>> The color of the gasoline also determines the grade. Red is the lowest
>> grade (80-100 octane). Blue is next (100-110?). I think that is followed
>> by green?
>
>Whoa! Wait a minute here...
>
>I've heard of a proposal to color-code the various grades to help inspection
>and checking for mislabeling, but I wasn't aware that it was actually in use
>yet. The idea was something like blue for 87 octane, red for 89 octane and
>_clear_ for 92-93 octane, aka The Good Stuff. Obviously the con artists would
>have a hard time removing the dye from lower-grade gas.
>
>BTW, I must say that although I'm a faithful Amoco user, the latest ad cam-
>paign bleating about how clear their premium is just strikes me as silly.
>After all, gasoline is one product that we buy and use without ever actually
>seeing the stuff.
These color codes have been in use for *years*. I may have been misleading
though. There is more to it than just octane. The different color bands
do indicate different octane ranges, but they also differentiate different
grades of purity. I.e. less water and sediment. Autogas is supposed to
all be red. I am very surprised that they would allow Amoco to market a
clear fuel. This would make it easy to counterfeit more expensive fuels
by adding dies. And, the more expensive fuels generally have higher risks
when you substitute a lower grade. (The next time you're in a piston
airplane and the engine starts to overheat and seizes up, you might understand
the wisdom behind the color coding.)
-mark
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