Target 11 investigates octane levels in gasoline

A Channel 11 viewer sent us an email saying she'd been buying gas at GetGo because of the fuel perks, but she felt as if the 93 octane was running like 87 octane. She posed the question, how do we know that the gas stations aren't putting 87 octane in every pump?

It's it good question, so we decided to put it to the test, since Pennsylvania is one of three states in the nation that doesn’t test octane levels.

I filled gas cans with regular, mid-grade and premium gasoline from three gas stations in the North Hills, a Get Go, a BP and an independent USA Gas, and then took them to the lab to be tested.

We were looking for water, sediments and octane, all things that could potentially hurt your engine.

I also talked to a mechanic who considers the wrong octane a silent menace.

“You could run a high-octane car on a low-octane fuel and the computer will compensate for it pretty good," said Damon Rauso, a mechanic at Lockhart Tire on the North Side.

He told me you might notice the engine knocking, but that doesn’t always happen, at least not right away. Over time, Rauso says an engine that requires 92 or 93 octane and is being run on less, will be damaged and will end up in the shop.

"Are you talking like hundreds of dollars worth of damage?" I asked.

"Thousands probably, if you damage the head, the pistons the valves, you're into big money," said Rauso.

That's why we were anxious to get the results.

The testing for water and sediments was done at Clark Testing in Jefferson Hills. We were looking for a line separating the water from the gasoline, but our samples looked good.  The lab found no water or sediments.

"There was actually nothing in any of these. They were all clean," said Patrick Stockton, the lab supervisor.

The next test was for octane. Here are the results. The margin of error is plus or minus 0.4.

Regular 87 Octane

Get Go       87.7

BP              88.1

USA Gas  87.8

Mid-Grade 89 Octane

Get Go       89.2

BP              89.6

USA Gas   90.2

Premium 93 Octane

Get Go       92.3

BP              92.6

USA Gas   92.6

The regular 87 octane actually did slightly better than we had expected, with the octane levels closer to 88 than 87.

The mid-grade, sold as 89 octane, tested slightly higher at all three locations, with the USA Gas selling 90 octane, instead of just 89 octane.

The premium gas, listed as 93 octane, came back slightly lower at all three stations, but all within the margin of error and safe for engines that need premium gasoline.

I asked Stockton, "As a consumer, do you feel you might be getting ripped off at all?"

"No, no, not with those values,” Stockton replied.  “Not at all, and with the lower octane levels, you're actually getting a little better than what you're paying for."

The lab wasn't surprised by our results because the industry has tight quality controls. In fact, the lab does independent testing for some chains in the industry, adding that a lot of stations get their gas from the same refineries.

There is a bill in Harrisburg that would require octane testing in Pennsylvania, but it's unclear how much support there is for it.

WPXI