Bad Gas!
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,226
Likes: 399
From: Northern CA
Bad Gas!
Just finished an amazing roadtrip in the '66. 19 States in 13 days covering just under 7000 miles!
Outside of a few, minor issues.... including a broken alternator bracket,
everything went well... except for the gasoline. I never realized how bad gas is in some parts of this country. In parts of New Mexico and Arizona especially! Gasoline so full of Ethanol that my car would barely run. Question: How do people with vehicles that require higher octane fuel get by in these areas? We went hundreds of miles unable to find anything more than 87 Octane! Awful gas! Octane boosters did no good.
Outside of a few, minor issues.... including a broken alternator bracket,
everything went well... except for the gasoline. I never realized how bad gas is in some parts of this country. In parts of New Mexico and Arizona especially! Gasoline so full of Ethanol that my car would barely run. Question: How do people with vehicles that require higher octane fuel get by in these areas? We went hundreds of miles unable to find anything more than 87 Octane! Awful gas! Octane boosters did no good.
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,470
Likes: 1,548
From: Camp Verde AZ
C1 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
2017 C1 of Year Finalist
That is one reason i built my big small block with about 8.7; CR. I hated to give up ~20% of the potential Tq and HP, but at least i can drive it anywhere. (I also have the option of supercharging it at that CR, too.)
It runs OK on 87, as that was all i could get most of time when it was built several years ago due a gasoline pipeline failure.
91 is readily available now, except in some more remote locations. If they ever have a big SoCal earthquake, what gas will be available in AZ for a year or so, will just be low octane.
Doug
It runs OK on 87, as that was all i could get most of time when it was built several years ago due a gasoline pipeline failure.
91 is readily available now, except in some more remote locations. If they ever have a big SoCal earthquake, what gas will be available in AZ for a year or so, will just be low octane.
Doug
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 4,397
Likes: 1,190
From: Lexington,NC,USA
C1 of Year Finalist (track prepared) 2019
Even back in 1968-1970 when I was in the Navy, stationed in California, and driving back and forth to NC, I always had problems with the gas in AZ and NM. Of course the fact that I had a '68 L89 vette did not help. The car ran great on Shell or Sunoco premium, but hard to find in AZ and NM. I can't remember what brand I used there (Marathon?) but it was lousy.
Charles
Charles
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 17,696
Likes: 3,683
From: Central Arkansas
I never realized how bad gas is in some parts of this country. In parts of New Mexico and Arizona especially! Gasoline so full of Ethanol that my car would barely run. Question: How do people with vehicles that require higher octane fuel get by in these areas? We went hundreds of miles unable to find anything more than 87 Octane! Awful gas! Octane boosters did no good.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 2,223
Likes: 556
From: Tallahassee fl
new cars/engines have enough sensors to adjust for it. They may not run the best but will still run.
I'd think higher ethanol should be a good thing for octane because ethanol is naturally a higher octane. However you need more of it so the patch would be to run the carb more rich.
I'd think higher ethanol should be a good thing for octane because ethanol is naturally a higher octane. However you need more of it so the patch would be to run the carb more rich.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 4,469
Likes: 275
From: Naples FL
In Florida (and GA) we have Race Trac stations. They all have 90 octane non-ethanol right at the pump. In fact my local station has about 12 non-ethanol pumps. I love it when the off shore racers fill up. We're talking thousands of dollars. And I thought racing was expensive.
Richard Newton
Richard Newton
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 6,209
Likes: 33
From: Texas-out west
very few and far between stations in Texas have leaded gas, however 87 - 91 at every station I have been to all over state. just got back from new mexico and everything I saw in Albuquerque was 86 octane for reg, worked fine in my 03 zo6, I run regular on long trips due to cost and pcm takes care of things and runs fine.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,770
Likes: 33
From: Cohasset MN
2017 Corvette of the Year Finalist
2016 C1 of Year Finalist
Ken's experience reminds me of a trip I took several years ago with my driver. I was in Houston and needed gas. I filled up at a cut rate station as it was the only one in the area. The car ran very poorly for most of the rest of the trip up the eastern seaboard. I must have finally burned out the bad fuel when I got several hundred more miles on it. It ran fine after that.
Moral of the story: Don't buy cut rate gas. It can often be contaminated with water or something else.
Moral of the story: Don't buy cut rate gas. It can often be contaminated with water or something else.
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 13,685
Likes: 61
Count yourself lucky. I live in Los Angeles and drive to Phoenix and Tucson regularly on business. Somehow, with no oil wells or refineries AFAIK, Arizona has CHEAPER gas prices than California. Maybe it's due to the Golden State's taxes?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 12,470
Likes: 1,548
From: Camp Verde AZ
C1 of Year Finalist (performance mods) 2019
2017 C1 of Year Finalist
I believe CA has its own gas blends for emission reasons, which means more expensive gasoline.
Doug
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 7,226
Likes: 399
From: Northern CA
The Northern States along I-80... Calif...Nev... Utah...Wyoming... Nebraska all had 91-93 octane. Great gas. Southern States especially parts of Texas... Most of New Mexico and Ariz. had 87 at best. Found one place called Murphys in Roswell, NM who carried 91. He told me he was the only one for for over 100 miles.
As soon as I crossed over from Bullhead City, AZ.... back into Calif. I fueled up on 92 octane at a Chevron station. Excellent fuel! The bucking, backfiring at 3000 rpm smoothed out like magic.
As soon as I crossed over from Bullhead City, AZ.... back into Calif. I fueled up on 92 octane at a Chevron station. Excellent fuel! The bucking, backfiring at 3000 rpm smoothed out like magic.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,331
Likes: 61
From: Sunnyvale CA
Racer
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 261
Likes: 4
From: Albuquerque Resistance is not futile. It's voltage divided by current.
Really?
Most of the time I gas up, the Sonoma gets 87. When I drive the Vette, it gets 91, and I dont recall having to look for 91.
Last saturday I put 100 miles on the '67, saw 10,000 feet in altitude, bought 91 on the way to the Crest. That's the top of the ski area on the backside of the mountains, and the top of the tram on the front.
I'll have to start looking for stations that dont have 91.
That 91 is also 10 % ethanol. Car ran spiffy!
Keepin' the shiny side up, Gary
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,123
Likes: 2
From: Sandia Park NM
Interesting subject. We just moved here to what is known as the east Mtns here in Albuquerque from So. Cal.
I had a terrible gas smell before I left Calif.. After a drive, and parked in the garage. however car ran fine. I arrived here in Dec. 2013 with snow on the ground. I took the car to a well known Corvette mech. here in town. He re-jetted for the area and basically serviced the car for the altitude here [5000+ ft.] Ran ok but the gas smell was still there and he lamented about the poor gas here. You could here the gas cooking just after the engine was turned off. I purchased a fiber gasket device [word escapes me] to separate the Carb. from the intake manifold. Did not help. The car started to really run bad and I mean like ****. It would stumble felt like it was running out of gas, and so on. I checked everything fuel pump bowls you name it. I even shot some WD 40 into the needles. nothing.
Then I remembered a product call Guaranteed to Pass. Guys if there is a Corvette god that looks after us, this was it. Almost immediately it started to run better. After a coupled spirited runs, it was like old times. No gas smell, and runs great now.
To my Albuquerque neighbor PM so we can get connected.
Dennis
pass
I had a terrible gas smell before I left Calif.. After a drive, and parked in the garage. however car ran fine. I arrived here in Dec. 2013 with snow on the ground. I took the car to a well known Corvette mech. here in town. He re-jetted for the area and basically serviced the car for the altitude here [5000+ ft.] Ran ok but the gas smell was still there and he lamented about the poor gas here. You could here the gas cooking just after the engine was turned off. I purchased a fiber gasket device [word escapes me] to separate the Carb. from the intake manifold. Did not help. The car started to really run bad and I mean like ****. It would stumble felt like it was running out of gas, and so on. I checked everything fuel pump bowls you name it. I even shot some WD 40 into the needles. nothing.
Then I remembered a product call Guaranteed to Pass. Guys if there is a Corvette god that looks after us, this was it. Almost immediately it started to run better. After a coupled spirited runs, it was like old times. No gas smell, and runs great now.
To my Albuquerque neighbor PM so we can get connected.
Dennis
pass