> This will sound strange, but the premium for premium gasoline is
actually
> shrinking. Think about it. When gas was $2.25 for regular, mid grade
was
> $2.35, and premium was $2.45. That's a $0.20 difference (which comes
out
> to being about an 8.88% price premium for premium gas). Now that
regular
> is $3.00, midgrade is $3.10, and premium is $3.20 - well the gross
premium
> for premium is the same per gallon ($0.20) - but the percentage is
6.66%.
> So, if octane boosters were too expensive to boost octane when gas was
> cheaper, they are definately too expensive to boost the octane now.
Umm, I don't agree. For a given quantity of gas (let's say 10 gallons)
premium still costs 20 cents more per gallon. And regardless of the
price of the gas it still needs to same amount of octane booster which
presumably costs the same (for now!). So the cost comparisons that
worked before are still accurate now.
So the premium for premium is shrinking as a percentage of the total gas
purchase price but not in absolute terms.
Felix
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