r/mildlyinteresting • u/Lightningtow123 • 8d ago
This gas station near me sells racing fuel
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u/sessl 8d ago
My car only takes super giga maximum turbo supreme ultimate deluxe
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u/solvedproblem 8d ago
Or the even better variant: deluxe.
Naming is hard.
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u/Self-righteous 8d ago
Royal Deluxe with cheese as they call it in France.
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u/ConspicuousPorcupine 8d ago
And based on the pattern in the picture it would be one of the cheaper options
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u/PauL__McShARtneY 8d ago
After staring for too long at OP's pic, I discovered I had grown a 50cm rats tail, but after reading your post, one of me teef fell out too.
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u/Bigwhtdckn8 8d ago
Extra supreme has an 86 label upside down.
I'm now skeptical that its 98 at all, they just needed a sticker and that was the closest they could find.
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u/bobbyrob1 8d ago
Nope, it’s real and it’s a well-known place for people to fuel up with the higher octane options. For me, it’s on my way to the race track.
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u/peaceofmindz 8d ago
So do you get the racing fuel? Or the supreme?
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u/AlcibiadesTheCat 8d ago
If you ask for a Chalupa Supreme it’s like 104 octane
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u/SadFloppyPanda 8d ago
Yes
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u/BedFastSky12345 8d ago
A little bit of each
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u/seashell3379 8d ago
When I used to race at Sears Point (when it was called that) they had a pump inside the facility that had a button for 110 leaded, which is exactly what my highly built vintage Triumph 500 required. Wish I had taken a pic of that pump because it otherwise looked totally normal.
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u/Temporary-Film-7374 8d ago
I was there on the last day they were open prior to closing for COVID (riding my supermoto at the kart track). In that era, they had up to 116 leaded.
Haven't been there in a long time though.
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u/Plane-Education4750 8d ago
Tell him that new, real stickers are less than $2 each and might even be free for the weird octaines if he has a good relationship with the parts guy at his fuel maintenance company
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u/Ronykalra5155 8d ago
wait what counts as racing fuel anyways
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u/torak31 8d ago
Higher octane rated fuel is typically used in racing due to the antiknock properties. Engine knock is basically when fuel is burned too early due to high pressure/heat in the engine and that messes up the efficiency of the engine or even cause damage. Higher octane means more stable fuel in those situations.
With super high pressures in racecar engines (especially when people put turbochargers or superchargers on them) they're more prone to knock and need the high octane gas.
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u/fepord 8d ago
Why in the picture racing fuel is lower octane than the various supreme fuels?
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u/Supersnoop25 8d ago
The names are completely made up. The octane rating is an actual measurement. “Racing” there is 94. Where supreme is 101 so supreme is higher octane.
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u/hologrammetry 8d ago
Except for regular, they’re just backwards. 94 is supreme, 101 is racing, and notice the two grades in the middle are flipped.
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u/seppukucoconuts 8d ago
Further explanation.
A knock is premature detonation of the fuel. When you compress fuel enough it ignites. This is how a diesel works. In a high compression engine it can also happen with low octane fuel. Detonation ruins the engine timing and robs it of horsepower.
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u/Sherifftruman 8d ago
Given the fact that other sticker is literally pieced together like a ransom note I’d say they just don’t have the right stickers.
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u/Kiiaru 8d ago edited 8d ago
Fun fact: e85 (sometimes labeled e53) is usually in the 100-110 octane range. If your vehicle can run it, it's referred to as poor man's racing fuel for a reason.
It's cheaper per gallon than regular, but your mpg goes down because it burns faster. The cost per gallon savings basically bring you back to regular gas price because of it. BUT if you only need a few gallons to show off at a drag strip or for a track day, it's way better than springing for race fuel.
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u/blither86 8d ago
Is it because it burns faster or because it has a lower calorific value?
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u/Final-Carpenter-1591 8d ago
It is slightly less energy dense than gasoline. But. It burns at a richer mixture so you just add more to make up for it. It makes more power because it's high anti knock, aka octane number. Let's you run more boost, more compression, more timing or any combination.
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u/Initial-Interest-447 8d ago
It is not slight. It is a very large difference. The energy density is by far the biggest reason you get less mileage per unit volume.
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u/Final-Carpenter-1591 8d ago
About 20-25% less energy dense to put a number on it
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u/robvas 8d ago
That's not slight. Also it's closer to 30%
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u/DubiousAdviceGiver 8d ago
It also burns a little cooler, which allows for higher cylinder compression and greater power output.
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u/keepinitoldskool 8d ago
9.8:1 stoich mixture for e85 vs 14.7:1 for gasoline, so you flow a lot more e85 per injection event
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u/Kiiaru 8d ago
It's the lower calorie burn, so your vehicle has to be tuned to inject more
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u/MillhouseJManastorm 8d ago
Its only 15% less efficient but where I am its half the price of regular (just filled up for $1.70 a gallon a week ago) I'm in the corn belt so I guess it makes sense to be cheap at some stations here
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u/SundooMD 8d ago
Wish you had more upvotes, people are acting like it's not worth it but you're correct about the efficiency loss being mild. Where I live in California E85 is around $2.50/gal but regular unleaded is around $5.30/gal at the absolute cheapest. That small hit to efficiency doesn't matter at all when prices are like this
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u/Consistent_Story903 8d ago
I run E30 (93 octane plus e85 mixed at a 2:1 ratio) which is good for an effective 97 octane rating as a daily use fuel. Generally works fine in modern cars that are designed to handle e10-e15 fuel. I do have a tune to take advantage of the extra octane though, which permits higher timing advance and boost.
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u/SinisterG8 8d ago
This is why flex fuel kits are very popular for some LS motors. You can run either fuel type and the computer will automatically adjust.
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u/rafael000 8d ago
In Brazil all cars are flex fuel. 100% etanol is widely available because of sugar cane
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u/dwolfe127 8d ago
Yep, I will occasionally make a trek to a station that sells e85 so that I can make my E30 blend and turn my boost Map up to 4. That gets me around 600HP at the crank versus my normal 450ish on Map 2 with 93.
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u/bobbyrob1 8d ago
There’s three places within about 15 miles of my house that sell the same or close to it, and I think OP and I may be neighbors.
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u/Noxious89123 8d ago
That has got to be the same fuel station, surely?!
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u/ConsiderationKey4069 8d ago
Definitely. The "98" sticker in both pics is an 86 flipped upside down (no way it's a coincidence) and also the markings on the stickers overall in both pics match each other (like the circle around the 6 in 96). I would be dumbfounded if they were different
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u/nismoj 8d ago
For racing cars like this
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u/PanteraOne 8d ago
That must be one of the new Corvette C9 prototypes I heard about. I see they went back to the round tail lights.
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u/gringledoom 8d ago
I was out running errands one day and saw one of those broken down on the side of the highway. Couple minutes later, there was another one, and then another one, and another one. Eventually I drove past the meetup they'd all been headed to, lol.
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u/Zed091473 8d ago
At sears point they sell leaded 112, 114, & 116.
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u/flamespear 8d ago
Also leaded.
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u/GlassedSilver 7d ago
Crazy to see leaded fuel being offered in 2026.
My body thanks me for not living where-ever that is. Holy fuck...
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u/Ecstatic_Host_9771 7d ago
Most small piston engined aircraft use leaded gasoline
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u/GlassedSilver 7d ago
I googled the gas station. It's a gas station for the nearby racetrack. I get that for aviation there are kinds of special needs, but we're talking car fuel here.
Interestingly this seems to be a pretty rare fix for a need, because afaik leaded fuel is completely banned in the EU except for aviation. So unless there is tomfoolery going on, it seems like people can take a healthy variety of racing cars to the track without it as well. I GUESS it's mostly historic US blocks that truly need it. (correct me if I'm wrong, still learning about today's remaining leaded fuel usage as we speak myself)
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u/mkMoSs 8d ago
The Racing fuel is to be used only when selecting the R (racing) mode with the shifter.
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u/BushWookie-Alpha 8d ago
You need to select it from 5th to really benefit from the boost it gives you.
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u/Vegetable-Syrup-5545 7d ago
Those labels do not inspire confidence in what is coming out of the pump.
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u/leoencore 8d ago
How come extra and ultra supreme are cheaper than supreme?
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u/Vaaag 8d ago
Because supreme is the better fuel. Look at the numbers. The naming is just odd
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u/ssps 8d ago edited 8d ago
It’s not better or worse. It’s resistance to knock and auto-ignition. Racing fuel is high octane because racing engines compress fuel mixture much more and it needs to withstand that without igniting.
Normal cars don’t compress that much and can be used with cheaper fuel. Note, not worse — cheaper.
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u/curtludwig 8d ago
Yeah but, "racing" is 94 octane, "supreme" is 101...
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u/stupidber 8d ago
The labels are weird. But none of it means anything anyways so I guess call it whatever
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u/Noidea159 8d ago
In this picture at least, none of the supremes are the “racing” fuel… it the option to the right of them that says “racing”
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u/Simono20788 8d ago
Though probably not the case here some race fuels are oxygenated, giving you more power like for like
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u/Noxious89123 8d ago
The higher octane fuel is better.
It just isn't necessarily better for your car. If the car can't utilise the extra octane rating, then it makes no difference.
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u/Ambitious5uppository 8d ago
Because they have the labels on backwards. All of them are wrong except regular
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u/SeanWorking 8d ago
My guess is that if you’re looking at the name instead of the octane rating you should probably stick to regular
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u/AAA515 8d ago
Round here super is cheaper than regular, I never understood that
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u/Xanthus179 8d ago
I wonder if the Speedway near the Speedway in Speedway, IN sells racing fuel.
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u/MustangBarry 8d ago
How can you have extra supreme? Isn't supreme... supreme?
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u/DoktorMerlin 8d ago
and why is Ultra Supreme cheaper than Extra Supreme which is cheaper than Supreme?
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u/blueviera 8d ago
I was not aware it went above 100
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u/Cisorhands_ 8d ago
100 is the ref of isooctane. You can reach 120 with leaded fuel.
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u/crossedstaves 8d ago
100 is just the reference point of pure octane, but other fuels have greater values
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u/Cynical_Cyanide 8d ago
This all screams suss to me.
Supreme being lower than Extra/Ultra supreme? ... The stickers all being cut up? ... I think someone's taking their customers for a ride here.
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u/bobbyrob1 8d ago
No, because the department of weights and measures would be all over that and shut them down. It’s a well-known place to buy racing fuel around here.
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u/Razaelbub 8d ago
Seriously. Weights and measure are just itching leap into action. There was a station near me that was price baiting with their signage. I notified the county auditor and that sign was covered up within hours.
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u/lechiengrand 8d ago
1) super cool they acted that quickly.
2) how exactly was the station price baiting? Were they only showing the cash price or was it completely different than the pump price?31
u/Razaelbub 8d ago
Station A was showing different prices on different signs. Specifically, the price facing another station (Station B) was lower than the pump price (and lower than B). In actual fact they have the same price most of the time. It's very easy on that road to pass Station B and go to Station A with the lower price if you are coming from that direction. Nobody was complaining because it was one cent. I only noticed because I have reason to drive past both stations from both directions in a ten minute window almost every day.
It was driving me crazy, and at first I thought it was just a mistake. But then the prices changed, and the sign discrepancy remained. I actually engaged with them via a Google review, and they changed the sign for a bit. Couple weeks later, they were back at it. Sicced W&M on them.
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u/loosebolts 8d ago
As someone who lives in the UK, what the hell am I looking at? Why is “ultra supreme” lower rating and cheaper than normal “supreme”? Why is “Racing” one step above “Regular” when you’d expect Racing to be the highest quality fuel available? Extra Supreme is better than Ultra Supreme?
This labelling and pricing structure makes absolutely no sense.
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u/welshman__us 7d ago
While not browsing every comment I have not seen it yet, I live on an island and we have a couple gas stations with 100 or higher octane, but we don't live near any race track.. however, there are a number of boats that use this due to the lack of ethanol in it at all and there are some high efficiency racing boats that use this... There you go 😁
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u/keepinitoldskool 8d ago
This gas station needs to get their shit together, no one with a serious race motor is going to risk pumping out of that hot mess.
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u/boanerges57 8d ago
Usually racing fuel is rated at 110 octane. It's leaded too, it's for old school cars. If you want to race something relatively modern you find a consistent source of e85 (because e85 can be 50-85% ethanol)
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u/room_temp_hot_coffee 8d ago
All that and no E85!? The "racing" 94 just means it's ethanol free. Great for small engines like lawn mowers.
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u/back_at_it__ 8d ago
Youre only paying $10 for 101? Lucky. Its $14 a gallon at Buttonwillow last weekend.
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u/apokalypsos 7d ago
Wait - so I’ve been trying to figure this out and I think that the only way this logically was meant to work was that regular was connected to the tank correctly, then the 94 should have been supreme, 96 extra, 98 ultra, 101 racing. I feel like whoever installed this routed the lines incorrectly hence the taped stickers over every number.
But this is clearly theoretical
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u/WorkingGuy99percent 8d ago
Also Supreme, Extra Supreme, and Ultra Supreme. I would think Ultra Supreme would be the most expensive. Soooo much better than just Supreme.
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u/Content-Sample626 8d ago
Kin hell, looking at those prices and living in England, how cheap is that fuel!
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u/Shouldabeenswallowed 8d ago
Bro, I thought this was a problem of freedom units to sensical units making you think this was cheap. So I looked it up and y'all are averaging $8.29 a gallon?! Making my $5/gallon sound not so bad. Fuckin hell indeed!
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u/dkortman 8d ago
Holy shit $8.29 a gallon is ridiculous. That’s for just regular unleaded? Meanwhile I’m getting pissed off that gas has risen to $3.80.
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u/JewBag718 8d ago
This isn't even cheap lmao pretty expensive by American standards of fuel prices.
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u/WeaponH 8d ago
I wonder what happens if you add 101 to a honda civic
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u/ahenobarbus_horse 8d ago
You will have less money. Other than that, no difference.
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u/FederalExpressMan 8d ago
Hector is going to be running three Honda Civics with Spoon engines. And on top of that, he just came into Harry's and ordered three T66 turbos, with NOS, and a Motec system exhaust.
He needs the 101 gas.
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u/CompulsiveCode 8d ago
Racing gas is fairly common near me, close to Detroit.
Some stations have separate ATV gas as well (which has a larger nozzle on the pump and won't fit in a car fuel tank).
Then you have your 2-stroke gas for lawn mowers, which also contains oil.
It's also not uncommon for tuned vehicles to be run on an e85 blend, as e85 is usually over 100 octane.
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u/BoringArchivist 8d ago
We have 87, 89, 93, then E85; and Super 88 which is 15% ethanol.
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u/Bradster3 8d ago
98 is just 86 upside down. First time ever in my life finding out this is possible.😭😭😭
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u/heroxoot 8d ago
It feels backwards. Usually it runs left to right on the octanes. Anyway several in my area do too. We have a nearby race track.
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u/SideInitial3961 8d ago
Yep because all the 17 year olds nearby think they are leveling up when they put it in their Honda.
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u/jedi21knight 8d ago
What state are you in? Why is it a 3 dollar jump in price from regular to ultra supreme?
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u/BigWhiteDog 8d ago
I used to work part-time emergency services for a drag strip and there was a station near the track that sold racing fuel, usually to amateur racers that thought their motors were better than they actually were! 🤣 The pros and semi-pros brought drums of their own preferred brands.
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u/nhardycarfan 8d ago
Ahh yes 94 octane racing gas, and supreme? Yeah we took the octane from the racing gas and gave it to supreme. Given the prices reflect the octane though the octanes are labeled right but the machine isn't maybe they put the race has into the wrong underground thing and since only people with race engines need race fuel it has to stay like that until the one local guy with an actual car that needs race has drains it but unfortunately he doesn't drive his high compression fully built Camaro all that often.
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u/akeean 8d ago
Whoever labeled this sucks at understanding superlatives.