When you fill up your tank, you don’t really think much about the gasoline that’s going inside. Just choose the correct octane rating for your car, and that’s it, right? Wrong. Which premium fuel you choose can differ wildly in quality, according to the experts. 

Total Seal Piston Rings on YouTube breaks down the difference between standard premium fuel and the good stuff you should actually be putting in your car. Legally, all fuels sold in the United States must adhere to the EPA’s Least Additive Concentrate (LAC) mixture, requiring a minimum amount of detergents present in the gasoline. 

But there’s another level of higher-quality fuel that goes beyond the bare minimum. It’s a standard called “Top Tier” gasoline, founded by OEMs to promote a healthier blend of available fuel. For a fuel to qualify as Top Tier, it must meet a series of quality levels when it comes to detergent and additives that sit far beyond the EPA’s LAC requirements. Automakers like BMW, Stellantis, General Motors, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, and Volkswagen all sponsor the development of Top Tier gasoline, according to its dedicated website.

AAA ran an independent study comparing Top Tier gasoline to fuel that simply met the minimum EPA requirements, and it discovered that Top Tier gas left 19 times less deposits on vital engine parts like injectors, valves, and pistons over a 10,000-mile simulation. 

Buildup on those components eventually leads to excess fuel dilution in your oil, which is bad, because that leads to more engine wear. More buildup also means less efficiency and performance, so it’s best to minimize it as much as possible. If you’re the type who wants to keep your engine healthy and deposit-free, the benefits of running Top Tier gas are obvious. 

Not every gas station offers Top Tier-quality gasoline. But most of the biggest names—Shell, Mobil, Chevron, Sunoco, Exxon, 76, etc.—are all participating retailers. So next time you need to gas up, be sure to check before you hit the pump.

Aston Martin is shaking down its Valkyrie AMR-LMH endurance race car, and no surprise, it sounds wonderful. The brand posted a very short video clip of the car running at both Silverstone and Donnington Park, and while there’s unfortunate music in the background, we get a very good listen to its naturally aspirated 6.5-liter Cosworth V-12. We can’t wait to hear this echoing down the Mulsanne at Le Mans.

The Valkyrie AMR-LMH is based on the Valkyrie road car, but modified to fit the FIA’s Le Mans Hypercar rules. Developed in tandem with the Heart of Racing team, the Valkyrie AMR-LMH ditches the road car’s hybrid system and will run a detuned version of the V-12, as its 1,000-hp output far exceeds the limits for Hypercars. Aston Martin and the Heart of Racing intend to enter both the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech championship and the World Endurance Championship, so both are hard at work testing for next year. Per our colleagues at Motorsport.com, Aston hasn’t confirmed whether it plans to run the 2025 IMSA season-opener Rolex 24 at Daytona, but it will run at Le Mans.

Whenever it hits the track, it’ll be the only Hypercar derived from an actual road car, a throwback to the GT1 era of the late 1990s. It’ll also be the only sports prototype with a V-12, with the rest of the field running V-6s and V-8s. So you’ll be able to hear it coming.