obxchartercaptain

Is there any benefit to running 93 octane NON-ethanol gas? A local Citgo station now makes it available....

cor66vette

I certainly would for an older car, but I am lead to believe that the newer cars are made to run on this crap- this crap meaning ethanol.

JoesC5

I use ethanol free gas whenever I can. It gets better gas mileage but the higher cost cancels that benefit.

I don't believe in burning our food, when we have ample supplies of oil.

Even though our newer cars burn E10 without a problem, it is a problem for those of us that also own classic/antique cars. For me to have a supply of ethanol free gasoline for my 56 and 64 Corvettes, I need to support the retailers that are selling ethanol free gas, so I run it in my Mercedes and my Z06.

There are now over 12,000 retailers selling ethanol free gas, and the list is growing. People are finally starting to wake up to the ehanol farce.

NSC5

I don't worry about it too much during summer but I prefer non-ethanol when available and if there were a station closer than 40 miles away I would run non-ethanol all of the time. I do run a few tanks of non-ethanol through before winter storage so I don't end up with this "farmer gas crap" sitting in the fuel system all winter. It does love to combine with moisture and this can create corrosion along with deposits in the fuel system.

I would love to see the ethanol mandates go away although it would create another farm crisis since the ag sector is dependent upon the artificially high crop prices created by the combination of mandates and subsidies. With fracking it is now big oil vs big ag so it should stay interesting.

After replacing the carbs on my Stihl trimmer and Husqvarna chainsaw I stick with non-ethanol fuel for them and have not had a problem with the replacement carbs. I don't mind running soy blend diesel in my pickup and utility tractor but I do go for pure diesel in the winter since it has a much lower gel point and the anti-gel additives still work better without bio in the fuel.

Flame Red

If I had a source I would never buy the Al Gore-ahole gas ever again. None nearby. The stations that have it are not nearby and only have the low octane stuff. No premium.

I really hope The Donald will stop this rip-off. But I don't expect politicians in Congress that never had to fill up their cars personally (in some case their entire lives) would go up against the farm lobby.

vader86

Newer cars will run on E10 just fine, they're built to do so. Older ones will eventually have problems with the ethanol due to corrosion, it is hydroscopic.

But even new cars will usually get better mileage on E0 gasoline, and pretty much all lawn equipment will run better on it.

Snowwolfe

The only advantage of non ethanol gas I know of is it has a longer shelf life. For this reason I use it in all my lawn equipment, boat, atv, etc.
In a car shelf life isnt an issue.

hot_rod

Biggest advantage of non-ethanol gas is BTU value ....about 1/3 higher without the ethanol/ corn-crap in it.

fourmat

Helps if you are going to let it sit for any length of time too

LDB

A word of caution. While Citgo is top tier, and all grades of branded gas at a top tier station must be top tier, it is legal for a top tier branded station to sell unbranded specialty gas that is not top tier. If the pump with ethanol-free has Citgo actually on the pump, then it’s top tier unless the dealer is cheating. But if the pump simply says ethanol-free, without saying Citgo anywhere on the actual pump, it’s almost certainly not top tier. Given the choice between top-tier with ethanol and non-top-tier ethanol-free, as long as the gas is for a 1990 or later car, the better choice from an engine performance standpoint is top tier with ethanol. As I’ve said in other posts, I don’t like ethanol either, but the issue isn’t performance. Ethanol is more expensive (either directly, or via subsidies and mandates), and does not deliver its alleged environmental benefits.

On mileage and/or BTU content, many claim huge differences. True, there is about 30% difference between pure ethanol and pure gas, but that translates to about 3% for the usual E10 gas with 10% ethanol. So if you think you see more than a 1.0-1.5 mpg debit for E10 gas with ethanol, you have an active imagination and/or something else is also going on.

6spdC6

We NOW again can get real gas (nonE) up here in the peoples republic of NY.

Its the only gas I will put in my Vette. Yes it does cost more but there is a better mileage (realy only noticeable on long trips) and a more performance. This was very noticeable in my 07 Z06 not so much with my 15 Vert.

I also use it in my boat, Powered by a Chevy 350. The boat would go 62 most any time we had decent water. Then for about 5 years no None E gas available, even at the marinas. With that crap gas I could only get about 59 with my boat. I know that 3MPH does not sound like much but on the water its a lot. Old rule of thumb it takes 15HP to get each additional MPH over 50. As soon as I got real gas the boat picked up that speed again. Also just for laughs got better mileage with real gas. Had a 40 gallon tank)

As I had a stand-by gas powered generator I always keep gas on hand and I trust real gas a hell of a lot more that that ECrap for storage. (Stabilizer added) Also my many 2 stroke toys and tools started much easier and ran better with real gas.

I have proved to myself that Egas for the most part is CRAP and will go out of my way if necessary to get real gas. FWIW I'm not talking about E85 that is in a different category.

LDB

In a properly running engine with fuel injection and O2 sensors, ethanol makes absolutely no difference whatever in the power output. The lower energy content of ethanol means that less oxygen is required to burn a given amount of fuel. The O2 sensors then detect more excess oxygen in exhaust gas, and the system adds fuel trim to inject more fuel per pulse, which brings both the excess oxygen in exhaust gas and the power level back to their original values. That extra fuel trim is why mileage drops, but power remains exactly the same. So if you really had a power loss in your 07 Z06 from E10 fuel, the engine clearly had a problem in its fuel injection system.

As far as the boat, if it has a carbureted engine, then your observation of less power is credible. Carburetors meter fuel volumetrically, so if energy content of the fuel drops, the carburetor cannot compensate by metering in more fuel like the fuel injection system does with its fuel trim. Thus, the engine runs leaner, with less power, and less speed of the boat. On the other hand, if the boat’s engine has fuel injection with O2 sensors, then like the Z06, if there was a power loss, there’s a problem in the boat’s fuel injection system.

6spdC6

Z06 was in a very good state of tune, thats right from the dealer.

I measured it many time by my many trips from Northern NY to Carlisle.+-(500 MI) + driving around the area we were staying at. At that time could only get E gas in my state. Filed it up in Carlisle with real gas and even going mostly up hill to go home ( Drove I81- I88 and some I90 I87) it was quite noticeable.

Your right my boat was a carburetor (a Rochester Q Jett) I live on a lake and know many people up here many of then are car and boat people. We all fell the same way and the marinas and small engine shops/make a shitload of money fixing up E gas problems.

We will just have to agree to disagree on some things!-

renoone

I live here in Iowa where they produce a lot of the ethanol. It is just a political situation. Helps the economy but does nothing for the environment as many claim. Renewable source , no way! It take as much or more fossil fuel to produce the ethanol than it would be to just burn the fossil fuel. I read a very in-depth study on this and it makes perfect sense. All the farm equipment, spray planes, transportation, chemical companies, production of the ethanol and the list goes on. It will never be good for the environment or sustainable. Anyway, sorry for the rant!

LDB

We’re probably not miles apart. I agree there’s a bit of power loss on ethanol with carbureted engines due to the leaning effect. I could bicker that if the engine has a mixture adjustment screw, opening it a smidgen should make that go away, but it’s certainly not an automatic adjustment. I also agree there’s a bit more potential for long term storage issues in small engines, as they may have incompatible materials in their fuel tanks and lines, particularly if older equipment. But as you say, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on the issue of power loss in a properly running, fuel injected engine like your Z06 case. Is there a 1.0-1.5mpg mileage loss? Sure. But power loss? Ain’t gonna happen unless there’s a fuel system problem that’s preventing the fuel trims from responding properly. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Rebel Yell

It wasn't to me Cap. I ran a tank on a road trip in my previous C6. The gain in MPG's didn't make up for the added cost of the gas.

NSC5

Even for engines designed to run E10 or higher you still have the increased hygroscopic property of ethanol compared to "real" gas. This is especially problematic with stations that don't properly maintain their storage tanks and it isn't something a customer is likely to know in advance.

It will be interesting to see how gas direct injection engines stand up long term to ethanol blends that have picked up excess water; I expect the high pressure fuel pump and injectors don't like it very much.

Ethanol has long been a supposed solution that creates greater problems. Using corn as feedstock doesn't make economic or energy policy sense; perhaps in areas suitable for other biomass crops the equation does work out. But the economic shock of anything but a slow weaning process would be serious; this afternoon the fields nearest me are being prepped for producing seed corn which is very lucrative for the landowners and the revenue stream is dependent upon the overall demand for biomass brewing.

IM3CPO

According to the EPA, the mileage for E10 is 4% worse as compared to E0. I remember reading a road and track article back in the day where they observed 10% worse mileage when using E10 vs. E0, so it could also depend on the car/how you drive.

I personally go out of my way to get real gas. Other than the obvious drawbacks of Ethanol (separating into water, less mileage, corrosive, etc.) you also never really know exactly how much Ethanol you have in the gas. While E10 assumes 10%, its technically *up to* 10%.

The only noticeable "performance" difference though is my cars do seem to idle better when using real gas vs. E10. Again, I would pay more just for the consistency of real gas if for no other reason.

JK 23112

I have never seen ethanol-free gasoline here in the Richmond Metro area, although you can find it in the western (rural) part of the state. Not sure if there is a cost difference.

E10 is a big scam brought about by the false "green" movement and an unwary alliance with the big agricultural states (Iowa, etc.). Somehow, burning our food to make fuel (which puts out less BTUs than it takes to make it) seems sensible to them.

I can't remember the last time I used "pure" gasoline, as we have not had it in this area for probably more than a decade.

P.S. You can find E85 (only 15 percent gasoline) in Pennsylvania, but you have to use it in a "Flex Fuel" vehicle. It costs a lot less per gallon - thanks to subsidies - than typical unleaded gasoline, but your fuel mileage totally sucks because it has a lower "energy" content than E10 or straight gasoline.

stevebz06

CITGO, to the best of my knowledge, is owned by the government of Venezuela, which, if you haven't been keeping track, has become a socialist hell-hole where virtually every function of society is collapsing.

I might look at buying their products as kind of charity to help out people who are literally starving, but while things spin out of control the government devotes resources to aid FARC communist guerrillas in Columbia and also serves as a conduit for Mid East terrorists to slip across the US Mexico border to create mayhem.

Just thought I would throw that out there,if it matters.