Milford chronicle., 1956-05-04
Savings BY Grading
Gas By Esso Co.

Savings of millions of dollars for
the American motorist are possible
through a three-grade system of
marketing gasoline, Stanley G..
Hope, Esso Standard Oil Company
president, declared today.
ESQ Standard, he announced,
will introduce such a system
Beginning June 20, he disclosed
that the company will market three
brands of gasoline-regular, prem
ium and a new still higher quality
motor fuel for automobiles with
high-compression engines.
According to Mr.. Hope, the new
power fuel should be available to
rs per cent of the company's GUS
toners by mid-August.
In announcing the higher quail
ity motor fuel, the company moved
about four years ahead ef schedule.
The new. gasoline contains power
producing elements of an advanc-
ed motor fuel that was originally
scheduled for production by Esso
in 1860.
Motorists are demanding cars
with better performance, Mr.. Hope
explained, "and to deliver perfor,e
ance most efficiently, automobile
manufacturers have increased
compression ratios. These higher
ratios demand higher grade OF
fuel. Our new gasoline is designed
to meet that need
Traditionally, the petroleum in
] L-,.. -, ,Ixafnd fxr1 crroTnc nj
gasoline-regular and premium.
Recently, however, an acute
problem arose from the increas-
ingly greater percentage of new
cars which are not satisfied by ex-
| listing premium gasolines, Mr.. Hope
said.
"We decided" he said, that
merely increasing the octane rat
| ing of the current premium grade
would be uneconomical to the mil
lions of motorists whose automo-
biles cannot take full advantage OF
a higher grade of fuel
However, by providing three diff
ferent gasolines, Esso Standard
will give the motorist chance to
choose the quality best suited for
| his car.
obviously" Mr.. Hope explain
ed, eff only two grades-regular
and a new higher quality premium
fuel-were marketed, many motor
| lists would be caught in the middle.
The quality spread between the
| two motor fuels would be far too
| wide"
Both the motorist and the oil
| industry save, he continued, when
the proper fuel is used in an auto
mobile engine. The three grades
system will accommodate all cars,
new and old, and save many mo-
toring dollars.
"The current regular and prem
ium grades of gasoline are doing
an outstanding job for large per-
centage of the motoring public and
will continue to do so for some
years to come" Mr.. Hope said.
"Since higher quality fuel must be
made by new processes that are
more costly, Esso Standard feels
| it would be unfair to most motor
lists at this time to increase the
octane and other qualities-and
cost-of our present premium
fuel"
Esso researchers estimate that
the adoption of the three-grade
gasoline plan by the American mo-
torisr could save the public over
half a billion dollars a year by
1861.
Mr.. Hope explained that since
1888 horsepower in passenger cars
has jumped from an average of
I13 to 207, while compression ra-
| tios have climbed from an aver
age of So to 8.5. This trend to-
ward higher compression engines
is expected to continue at least
through 1860.
Many late-model cars ping" or
knock when using existing mo-
tor fuels, for even premium gaso-
lines do not satisfy about 20 per
cent of the new cars now on the
road.
Therefore, Mr.. Hope said, Esso
Standard is introducing its new
top-grade motor fuel, which will
be available in a separate service
station pump. at a cost commen-
surate with its higher quality.
The company's extensive stu
dies indicate that for cars that can
take full advantage of this higher