I've had issues in the past with bad fuel.My Camaro doesn't like the local Sunoco and one of the Neons I owned would kick the CEL after fueling up at the Irving next to my house.
For the past couple years I've tried to use the same Shell gas station and haven't had as many problems
Once, back in the day, I got a tank that made my '94 Formula (LT1 6M) run like poo. No power whatsoever when I got on it. Fresh tank and no more problems.
Someone mentioned a mower running on questionable gas. I've been running my 6.5hp Briggs on 3 year old gas WITH ethanol. The exhaust smells the same as the gas does - like rotten gas! It still putters along happily and gets the job done. I even have a special jug with BAD GAS MOWER ONLY Sharpied on it
In reply to Carro Atrezzi:
I had a beater go kart with a really loose 5hp briggs(bought it seized, freed up, filled with 20w50 and ran), best that thing ever ran was on some piss colored skunky gas I drained out of a riding mower that had been sitting for at least a year awaiting a new engine. My best guess was the reduced octane made it more optimized for the low compression flathead engine with very conservative ignition timing.
Anytime I've purchased gas from a Wal-Mart gas station...which was everyday when working at a Honda dealer. Put it in all of our PDIs (new cars). Cars would run horribly right after fill up.
Put it in my supercharged 06 mustang gt. Worst driving experience ever on a ride home. Car was bucking and misfiring. After siphoning all of it out and using it for a lawnmower and filling up with BP it ran wayyyy better.
Dated a beautiful girl once who had a pretty sweet LT1 Trans Am. We were out of town one weekend and I stopped at a small country convenience store to put gas in it. She pitched a fit and said not to put cheap gas in her car. I told her all gas was the same and filled it up.
Well.... that car started pinging like crazy. I couldn't get to another gas station fast enough to outrun the bitching that she was throwing my way.
I married that beautiful girl and we divorced a few years later. Sometimes even good gas won't help you outrun the bitching.
And I lived happily ever after....
Had a gas station for 10 years. Tanks installed around 1999 or after are generally extremely reliable systems. I was branded for about 6 years and then unbranded after. Never had any issues with fuel other customers putting gas in their diesel trucks a couple times. There is no real difference in fuel between branded, unbranded. It all comes from the same places. I never had any measurable water in my tanks during the entire time I had the station. Warmer parts of the country you could have a larger temp differential between delivered fuel and ground temp, resulting in more condensation within the tank than I ever saw.
Jcamper wrote: Had a gas station for 10 years. Tanks installed around 1999 or after are generally extremely reliable systems. I was branded for about 6 years and then unbranded after. Never had any issues with fuel other customers putting gas in their diesel trucks a couple times. There is no real difference in fuel between branded, unbranded. It all comes from the same places. I never had any measurable water in my tanks during the entire time I had the station. Warmer parts of the country you could have a larger temp differential between delivered fuel and ground temp, resulting in more condensation within the tank than I ever saw.
Yeah, OK. That explains why my car started running better after I put new gas and water remover in the tank.
worst I ever had was with a fiat I had. There was rust in the tank, but it was contained and not spreading. I got a batch of gas with some water in and it took off. I went through a fuel filter a week for 6 months until I came out one day to the smell of gas, am empty tank, and a small rusty pinhole
Once, I grabbed a 5-gallon gas can from my shed to put into my car when I was home at lunch. I keep them in there for the motorcycle, tractor, mower, etc. APPARENTLY, someone had used one to store old nasty kerosene, cleaners, and other hazardous waste for disposal and did not bother to properly mark it. ( What kind of moron would do such a stupid thing I don't know, but since I am the only one who has access to the shed I have a pretty good idea...) Did I mention the cap wasn't always put back on?
My car made it about 1 mile before if died. They had to drop the tank and pull out pine needs, spiders, stinkbugs and all kinds of other crap. Then flush the entire fuel system. DOH!
In reply to pinchvalve:
Do you think a Kia Rondo have fared better in that situation?
I avoid all BP stations with my sho......the 93 octane they have there evidently isn't up to par with the others. My bike behaves about the same way, so it must just be local BP.
Also, spark knock sucks. 
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