Over on Cobb's forum, there's MUCH from California users of Cobb's products that suggests the Cal formulated fuel is more likely to detonate...Cobb eventually produced maps specifically for California fuel users, to address the issue.
The station may simply have had very old gas, rusty tanks, water in the gas, sludge, etc...
There's not always a plot involved in buying bad gas.
Barry
Was this the Union station at Lovekin Blvd, next to Denny's? If so, I'd suspect they might have just gotten a bad load before suggesting anything sinister--I've bought gas there for close to 30 years and never had a problem. Even though the station's not that big, they move a lot of gas, and may have been running low, getting you into the "gunk" at the bottom of the tanks, as others suggested. Another possibility is their tanks were JUST filled from a rather low state, which I've been told will also stir up a lot of nasties. It can happen anywhere--one of our party bought fuel at a Chevron station in Lone Pine, coming down from Mammoth (another small but high volume station) and about five miles later his vehicle almost wouldn't run at all. So it's not a brand thing.
If there's a "next" time, plan to buy fuel on the AZ side if you can--IME even the lower priced Flying J across the river's better than most CA formulated stuff... and major brands will be two bits a gallon less most of the time!
Rick
Storage tanks at gas stations do NOT pick up the fuel from the bottom of the tank. Pickup tube is close to a foot off the bottom to avoid picking up contamination.
Many, many yrs ago when I ran a station, in addition to sticking the tank for qty in the tank, I would occasionally put a compound on the stick and it would turn color if water was present. Don't think things have changed that much since then.
Mickey
RXP gas kicker rocks. Will help most cars pass emissions and clean everything out
Don't know about emissions testing, but the stuff does a great job of "decarbonizing" as advertised. My '90 Loyale, like many early Subies, has a bit of carbon (after only 356k miles--geez!) and pings going up the hills during the summer. Higher grade fuel does nothing to quiet it, but bottle of this "juice" really helps.
Rick
Where does OLD gas fit in?
Barry
I had issues with chevron gas before in a Probe GT here in GA awhile back. Had to change my fuel filter twice to fix the problem, i havent used chevron since. That station is a used car lot now.
I ran my WRX on midgrade for many mile and never had a problem. The computer adjusts for the octane. This was a stock vehicle. Modifications to the engine may make a difference.
Gasoline has a "shelf life" and old gas can lose some of its volatility. Many of the problems with bad gasoline can originate with the tanker truck that hauls it. That's why the majors tightly control their truck fleet whether they own it or contract it out. Independent stations may use independent haulers who may have hauled other petroleum products in their tanker. They are supposed to get a tank wash if they are going to haul a non compatible commodity. Some truckers cut corners to save the several hundred dollar cost of the wash. BTW, a "truck tank wash" includes drying the interior so there is not excess moisture.
What started my response has been lost I think. The car, a 2004 STI ran OK on this gas from just outside of Blythe, CA (Union 76) but on the dyno, it simply would not make better than 250 HP and was extremely knock sensitive. After refueling with higher octane gas the dyno tuning was able to get 275 HP several times in a row without the knock problem. No doubt, the gas we had was either not truly 91 octane or it was old or it was contaminated or some combination of both. The computer does indeed adjust for knock but in doing so, it retards the timing and HP drops off correspondingly. Even so, it can't completely eliminate the preignition knock from low octane fuel. This will eventually damage the engine.
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