adds an octane booster. The other buys a barrel of racing gas and uses that. I use the unoxy on my '65 Cutlass 330 cu in and it works fine. I tried a tank of 87 octane regular in once, only once, and regretted it. The next stop was for a bottle of octane booster.
the same mountainbike I think you have something regarding some people wanting choices. In 1976 my partner and I became owner/operators of one then two local farmer’s co-op service stations. They were former Hancock stations and still had the blend-o-matic pumps. They were fed from the regular and premium tanks and could pump either one or 3 settings in between. They automatically adjusted the price which was displayed on the pump. At that time it actually had a purpose. Carbon built up in combustion chambers and raised compression ratios. If your engine started pinging you could go to regular plus one or two and pay two or four cents extra as opposed to the exorbitant eight cents per gallon extra for premium. There were also customers who had their personal blend for no logical reason. “People are strange”!
DrRocket I am not using 100 LL my next door neighbor is. Since he owns 4 airplanes he has little chance of being “caught”. He drives his hot rods about 10 or 15 miles per Month total. That is the reason my purchase of the old 115/130 AVGAS was wink, wink for my race car. At 3 to one pump gas to AVGAS and little use of the car I wasn’t cheating the road tax very much. All of this was in my decades old slightly checkered past.
“the same mountainbike I think you have something regarding some people wanting choices.”
Sgt, if you mean by this that I support people having choices, you’re absolutely right. If someone prefers to buy mid-grade when they really only need low octane, they should be able to. If enough people want it, the suppliers should (and do) make it available to them.
I remember the '70s, and even the '60s and, to a lesser extent, the '50s, and the common carbon buildup problems. Thank God those problems are no longer common. It’s last week that I can’t remember… (
The problem with 100LL is that A: there's no road tax paid on it, so if somehow you're caught using it in your car, you could be subject to fines.
Unless someone rats you out, the chances of actually getting caught are very low. When was the last time a cop who pulled you over took a fuel sample to check for illegal fuel. I think 100LL is dyed blue.
Untaxed diesel is dyed red for identification and cops are a lot more likely to check your fuel if you drive a diesel truck, especially if it has farm truck plates or you haul gravel for a quarry that has heavy machinery that uses untaxed diesel.
Caddyman I was aware of the thicker head gaskets. They would have to be pretty thick to lower 11.5 to one to 9.0 to one. Octane was not the real problem. Valve seats lacking lead as a lubricant was the problem. The private sport plane market for 100LL is small. That’s why it costs so much. Part of the phasing out is due to the California “Loonys” claiming their entire state is being covered in lead and killing all the condors. Low lead and very little use is not enough for them. All they see is LEAD! Studies around airports have found no more than normal lead content.
Those old high octane numbers were probably “research octane.” The big drop came when average octane reporting was mandated [the (R+M)/2 you see on the pumps]. Per Wikipedia:
Research Octane Number (RON)
RON is determined by running the fuel in a test engine with a variable compression ratio under controlled conditions, and comparing the results with those for mixtures of iso-octane and n-heptane.
Motor Octane Number (MON)
MON is determined at 900 rpm engine speed instead of the 600 rpm for RON. MON testing uses a similar test engine to that used in RON testing, but with a preheated fuel mixture, higher engine speed, and variable ignition timing to further stress the fuel’s knock resistance. Depending on the composition of the fuel, the MON of a modern pump gasoline will be about 8 to 12 octane lower than the RON.
Avgas has no propane or butane content (to keep vapor pressure low) so when used in a car it can be difficult to start on a cold morning…Airplanes have carb heat to take care of this…
...Airplanes have carb heat to take care of this....
It would have to be electric carb heat for starting, I was under the impression that carb heat came from the exhaust manifold and that it was used to prevent carb icing during carb icing conditions, not for starting.
The main reason for maximum vapor pressure specs in avgas is the possibility of fuel boiling at high altitudes due to low atmospheric pressure.