91 Octane on the Left Coast??

[LinuxRacr]

I was just wondering why 91 seems to be the highest octane available at the non-sunoco type gas stations on the west coast, and mountain region?

 

[Natey]

Not sure, but I'll bet CARB(California Air Resource Board) has something to do with it.

 

[melicha8]

I think it is because the amount of additives they would have to use in conjunction with the high octane would have made it economically unsound and nobody would have bought it

 

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

it has something to do with the requrements of california that companies use oxidizers (ie mtbe, etc.). well its hard and very costly to make 92 or greater octane with MTBE in it. its not CARBs fault 100%. they are at fault only about 15%. much of the blame should go to unocal. they hold patents on making 92 using the required MTBE reformulation. for companies to make 92 with mtbe, they must pay unocal $1.50 per gallon created. since unocal has ALL 150 patents under thier name, we got screwd. check out this article for a little more on the topic of the 92 to 91 switch in california and well the rest of the US for that matter.
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/editors/technobabble/0102scc_technobabble/

 

[AFaceInTheCrowd]

if you really want the high octane of the east coast, then make some. use some toluene and cook up some 92 or 94 octane. i'm trying to find the recepie for the different octanes using pump gas and toluene. its a gallon per gallon ratio, so it shouldn't be hard.

 

[changedman]

good article! Thanks to all the truck drivin 87 consumin hicks we have here!!!

 

[LinuxRacr]

if you really want the high octane of the east coast, then make some. use some toluene and cook up some 92 or 94 octane. i'm trying to find the recepie for the different octanes using pump gas and toluene. its a gallon per gallon ratio, so it shouldn't be hard.

I made a post on this a while back. No time to search now.

 

[MinnowGT]

hey folks,

at select Union 76 stations - they do sell racing grade
octane -> 100 (highest they can sell at the stations).

you can goto www.76.com and look up the places where
they sell it.

Or if you like talking to people -> 1-800-345-0076

they sell this racing fuel in -> az, ca, fl, ga, nc, nv, sc, wa

CA finally lifted the requirements on MTBE, but it looks like the
76 stores are the only ones that make non-mtbe widely available.