Auto Makers and Gas Companies Profit When You Buy Premium Gas!

Vehicle manufacturers and oil companies love to make extra profits so they love it when they are able to persuade you to purchase premium fuel. They like it so much they continue to perpetuate inaccuracies about premium fuel. Inaccuracies such as premium fuel will provide better fuel economy. Inaccuracies such as high octane fuel can enhance your engine's performance. Actually these aren't inaccuracies they are complete myths.

Gasoline retailers and refiners love premium gasoline because it is so much more profitable than regular gasoline. You end up paying about 20 cents more per gallon for premium gas and the retailer only ends up paying about 8 cents more. The retailer makes 12 cents more on every gallon of high octane gas he sells.

The refineries take in a few cents per gallon more on premium than on regular when they sell to distributors. When you realize that the few cents per gallon is multiplied by the tens of thousand of gallons of gas that refineries sell, you can see that it adds up to a lot of extra profit.

The oil refineries and fuel retailers aren't the only companies that profit from premium gas. Car makers use premium gasoline to increase their bottom line too. They do that by using premium gasoline to increase the perceived value of their cars.

If a car has to have premium gas it must have a more expensive engine therefore the car must cost more. Using that logic the car companies can get higher prices on some models by recommending only premium gas can be used in those models. This adds credibility to their contention that the car is worth more money.

Another way that vehicle manufacturers capitalize on high octane fuel is by designing engines to be specially tuned to take advantage of the anti-knock properties of high octane fuel. By doing that they can create "high octane engines" that actually do get a little more horsepower out of high octane fuel then they do from regular fuel.

Since there is some horsepower gain it allows the car makers to advertise higher horsepower ratings for their engines. Again, higher horsepower ratings means more expensive car which means more profit for the auto makers.

These optimized for premium engines actually do put out a little more horsepower on premium than with regular. But most car experts and engineers seem to agree that if you use regular in a premium engine, the difference in horsepower is so small, you probably can't tell.

Premium gas does not increase fuel economy. Regular gas can be run in a so called premium engine without any noticeable effect. In the end it all comes down to money. By convincing you that you need to use premium gas they are able to take more money out of your pocket and put it in theirs.

Article Source: http://www.articles.ask-me-about.com

Scott Siegel has written a 143 page book of industry insider secrets on saving gas and dollars at the pump. Visit us to discover how you can get better gas mileage. Find out how to increase gas mileage.
Click here for other unique lower gas costs articles.