Top Tier gas is actually the real deal. As car engines moved to direct injection, it became necessary to have an "upgraded" detergent package to keep the valves "clean". Before direct injection in cars, port injection would flush the tops of the valves with the fuel/air mixture on the way to the combustion chamber. That is why Honda has a combination of port injection and direct injection in some (all?) of their engines. When I originally heard of Top Tier, I did some research. The first pages showed all the vague marketing language: Blah, blah, blah. Then I hit the page going into the laboratory additive formulas, results measurements, etc. Although I have an engineering degree, I was immediately over my head. What I did discover is how Top Tier was funded and how it would be applied in the field. Four major car companies put millions of dollars into the project. My memory is that the original big 4 were GM, BMW, Toyota, and VW. They not only helped develop the fuel additives that would accomplish what they needed for their new engines, but they also set up a periodic testing system for every gas station nationwide where those particular stations sold Top Tier branded gas. This insured that you got the right additives, primarily for the newer direct injection engines, at any branded station you might visit, whether it happened to be in New Jersey or Nevada. Initially there were only about 5 brands that were committed to Top Tier, Chevron and Shell were 2 of them -- but other major brands such as Mobil were not yet involved. Consumer Reports published a detailed article on Top Tier and started off the article with the question, "Is Top Tier worth the money?" Their answer, before even explaining why, was "Yes." In our Tucson area, Speedway recently bought up a large number of stations, most of which sold Top Tier. There was a large article in our local paper about this corporate purchase, about the stated policy of Speedway to NOT offer Top Tier gas, and about the numerous mechanics in town who were strongly advising their clients (some of whom had already had engine rebuilds for not using Top Tier) to NOT use Speedway. I have found nothing anywhere that says Top Tier is just marketing hype. Remember, the whole effort was started by car companies, not petroleum companies.