Fuel retailers must meet the high TOP TIER standards with all grades of Fuel to be approved by the automakers as providing TOP TIER Detergent Fuel. In addition, all Fuel outlets carrying the brand of the approved retailer must meet the TOP TIER standards. Additional Fuel retailers are added to the TOP TIER list as they meet the standards. The retailers known to be on the TOP TIER list are shown below. TOP TIER Fuel Retailers: QuikTripChevronConocoPhillips76ShellEntec StationsMFA Oil CompanyKwik Trip/Kwik StarThe Somerset Refinery, Inc.Chevron-CanadaAloha PetroleumTri-Par Oil CompanyShell-CanadaTexacoPetro-CanadaSunoco-Canada News source: Feather Petro

If you drive a car, you know from pain these days. But it will get better. History suggests that the worst of the pinching at the pump will soon be over. The 12.9% spike in gas prices over the past month, to a national average $3.21 a gallon from $2.86, is a little bit higher than average for spring price movements. But it will end.”Prices tend to level off around Memorial Day,” says James Beck, a senior economist with the American Petroleum Institute. Still, expect $3 a gallon gas through the travel-heavy summer months as the U.S. hits the road. Statistics from the Federal Highway Administration show that driving does in fact pick up from May through August before tapering off, with February usually the least-traveled month. News source: Forbes.com Last June Americans logged 260 billion vehicle miles, about what they had logged a year earlier. That number stayed fairly steady through August, before declining to 241 billion vehicle miles in September, and then gradually falling to 215 billion miles by February, according to FHA data.Tips For Traveling What to do about gas prices until then? Consumer groups have many handy hints. How about changing your air filter? A clean filter typically shaves 28 cents per gallon off your gas bill. You can save another four cents a gallon just by cleaning extra junk out of the trunk–every 100 pounds of weight cuts fuel economy by 1% to 2%. Also, Consumer Reports says the notion that any car runs better on expensive premium Fuel is a myth, so feel free to keep more money in your pocket by avoiding it.Also:Straighten those wheels: Poor alignment forces the engine to work harder and wears the tires down more quickly, reducing gas mileage by as much as 10%.Tune up: A tuned engine can improve mileage 4%, to about 11 cents a gallon.Pump the tires: Nearly 25% of cars are running on improperly inflated tires, costing the average motorist eight cents a gallon in lost fuel economy.Check your gas cap: An estimated 17% of cars have broken or missing gas caps, which cost 2 cents per gallon.Lose the Canoe. At highway speeds, more than 50% of engine power is used to overcome wind drag. Consumer Reports tested a Toyota Camry sedan and a Mercury Mountaineer SUV with a Thule Cascade car-top carrier. It lowered the Camry’s gas mileage to 29 mpg from 35 mpg, and it lowered the Mountaineer’s gas mileage to 20 mpg from 21 mpg.Also worth noting: Conventional wisdom holds that air conditioning drains the fuel tank faster, but Consumer Reports found it reduces fuel economy by about one mile per gallon. Ditto the myth that opening the windows causes wind drag. Consumer Reports test drove cars with windows open at 65 mph, and the effect was “not even measurable.”Avoiding Tax Traps The other big thing you can do to save on gas: Be careful where you buy it. Those who know where to stop for gas can save a bundle over the course of a long trip by avoiding states with high taxes. If you’re tooling around New England, try to avoid filling up in Connecticut, a high gas tax state where regular goes for $3.28 a gallon, or in Maine, where it sells for $3.11 a gallon, according to the latest AAA numbers. Opt for New Hampshire or Vermont, where its costs just a penny or two over $3. Exploring the mountain west? A thinly spread population makes gas in that region expensive. Wyoming, with an average of $3.18 a gallon, offers the best deal. Try to steer clear of gas stations in Montana and Utah, which both charge about $3.26 a gallon, or Colorado, where it shoots up to $3.34.Up and down the Atlantic coast, skillful state hopping can save a bundle. By all means, wait until you get though New York and its $3.22 per gallon price tag to fill the tank in New Jersey, where it drops to $2.95 (and where the extra mile or so off the state turnpike to avoid rest stop prices is worth it). After that, bypass Maryland ($3.13 a gallon) in order to load up in Virginia ($3.06), making sure to get enough to take you through the expensive state of North Carolina in favor of South Carolina (the price drops to $3.01 a gallon from $3.15 after crossing the border at the Carolinas). And of course, don’t ever buy gas in California unless it’s absolutely necessary. The high demand stemming from a driver-centric population, together with high taxes, makes for an average price of $3.44 per gallon in the Golden State. Crossing into Nevada or Arizona for gas will save anywhere from 18 cents to 34 cents a gallon (though prices to the north in Oregon aren’t much cheaper).Why So High? Why are gas prices so high? It isn’t just the driving. Data from the past decade shows that springtime, when refineries hit their low output turnaround schedule as they switch their concentration to Fuel from heating oil, brings the biggest price increases of the year.A look at price history since 1997 shows that gas costs an average of 10.2% more during the April-May period than it does during the colder stretch of December through March. The prime summer months of June, July and August add just another 1.4% over springtime prices, the numbers show, before retreating 5.4% during the fall and winter months. So those who have managed to get used to the big uptick in gas prices over the past couple of months shouldn’t suffer from much additional sticker shock as the warm weather season progresses. With refineries having production problems this spring, thanks to a list of unlikely problems that included fire and animal sabotage, unscheduled outages became the norm, according to the API. And despite a survey of March numbers showing individual demand dropping at the highest clip since the gas-line year of 1980, the growth in driving age population has kept overall demand high.It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the road this summer. Just tune up the car and clear out the trunk, and take heart in the likelihood that prices won’t get much worse than they already are. At least not this year.

Fuel additives that claim to boost your vehicle’s fuel mileage actually could be adding to the cost of driving, according to AAA Arizona. Although some additives are effective in cleaning fuel injectors or removing moisture from fuel, none of the additives evaluated by AAA has ever achieved significant fuel-mileage gains, said John Nielsen, director of AAA’s Approved Auto Repair Network. AAA advises that motorists can get the most out of each $3 gallon of Fuel by maintaining tire pressures, keeping vehicles tuned up and driving at slow, steady speeds News source: AZ Central

The car industry has kept a dirty little secret for years: The widely publicized Environmental Protection Agency fuel-economy ratings overstate the miles per gallon you’re likely to get.Those of us who calculate our mileage at every fill-up already knew the truth. The general public began to notice when the redesigned Toyota Prius hit showrooms several years ago. Although the EPA said the Prius got an astronomical 60 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway, Prius drivers — and the news media — registered miles per gallon in the 40s.Toyota and other car makers acknowledge that the EPA numbers often overstate fuel economy, but the testing process and window-sticker ratings are controlled by reams of regulations. Now, new tests for 2008 models will more closely reflect real-world fuel efficiency. Look for the revised numbers on the window stickers of 2008 vehicles. For now, check out Kiplinger’s new tool that gives estimates of what fuel economy would be for hundreds of 2007 models under the new tests News source: MSN Money Driving like Grandma Mileage tests were developed when we more or less channeled our grandmothers’ driving. For years, cars have been run in a lab on a treadmill with the air conditioners turned off, with conservative speeds and without any fast starts. In 1985, after an EPA study found that drivers were achieving lower fuel economy than predicted by the tests, the agency concocted a formula on paper to lower the official figures. But the formula didn’t bring the numbers down far enough, and in 2002, the environmental group Bluewater Network, a division of Friends of the Earth, petitioned the EPA to update its procedures.More from MSN Money and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance MagazineHow would your 2007 rate on mpg?Paying too much for car insurance?MSN Autos: Tips for maximizing your mileageMSN Autos’ Green Vehicle CenterCars that last a million milesThe new standards will get closer to reality by factoring in higher speeds, stop-and-go driving, more-aggressive acceleration, use of air conditioning and driving in colder weather. Mileage will still vary, but the tests will reduce estimated city mpg by 12%, on average, and highway mpg by 8%, according to the EPA. Hybrids’ fuel economy is likely to get a haircut of up to 30% for city driving and 20% for highway.Fuel-economy confusion Car makers generally approve of the new tests because they have heard enough grumbling from buyers. “It isn’t good for anybody” when customers don’t get the fuel economy shown on the window sticker, says Edward Cohen of Honda North America. But given the lower mpg estimates, car makers have a tricky marketing problem to reassure buyers that the 2008 models aren’t less efficient. You can expect to see advertising that addresses the differences.One of the first car makers to face that challenge is Mitsubishi, which introduced its redesigned Lancer sedan in March. The 2006 Lancer (Mitsubishi skipped the 2007 model) gets EPA-rated fuel economy of 27 mpg in cities and 35 mpg on highways. The numbers for the 2008 model will fall to 22 and 29 mpg, respectively. On lists of top fuel misers, the new Lancer will be a no-show, at least until the other 2008 vehicles debut. One fix, at least for the Lancer, will be listing miles per gallon under both the new and the old testing procedures, says Moe Durand, the product public-relations manager for Mitsubishi.Video on MSN Money Video: Should you buy a hybrid?Gas-electric hybrid cars get better mileage and help the environment. But are they worth the higher price?The window sticker for all cars is undergoing a slight redesign, to allow annual estimated fuel costs to be more prominently displayed. For more information about the new fuel-economy labels, see Mileagewillvary.com.

Did you know that how much air you have in your tires can have a direct affect on your gas mileage? It’s true. Here’s why:Let’s say your tires are supposed to be filled to 35 psi. If they are filled correctly, six square inches of your tire are touching the road, just the way your tires were designed. But let some air out, and now the pressure is only 30 psi. Since your tire is like a balloon, the more air you have on the inside, the rounder and more firm your tire becomes. If you had six square inches touching the road at 35 psi, the flatter 30 psi tire will have eight square inches touching at once, making it harder for your engine to get things rolling from a dead stop. Here’s another way to think of it. Say your dog is going to the vet, and she’s not so interested in moving toward the car, so you pull. Nitrogen for Tire FillingParker Nitrogen Generator for tire filling/inflation enhances safety[url”>www.parkertiresaver.comYou start out pulling her with all four of her feet on the ground. We’ll call this four square inches touching. But then she plops her rear end on the ground. You’re now pulling 12 square inches, and boy is she harder to drag toward the car. Unfortunately you can’t dangle a piece of salami in front of your car to make it go, so you’re left using the engine, which uses more gas the harder it pulls. Filling your tires to the correct pressure will make it easire on the engine, and that means you’ll be using less gas. It can make a difference of a three or four miles per gallon. That’s at least 36 more miles to the average tank of gas. At one tank of gas per week, you could be adding 1,872 free miles in a year! That’s savings, and that’s Autmotive Empowerment for no money at all. News source: About Auto Repair

The overall expense of an automobile is unchanged (from 2006) at 52.2 cents per mile, when all factors like purchase price, depreciation, and routine maintenance are factored in. The average cost of gas decreased, compared to last year, but all other factors increased.Depreciation was the highest cost, at $3,392 or 22.6 cents a mile, followed by gas at $2,100 or 14 cents a mile, insurance at $985 or 6.6 cents a mile, finance costs in fourth place, and taxes in fifth, at $538 or 3.6 cents per mile.The good news is that the overall cost is unchanged from last year. The bad news is “that’s darned expensive. A 20-mile round trip to the mall is costing you $10,” says Michael Calkins, manager of AAA’s approved auto repair operation and author of the study.I have an 11.5 mile commute each way, so based on that average it costs me $12 to get to work and back each day. Yuck. My truck is paid for, but I’d hate to know what mileage that old clunker gets. Probably in the single digits. News source: Butch Bailey

Fight skyrocketing gas prices by taking control of your vehicle’s unnecessary fuel consumption, advises the Car Care Council. Consumers can add miles to every gallon they pump by following a few easy and inexpensive maintenance steps with their car, SUV, minivan or pickup truck. “Most motorists don’t realize that it’s the little things that don’t take a lot of time or cost much that can really make a difference when it comes to saving money at the pump,” said Rich White, executive director of the Car Care Council. “Loose or missing gas caps, underinflated tires, worn spark plugs and dirty air filters all contribute to poor fuel economy News source: Car Care Vehicle gas caps – About 17 percent of the vehicles on the roads have gas caps that are either damaged, loose or are missing altogether, causing 147 million gallons of gas to vaporize every year. Underinflated tires – When tires aren’t inflated properly it’s like driving with the parking brake on and can cost a mile or two per gallon. Worn spark plugs – A vehicle can have either four, six or eight spark plugs, which fire as many as 3 million times every 1,000 miles, resulting in a lot of heat and electrical and chemical erosion. A dirty spark plus causes misfiring, which wastes fuel. Spark plugs need to be replaced regularly. Dirty air filters – An air filter that is clogged with dirt, dust and bugs chokes off the air and creates a “rich” mixture – too much gas being burned for the amount of air, which wastes gas and causes the engine to lose power. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve gas mileage by as much as 10 percent, saving about 15 cents a gallon. Fuel-saving driving tips include: Don’t be an aggressive driver – Aggressive driving can lower gas mileage by as much as 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent on city streets, which results in 7 to 49 cents per gallon. Avoid excessive idling – Sitting idle gets zero miles per gallon. Letting the vehicle warm up for one to two minutes is sufficient. Observe the speed limitGas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. Each mpg driven over 60 will result in an additional 10 cents per gallon. To maintain a constant speed on the highway, cruise control is recommended. Combining errands into one trip saves gas and time. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much fuel as a longer multi-purpose trip covering the same distance. Avoid carrying unneeded heavy items in the truck. An extra 100 pounds can cut fuel efficiency by a percent or two

Using a block heater in freezing winter temperatures can improve the fuel economy of your vehicle by 10 percent of more. A block heater warms the coolant, which warms the engine block and lubricants. The engine will then start easily and reach peak operating conditions more quickly. You don’t need to leave the block heater plugged in overnight. It only takes two hours at most to warm the engine. For convenience, consider using an automatic outlet timer to switch the block heater on an hour or two before you need to start your vehicle.Crew Cheif Note On a older cast iron V8 I would suggest a 4 hour + on time News source: canada on line

With gas prices still high, readers have asked us to weigh in on products that promise better fuel economy. We tested three: Fuel Genie, Platinum Gas Saver, and Tornado. Our advice: Don’t waste your money. They don’t work. This isn’t news. We’ve tested such devices over the years and have not found any that improve fuel economy. The Environmental Protection Agency, whose Web site lists scores of devices that the agency has tested in the past 30 years, including the Platinum Gas Saver, has had similar results News source: Consumer Reports The Fuel Genie, $90, which promises more power and better gas mileage, is a plastic device with curved blades that fits inside the air-intake hose. The airflow is supposed to allow for better performance. But in our tests with a 2004 Toyota Tundra and a 2004 Dodge Stratus, we saw no significant improvement in performance or fuel economy. The Tornado, $70, is a similar device made of stainless steel. It is the same product we tested for a July 1999 report, when we said it didn’t improve power or gas mileages in two test vehicles. The Platinum Gas Saver, $119, includes tubing and a plastic reservoir containing liquid. It is the same device we tested for our report in February 2001. You connect it to a vacuum line leading to the intake manifold. The manufacturer says that microscopic platinum particles from the liquid are sucked through the line, helping your car burn gas more efficiently and cleanly. In our previous tests, there were no changes in fuel economy after we installed the device in two test vehicles. The bottom line: The best way to get the most from a tank of gas is to follow the vehicle manufacturer’s service schedule.

Buying premium gas is like taking vitamins – you can’t always feel the difference and yet you know it’s the right thing to do. But as gas prices climb, paying the extra dime per gallon for premium is like adding insult to injury. Eventually, the thought is bound to jump into your head: Do I really need to pop for premium? News source: Edmonds.com Until about 15 years ago, if a car called for premium gas and you pumped in regular, the car began to knock and ping and even vibrate. But that was before they essentially put a laptop under the hood of the automobile, said Dr. Loren Beard, senior manager of Environmental and Energy Planning, for Daimler Chrysler. Now, sensors take readings and tune the engine as you drive by adjusting the timing for whatever fuel you put in the tank. The result is that a car that calls for the mid-grade Fuel will usually run on regular without knocking, Beard said. However, its performance will suffer slightly. How much? It will be perhaps a half-second slower going from zero to 60 mph. Volvo cars call for “premium fuel [91 octane or better”> for optimum performance and fuel economy,” said Wayne Baldwin, product/segment manager for the S60/S80. “However, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using 87 octane, as the knock sensors and engine management system ‘protect’ the engine from knocking.”Baldwin, a former rally driver who competed in SCCA Pro Rally events, said that engines have changed a lot in the past 15 years. “Cars built before 1990 probably do not have knock sensors and many brands back then relied on high-compression ratios for the best performance. Today [performance comes from”> electronically controlled spark curves, turbos, variable valve timing, supercharging and knock sensors.”Issues of performance aside, Baldwin said you should never use Fuel that causes your car to knock. “Constant knocking or detonation is a real bad thing for engines,” he said.When choosing what grade of Fuel to use, Steve Mazor, principal auto engineer for the Auto Club of Southern California, said it is important to read the owner’s manual carefully. The key is to figure out whether premium Fuel is “required” or “recommended.” If it is recommended then a driver could opt to use a lower grade of gas, if they were willing to accept slightly reduced performance and fuel economy. However, Mazor added, “We don’t recommend that people switch down. Let’s say you switch down to regular, and you have to accelerate to avoid an accident and it doesn’t accelerate fast enough. The Auto Club can’t be responsible for causing that situation.”Edmunds.com has a Volvo S40 in its fleet, so we consulted the owner’s manual to see the exact phrasing in regard to fuel requirements. It said, “Volvo engines are designed for optimum performance on unleaded premium Fuel with an AKI (Anti Knock Index) of 91 or above. The minimum octane requirement is AKI 87.” It appears that Volvo is making a recommendation for premium gas but is not requiring it.In Edmunds.com’s forums, debates abound over the pros and cons of using different fuel grades. One member even suggested there was only one type of Fuel, no difference – except for price – between regular and premium. Other members recommended using premium gas even if the manual called for regular. We put this question to Mazor and Beard.Mazor: “All this does is do a very good job of draining your wallet. People used to put in a tank of premium to get ‘the good stuff’ to help their engines stay clean. But now they put detergents in all grades so it doesn’t really get you anything.”Beard: “If you have car designed to run on 87 [octane”>, it doesn’t help to run it on higher-octane-level gas. But there are several exceptions.” He said that the 3.5-liter Chrysler engines are designed to run on mid-grade gas (89 octane) and it allows them to advertise a certain peak horsepower. However, it will run well on regular gas. “The difference is very small,” he said.Interestingly, Mazor noted that at some gas stations, there are only two grades of gas. However, they blend the regular and premium at the pump to produce the mid-grade Fuel. This allows them to have only two underground tanks for the gas storage.In Edmunds’ forums some drivers expressed concern about the quality of gas sold at independent gas stations and advised sticking to the so-called “name” brands of Fuel. “Typically the only difference is the additive package they put in the gas,” Beard said. The additive package is often put into the gas as the tanker is filled up at the refinery. A common additive is a detergent agent. “The law requires a certain level of detergents in Fuel. Shell, for example, is putting in more detergent. – Whether that has a measurable effect to the driver is debatable.”Detergents have a marked effect on engine deposits. “If you take apart a modern engine that has been running on a modern fuel, and compare this to an old engine that was running on old gas, you can see an obvious difference,” Mazor said.The biggest difference between today’s gas and the gas sold 15 years ago is the removal of lead. Taking out the lead, and developing effective catalytic converters to more completely burn emissions, have radically cut pollution.The major oil companies each have a magical-sounding name for their Fuel and tout its superiority over other brands. The difference is the additives or the amount of detergent added to the gas that comes from the refinery. The benefit of these additive packages is lost to most drivers, who simply fill up at the gas station with the cheapest prices or the one for which they carry a credit card.Does a gas expert like Beard have a preference when buying gas? “I just watch the light on the dash. After it has been on for a day I get nervous and go to the closest station available