What kind of gas is perfect for your car?

I was lucky enough to be a part of an information session about gasoline with Shell last week and this girl, who is quite indifferent when it comes to cars, learned a lot.

For starters, I had no idea that the perfect gas for your car can actually keep your engine clean. Also, if you want to increase the longevity of your car, the best thing you can do is to treat it well. Take it for regular tune-ups, oil changes, and use high quality fuel and fluids.

Did you know that your car is made to run on fuel of a specific octane number? I have had my car for about five years now and I’ve never bothered to check what type of gas my car needs in order to function optimally. I didn’t even realize that this information is in every car manual.

According to Jim Macias, Technology Manager for NA Retail Fuels, Shell Global Solutions, “Your owner’s manual is your friend.” His strongest recommendation is to follow your manual. Sounds really simple right? So why do people like me not do this?

I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve only checked my owner’s manual twice. When we installed our car seats and when I was trying to figure out how to change the clock and preset my radio stations… those are the things that matter to me.

If your manual says that your car needs premium gas, you should absolutely use premium gas. But, if you’re like me and you are generally just using the cheapest gas, this can hurt your engine by leaving behind deposits, which will affect your car’s performance and longevity. Who knew?

What was confirmed to me during this session is that if you routinely use a lesser quality gas in your car and you fill up your tank with a high quality, premium gasoline, like Shell V-Power, with just that one fill up, it will immediately start to remove the deposits left behind by the lesser quality gas that you’ve been using.

Interesting. Kind of like taking your car for a gas tank/engine scrub at a spa…

While this is a good thing for your engine, the pros stick to the bottom line which is: if you want your car to run well — as it was designed to run — you have to follow the instructions in your owner’s manual. So to all those people out there who stereotypically don’t follow instructions (I am clearly in this group) it’s time to crack open your manual if you want to have a clean and optimally running engine. First thing to check: What kind of gas should I use? Excuse me while I go and check mine…

How clean is the gas that you use?

Of course not all gas is created equal… yes crude oil may come from the same place, but once it gets distributed to different brands/gas marketers, cleaning agents are added and the finished product that you purchase at the pump can vary greatly. The federal government has standards and regulations that gas companies have to meet, but they are really just the minimum.

Interestingly enough, there is a large amount of fuel for sale in Canada and the USA that only meets the minimum government regulations, and really doesn’t have sufficient cleaning agents added to it to protect your engine.

What I learned was that Shell uses high levels of cleaning agents (five times the government standard amount in the case of Shell V-Power premium gasoline) which helps your car run better, for longer.

What I love about Shell? All three grades of Shell gasoline have been certified Top Tier for nearly 10 years. I’m sure my car’s engine will love that too.

Have you read your car’s manual? What do you consider when choosing which gas to fill up with? Time to start cleaning up your engines!

Disclosure and Disclaimer – This blog post was facilitated by Shell Canada Limited via Glam Media Canada. While each blog author received some information from Shell’s Technology Manager of North America Retail Fuels, the opinions expressed by each author are those of the author alone and may not be shared by Shell Canada Limited or its affiliates.

FEEL THE POWER OF THE V. Shell V-Power is our best, most advanced gasoline designed to deliver optimum performance for the perfect drive. No other premium gasoline keeps your engine† cleaner. Visit shell.ca/vpower