You might want to educate and inform yourself, even in a superficial manner, on a subject matter if you want post without being challenged. I skimmed through the links you posted and it's just more 'sky is falling' stuff from journalists trying to make the best of a no-news day.

It appears also that you don't have clue regarding the properties of ethanol vs. detonation vs. diesling vs. octane ratings.

 

My Shark is tuned to run 93 Octane, I only run Shell Gas.
Runs great.

 

I think it all comes down to this:

A computer controled car can just about run on anything.

A pre-computer car and the timing set for some nice preformace gain, is not going to react the same.

 

Reliable Mechanic's in the area state..

1. Do not store your car over the winter with Ethanol gas.

2. Ethanol can and in their opinion does eat at plastic and old rubber.

I am not a mechanic nor do I play one on TV..
IMHO it is safer to follow the advice of the guy who rebuilt and warranties this engine..

 

87 Octane Regular. She's a Crossfire injection which is computer controlled. I ran 93 a couple of times when I first got her, because she was running a little rough. My hubby and I have gone over this engine with a fine tooth comb, and found many things to fix and replace. We even machined the throttle bodies. That made a huge difference. Now she purrs like a kitten. Generally the gasoline is not the culprit, it is usually some other mechanical problem, or something "Bubba" did before you bought the car.

 

The main problem with ethanol is that it is a net-energy loser. It takes more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol than that gallon of ethanol will deliver.

This fact is why ethanol is only a small percentage of the motor fuel blend. If it wasn't we'd all be driving alcohol-burners.

A secondary problem with ethanol is that it takes land space to produce it. How is this extra land space acquired? The same way it always has...by clearing forested land. This clearing literally is cutting the lungs out of the planet. Trees eat CO2 and produce O2. No amount of sawgrass or sugar cane can be planted in an acre of land that will even come close to producing the cleaning effect of an acre of timber.

The vast majority of green energy is hype over ethanol and other net energy losers. It takes more energy to produce a wind turbine than that turbine will produce over its useful life. You'll see this again and again in alternatives.

Face it. We are junkies, and the drug of choice is petroleum. Like Heroin, as your need increases and the supply decreases, your dealer is going to raise the price. The only defense is to cut your use (ain't gonna happen), or produce your own junk (certainly can happen). That said, there are advantages to using up your dealer's supply while hoarding your own.

Thanks for allowing this semi-rant. In closing, I must say that I'm a oil and gas producer. I have hydraullically fractured wells on my property. What land isn't given over to oil and natural gas production is dedicated to timber production.

Guess that means I'm biased. It does not however invalidate my points...

Carter

 

So, here's a question I have not seen posed...the emissions label on my 72 LS5 says to run 91 octane gasoline but the data plate on the console and the information everywhere else says the engine is an 8.5:1 compression engine so....WTF?

I can only surmise that 91 octane in December of 1971 when my car was built meant regular gasoline vs. today where 91 is high octane (at least in my area).

In any case, if 87 is not as good at preventing knocks as today's 91, maybe I need to stay with the 91?

I can say this for a fact. When I first got my car some PO had removed the idle stop solenoid and I had lots of problems with dieseling. I bought one and installed it as soon as I learned it was missing and adjusted the minimum idle speed accordingly and have not had any dieseling since.

It's all very confusing when there appear to be conflicting documents on the same car. So to be safe I run 91 because I can't hear over the pipes.

cc

 

This same question has been asked dozens of times and there's no 'mystery' or conflict behind the answer. Gasoline was rated by it's RON number up until the mid 70s when North America switched to a new rating system called AKI (anti-knock index).

91 RON octane gas as specified by GM for your car is 87 under the AKI rating system.

 

Thanks Mike. I knew I could count on you or 7T1 to know the straight scoop.

cc