The octane gasoline and brands drivers use

I have several hubs (articles) relating to gasoline and the popular brands of gasoline. There are two polls relating to gasoline brands and octane that have received enough votes I thought I would share them here.

My one hub is titled Which gasoline brand is better for cars? The poll question is Which octane gasoline do you use? I gave four different options: 87 octane, 89 octane, 91 octane and the fourth option -- oats and barley, I own a horse.

So let's take a closer look at this first poll on octane. The links to the original two hubs are in the grey link boxes.

Let me say that I have a sense of humor and thought the fourth option fit well. 478 people have voted in the poll.

• 59% of those responding said they use 87 octane. Okay, that's the majority of people but I thought the percentage using 87 octane would be higher.
• 12% of those responding said they use 89 octane.
• 26% of those responding said they use 91 octane.
• 2% marked "oats and barley" -- I guess they, too, have a sense of humor or a disdain for polls.

It looks like drivers are either going to use 87 octane or they're going to go for the 91 octane.

The 89 octane must not make enough difference, real or perceived.

I've asked three mechanics I know which octane gasoline they would use. Two said 91 octane for higher performance cars and the other one said he uses 87 octane for his BMW.

There aren't any surprises in this poll. However, I'm surprised that so many do use 91 octane.

The other poll was Which brand of gasoline do you use? It was in the hub titled Shell, Chevron, Mobil: Which brand is better?

I gave 7 options for different brands of gasoline in this poll. 267 people have voted so far.

Here is the breakdown:

• 40% chose Shell
• 27% chose Chevron
• 15% chose Mobil
• 3% Arco AM PM
• 2% Union 76
• 1% Texaco
• 12% chose whatever is cheapest.

I'm surprised in this poll that so few people chose Arco AM PM. Either it's not readily available where they live -- it's all over California or else drivers really are that more likely to choose Shell or Chevron.

I'm surprised so few chose Union 76 and Texaco.

I used to almost always select Arco AM PM. However, now that I'm driving a Toyota Corolla that runs well and gets over 32 miles per gallon in the city I'm using more top tier gasoline--despite my wife's protests.

My non-scientific findings do match surveys from the readers of Popular Mechanics: Shell was the most popular gasoline brand that readers chose in 2009 and 2010.

Click for the link here. It's in a Shell oil press release.

From what I've read about top tier gasoline, the additives companies use vary little between the brands. Next, I'll have to ask the oil company reps themselves.

Feel free to go into the hubs--click the links in the grey link box--, take the poll, and cast your own votes.