gulrey

Which would you use?:

91 Octane non-Ethanol gasoline or

93 Octane gasoline with up to 10% Ethanol.

They are both available at a station near me.

The non-Ethanol is about 30 cents more per gallon but I don't drive enough for the cost difference to matter.

jumper5836

Unless your driving a flex fuel car I would stay away from ethanol. It gets it's higher octane rating from the ethanol but they mix it with gas that is much lower. It is more corrosive and absorbs moisture a lot more quickly then gasoline.

GSIRM3

Good luck finding gas in the US that is ethanol free. I know the OP said he can get it a location near him, but is hard to find.

rnl

Race tracks. 101 octane $10 gallon.

ScorpionT

Modern cars are built well enough to withstand ethanol. Not only that, but like GSIRM3 said its uncommon to find gasoline without ethanol in it.

goatboy

Non-ethanol gas is starting to become more available in coastal areas, since boats typically top off their tanks and store them full... for a long time... causing problems with E-10.

If you drive the car reguarly, managing to burn through a tank in less than a month, you'll be fine.

91 AKI it right on the edge of the spec' for a 911. Even if you're not hearing pinging, the engine might be de-tuning itself when it hears pinging (with the knock sensors).

The final issue is detergents. No-name gas doesn't have enough detergent for pulsed fuel injectors.

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

Exxon-Mobil just recently made the list. BP-ARCO, in additon to fouling the GOM, sells crappy gas. Hugo Chavez Communist Oil Company, CITGO, also sells crappy gas. I pro'lly wouldn't put Walmart Murphy gas in a 911, either.

mtbscott

Granted it was only one tankful, but I had an opportunity last summer to run some ethanol-free 93 through my Audi TT-RS while in South Carolina. Absolutely no discernible difference.
I'm with ScorpionT on this, manufacturers are well aware of the ethanol blend in the US and their cars are tuned to conform with it.

ncamg

Get the Pure Gas App to find 100% petro gasoline. As mtbscott said on the east coast no to hard to find. Just fired it up and found 7 station within 12 miles. Not everywhere. Found 93 octane MSTICK, Shell, Exxon.

GSIRM3

Who certifies that the gas is ethanol free? Were the Exxon and Shell stations at a marina? If the Exxon and Shell were at regular gas stations, I doubt it was ethanol free. Both Exxon and Shell are "top tier" gasoline. If you go to the Top Tier website and read the specifications for "Top Tier" gas, it specifies 10% ethanol. The top tier requirements are to sell the top tier gas at ALL of the branded stations.

ny991

The "pure gas"stations all state ethanol free on their pumps. I try to use them when I can, and when I do, I see 10-15% better gas mileage. That doesn't take into account the feeling knowing that your engine is happier. All in all a win for me!

dasams

Umm, for a 10% blend, you lose ~3% mileage relative to pure gas. dave

dasams

Why would anyone pay 30 cents extra to lose power? I can see paying 30 cents for 93 but not the other way around. dave

Dyim

He might want to pay to keep ethanol out of his car, to avoid the potential deleterious effect.

Curvfun

In the near past, Shell allowed their branded franchisees to themselves decide if they wanted ethanol added to their gasoline, or not. You're apparently inferring that they're now corporately mandating it. Not all states mandate ethanol blends, so a lot of stations do not HAVE to have it.

BTW, all gasoline travels through the national pipeline system to the distribution points as "ethanol free". It happens this way because ethanol is so corrosive that it destroys the pipes. Ethanol is blended into the gasoline at the distribution facilities as it goes into the delivery trucks. This also supports the percentage variance notification on the pumps, "up to 10%".

Ethanol is awful stuff. It quickly absorbs water causing major problems for engines. The alcohol and absorbed water evaporates over time leaving a sticky substance behind that clogs up everything. It pollutes the air worse than pure gasoline. It's BTU strength is less than gasoline which is why our cars will not be as powerful and get less MPG, therefore we are paying more overall. It's robbing poorer countries of an affordable food source.

BTW, it absorbs water so quickly and changes chemistry so rapidly that NASCAR will not allow any ethanol to be used in race cars that is not mixed on THE day of the race. The NASCAR promotion is a ruse for ad money.

Al Gore has recently admitted that he knew Ethanol had these problems, but he pressed its mandated acceptance / usage to appease the corn-belt Democrats who wanted another source of revenue and corporate subsidies (hand-outs) from the Federal Government. He also admitted that he pushed this agenda to try to win the election. For some time now, the "greenies" have been trying to undo ethanol after a long fight to get it because they now know they were misled and that it pollutes worse than gasoline. But, how do you get the genie back into the bottle, or more succinctly... their hands out of our pockets. E15 is very dangerous and is merely a way to get a 50% increase in revenue at the expense of us all, and at our repair expense. Somebody might be in bed with the pump manufacturers / suppliers since everything has to be changed. Google it, all this info is out there.

I never use ethanol gasoline unless I'm somewhere that doesn't have anything else to offer. I regularly mix Techron with all the gas in hopes of keeping it all as clean as possible.

GSIRM3

No, I did not say that Shell corporate was mandating that all their branded stations add alcohol to their gas. What I said was that to meet Top Tier Standards, which Shell does according to the Top Tier website, "ALL gasoline outlets carrying the brand of the approved retailer, must meet the Top Tier standards." That is straight from the Top Tier website. One could argue that Shell corporate requires it, but only because their agreement with Top Tier requires it.

Also from the Top Tier website is the required formulation for gas meeting the Top Tier Standards:

1.3.1.2 Base Fuel. The base fuel shall conform to ASTM D 4814 and shall contain commercial fuel grade ethanol conforming to ASTM D 4806. All gasoline blend stocks used to formulate the base fuel shall be representative of normal U.S. refinery operations and shall be derived from conversion units downstream of distillation. Butanes and pentanes are allowed for vapor pressure adjustment. The use of chemical streams is prohibited. The base fuel shall have the following specific properties after the addition of ethanol:

Contain enough denatured ethanol such that the actual ethanol content is no less than 8.0 and no more than 10.0 volume percent.
Contain no less than 8 volume percent olefins. At least 75% of the olefins shall be derived from FCC gasoline as defined by CARB (advisory letter, April 19, 2001).
Contain no less than 28 volume percent aromatics as measured by ASTM D 1319 or D 5580.
Contain no less than 24 mg/kg sulfur as measured by ASTM D 2622 or D 5453. At least 60% of the sulfur shall be derived from FCC blend stock.
Produce a 90% evaporation distillation temperature no less than 290F. as measured by ASTM D 86.
Produce IVD no less than 500 mg averaged over all intake valves.

So, it appears to me that all Shell stations, or any other Top Tier gas company, would have ethanol in their gas.

I am not recommending or touting the benefits of Top Tier gas, just simply stating that it appears to me that if you are buying a Top Tier gas, you are getting gas containing ethanol