Today, October 6, is Oil Day in Japan, marking an occasion for average citizens to think about the many petroleum-based products used in every day life. The date was chosen because the numbers 1, 0, and 6 can be rearranged to form O (0), I (1), and L/R (6). It also happens to be the anniversary of the first global oil crisis, which led to long lines a fuel pumps around the world and began on October 6, 1973.
Some owners have an almost religious dedication to their brand of service station. Personally I prefer Costco since it usually has the best price for a Top Tier fuel — though that’s hovering around $4.30 a gallon in southern California — but if the lines are long I’ll go elsewhere. I’m not brand loyal but only Top Tier juice goes into my JNCs. Other than that, I don’t have any hard rules except for a healthy dose of ethanol stabilizer and a full tank in cars that are sitting.
What are your gasoline filling routines?
The most entertaining comment by next week will receive a prize. Scroll down to see the winner of last week’s QotW, “Which JNC looks most proper in red?“.
We were a pleasantly surprised to find that many readers are not fans of red cars. BlitzPig said it best by declaring only Italian cars be red. He made one exception, and it is also the car that got the most votes for red. That would be the NA Miata, which was also chosen by Klaus Kopernikus and Ian G. speedie added that Mazda’s reds have always been good, like Kyuusha Corner‘s pick of the B2000/B2200 pickup, though the former specifically called out the Soul Red that appears on newer cars, including the ND Miata.
But the answer isn’t always Miata. Sometimes it’s Honda, specifically the iconic NA1 NSX, as nominated by Taylor C. and ra21benj. Negishi no Keibajo cast a ballot for the BB6 Prelude despite knowing that 90s Honda reds are particularly fade-prone.
We were a bit dumbfounded that there weren’t more Mitsubishis suggested. Eclipses, Evos, and Monteros were all pretty famous for wearing red. Only streetspirit picked one, the zenki GTO. The only other brand to garner a single vote was Yamaha and its Ami as TheJWT‘s choice.
Nissans didn’t get a ton of love either, with Franxou making a case for the Fairlady Roadster, Land Ark the DR30 Skyline, and Michael Jue the Roadster and S30 Z for nostalgic reasons before expanding it to any JNC sports car. Similarly, Lavender Null went with the first-gen Integra due to past ownership but also provided a slew of pop-up headlight icons.
The marque with the most hats in the ring was Toyota. Jacob B contended that a number of retractable headlight Toyotas define “red car” but said that the A80 Supra was a standout, an opinion shared by Random Rascal. Meanwhile, Alan argued the 1989 AW11 MR2 while Sammy B went truly old school with the Toyota 2000GT. When the dust settled, however, the winner this week was ynori, who came up with a left-field answer that we hadn’t thought of but answered the question perfectly:
here’s a wild take – Crown Comfort. more specifically the exported Crown Comfort in glorious Hong Kong Taxi red.
growing up immersed in the centre of HK culture in the 90s, these ubiquitous red boxes with silver tops were absolutely EVERYWHERE. they were adored universally by drivers and riders and had something of a near bullet-proof rep. they were so iconic of that busy, prosperous metropolitan image of city life it’s hard to even envision HK without them.
true nostalgic gems of that bygone era
Omedetou, your comment has earned you a set of decals from the JNC Shop!
I check gasbuddy.com ( website only and never the app because the interwebs have me believing that the app specifically is notorious for selling data without consent) to see which top tier station near me has the cheapest 93 octane. Usually, it’s a Sunoco 5 miles away just to save on average $4 per fill up. Those savings immediately get utilized at a bougie French/Korean patisserie 7 miles in the opposite direction for the best latte around, lol. Hmmm…what am I saving here???
Its just like the original post above, I go to Costco as much as I can. I get their premium for my small 4 cylinder daily driven turbo. I get their premium for my small 4-cylinder weekend track car. And the same thing for my project car when its completed. I live in a small town and about 14 miles away from the Costco. In a pinch I go to Wawa as their gas is highly rated as well. Plus they have good food. Gourmet food comes from a gas station chain but that’s another QOTW entirely.
Driving in Maryland, here’s a no-brainer:
Royal Farms. Gas + Chicken.
While I’m inclined to agree as rofo is also my go to, I try to swing by BJ’s when I’m out running errands and such.
whaddaya mean fuel low?? didn’t i fill you up like 4, 5 weeks ago?? did we run 600 klicks already?? but i don’t wanna spend like an extra FIVE whole MINUTES of my time outside of my daily loop doing extra things and interacting with extra humans and stuff… what if we hit a queue at the servo because there are suddenly too many other humans.. that could drag on to like TEN bloody MINUTES! alright tomorrow morning then we’ll hit that Shell by the corner 0740 hrs pump 11 vpower 98… who fills up a daily mall crawler with high oct fuel anyway the staff must think im nuts by now! and they gonna ask me the same annoying questions like would you like to grab- NO! do you have any rewards progra- NO! would you like a fr- NO! i just wanna pay for my fuel and get the flock outta here thankyouverymuch! i swear other humans are trying absolutely everything to prolong interactions! ..alright that’s gonna be like another 50 bucks, the things i do for you!
– me to my yaris cross basically every month
Here in SoCal, it’s Mobil, Chevron, or 76. Shell in a pinch – I’ve pumped a few bad tanks of fuel from them over the years.
91 suuuuuuuuucks!
Taxi to the pump & shut down. Run the checklist. Verify the Ignition is OFF. Chock the wheels. Go grab the grounding wire & attach it to the exhaust pipe. Reel the hose out 15 feet past the filler. Get the 6 foot step ladder & set it up under the wing. Grab the nozzle & hose then climb the ladder. Fill the tank. Rinse & repeat for the other wing. Climb down & reel the hose back..Stow the stepladder. Run your card. Disconnect & reel ground wire back. Remove the chocks. Power up & reset fuel totalizer. Strap in, start up & leave. *Pro Tip; Never talk to anyone while gassing up or you’ll have a gasoline waterfall coming out of your wing listening to that dumb joke (No auto shut-off)
Get gas after 7pm, the price goes down before Midnight.
For my JNC, I go about 10 miles to the town over that has ethanol-free gas. So worth it! My daily drivers tend to go to Costco (we’re lucky that there’s one fairly close by, so this isn’t too bad). If I do happen to be nearby I’ll get the dailies the non-ethanol gas too and will run inside for a polar pop. 79 cents for any size always gets me.
Added bonus for that Ethanol-free station: it’s a Circle K that still sells Lawson’s french onion dip! Lawson’s started in my area (just north of Akron, OH) and you can still get their dip at some Circle K stores in Northeast Ohio. So the Van gets no ethanol and I get chips and dip later that day 🙂
I only use Premium Top Tier gasoline in my rotary., Anything to prevent carbon buildup is worth it. I also do pre-mix at every fill up.
Well… since I’m living in Germany right at the border, I just drive across the bridge to the other side of the river, because fuel is cheaper in Austria. It’s not even a 20 min journey round-trip…
My gas filling routine operates on a hierarchy:
1.)Time efficiency. I only fill up when I absolutely need it, and focus on stations on my driving route. If the time saved by stretching out fill-ups only saves me 2-3 fill ups per year, it’s worth the 2 minutes and driving time to and from the station saved each fill up.
2.)Price. I will seek the cheapest station on my driving route, but am unwilling to drive outside of it to save a little extra.
3.)Lighting & Window Wash. I value a station with good lighting, particularly during the winter at night. I’ve been disappointed with most stations having dirty water to clean your windows with, and I will prioritize a station with good window wash – particularly during the summer.
There are a number of full serve stations here in the Boston Metro, but I always take time to get out of the car, chat with the attendant (they like to ask questions about my JNC), and walk around the car to check on the tires and other peripherals. I generally find the cheapest station for my cars, and tend to drive until I hit the fuel reminder light, only because I want to see how far I can get on that tank. For example, my wife and I recently took a quick whirlwind trip to NYC in the Mazda6 (manual), and managed to get over 520 miles on a single tank, averaging over 37MPG (this, including NYC traffic, 70MPH avg, A/C too).
When I used to have the VW Jetta TDi wagon, I’d have a sense of “pride” for heading over to the green-handled pumps, as diesels just aren’t as common. There were times where, during our road trips, I’d be parked next to 18-wheelers and sharing pumps with the truckers. On a nice tank, I’d easily hit 540miles before starting to worry about where to find diesel, which would take a little bit of planning if in unfamiliar areas.
Before I leave the station, I usually calculate my tank fuel economy, and I’ll involve the kids in this discussion so that they understand the value of good fuel economy. I see their brain cells working, because they’ll start asking, “well, what does Mama’s car get?” of “what about the Z?”
I never look at gas prices.. What am I gonna do – not get gas?
Get in the shortest line no matter what side the filler is on because SPOILER ALERT: that hose at least 8 feet long and will reach either side of the car.