vader86

I use it in the 88, makes about 1mpg difference with the highly modified motor. Scans indicate that it runs better overall, so I continue to use it.

Older cars that weren't set up for higher ethanol fuels, boats or lawn equipment, yes you should use it or think about the eventual wear from the hygroscopic nature of the ethanol. Someday it could cause you a big problem.

Modern cars? Not really needed. They were designed with E10 in mind.

JK 23112

After a lot of trouble with two different lawnmowers, I added a cap full of a product called "Startron" to my gasoline jug. It cleared up the issues AND I never had any more problems with that stupid ethanol-laced gasoline.

Fortunately, I moved into a maintenance-free townhome the end of 2016.....so no more lawn care worries for me. Ethanol or no ethanol. LOL!

767guy

Here in Ontario ( Canada) our top tier premium fuels do not contain ethanol so that is what I use. Fuels with ethanol are more of an issue wth long term storage. When we take the Vette to Florida for the winter the Cadillac CTS goes into storage for 6'months. It only requires regular fuel but for storage I fill it with premium to avoid the ethanol.
In Southwest Florida in our area even the premium fuels have ethanol. I have not noticed any differences with that fuel.

vbdenny

I've been to New York State which has very strict emissions and non-ethanol is sold in many places there. Must be Texas air is more polluted that New York State. Probably many more trucks and fuel inefficient vehicles results in the need. Maybe you'll have a reprieve with the new anti-environmental head of the EPA.

Zymurgy

EPA non-compliance is done by county. There are lots of places in Texas where you can get ethanol free gas, but not around DFW or Houston. Similar situation in NY. NY City/northern NJ area is a non-attainment zone and you can't get ethanol free there either.

Here's an interesting map of where ethanol free can be found. Zoom in to see the void around DFW. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...5078125002&z=5

Kent1999

fify

Patman

I find it odd that when I travel to the US (I mainly noticed this in Florida) that ethanol free gas is considerably more expensive, to the point that it makes no sense to buy it. But up here in Ontario, the ethanol free premium at Costco is a massive amount cheaper than other premiums with ethanol in it. So it's a win-win, as I get better gas mileage at a cheaper price! Even at Canadian Tire gas stations, their ethanol free premium is priced at about 3 cents less than the big brands premium with ethanol.

So my point is, if adding ethanol to the gas doesn't cost them more, so why do stations in the US charge more for it?

LDB

There is a crazy quilt of regulations covering ethanol in various areas of the US, but perhaps surprisingly, relatively little is forced in by all the individual regulations from EPA or individual states or localities. Most is by the overall federal regulation that a certain (and rising) number of gallons of ethanol per year must be blended into gas in the US. The quantity is currently high enough so that for practical purposes, most gas must be E10. To the extent that some places sell E0, that starts forcing in some E15 to meet the overall blend target. That in turn forces the price of E0 higher because people hate E15 way more than E10, so think about it. Blending E0 instead of E10 makes a company sell more E15 which they really don’t want to do, so they are reluctant to blend E0. The only way they are going to do it is to charge a high price for it to counteract the lousy price they will get for the E15 it forces them to blend.

A second point is that this is not a Democratic or Republican or Obama or Trump or EPA issue. It is a collective stupidity issue. Democrats and EPA like it because they incorrectly think it helps the environment. Republicans like it because it makes their solid red farm state voters and their fat cat ethanol entrepreneurs happy. So as one of the ironies of our time, in one of the vanishingly few places where our various political entities cooperate, they cooperate to bring us the collective stupidity of ethanol.

That said, the stupidity is that it costs consumers money and has no benefit unless you are a farmer or own an ethanol plant. As far as performance, there’s no problem using it in cars built after about 1990.

Bill Dearborn

NY State gas stations moved to Ethanol mix in 2005 because the EPA outlawed MTBE which had been used previously. MTBE made gasoline burn cleaner but the residue being left behind after the cars burned it was causing potential cancer causing water pollution. It is hard to find non Ethanol stations even when you look at the map provided above. There were two near where I used to live in upstate NY and I wouldn't have driven the distance required to use the gas as it wouldn't have been cost effective and neither station was near any place I wanted to drive to.

Bill

MJC611

Noticed a sign a couple days ago at Wal-Mart in Hot Springs, AR, that said ethanol free gas, didn't stop to check the octane

JoesC5

I've seen several Walmarts in Arkansas selling ethanol free premium 91 octane.

Phanni

Several stations here in Tennessee are now offering three grades of "pure gas" It's usually about $.40 to $.60 per gallon more expensive, and yes it does improve the mileage, noticeably. I use only ethanol free in my mowers, boat and lawn machines. The Vette is designed to use ethanol gas, small engines usually aren't. So I've heard.

JK 23112

The best way to "solve" this issue is to eliminate the subsidies (both actual and de facto) that essentially FORCE the mixing of ethanol in our gasoline. Let the free market and consumers decide if ethanol-laced gasoline is desirable.

This won't happen, though, as long as you have people in Washington such as Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) who hail from corn-producing states and get a lot of money from big agricultural interests (ADM, etc.) in return for ethanol mandates. Combine him with some of the "greenie weenies" on the left who think ethanol is somehow good for the environment and - VOILA! - tainted gasoline.

It's a complex problem and the simple solution (the free market) will always remain elusive. Sens. Charles Grassley, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Dianne Feinstein, Chuck Schumer and Barbara Boxer are certainly are a bipartisan list of poster children for both term limits and repeal of the 17th Amendment.

I won't hold my breath, however.

Strake

I use Ethanol Free gasoline...... JUST in our boat. The Vette gets Top Tier gas only.

Many of the marinas on our lake offer ethanol free gas, and a couple of gas stations too. Mostly for folks wanting to fill 5 gallon jugs for their boats or SeaDoos.

6spdC6

E type gas only goes in my DD 4X4 pick up. For the Vette boat and all my two stroke toys and tools all I use is real gas (none E in English)

Due to some bullchit type regulations yeas ago all that you could get was E gas in my area, and that included Marina gas. what a Charlie Foxtrot that was. Then after about 5 years a station about 20 miles from me got none E real gas in High Test only. Made it a point to always go there and get gas for the Vette. Also brought a bunch of 5 gallon tanks in my pick up truck to to get real gas for my boat and my many two strokes.

Then a couple years ago most all stations within about a 25 mile radius from the big lake I live on got real high test gas. Price wise real high test gas cost about .25 more per gallon that E type High test does. Well worth it in my book! It also stores longer and better that E type gas does as I always try to have gas available as I live rural, (Northern NYS) for bad storm times and possible generator use.

NSC5

My Z06 runs most of the year on Shell 93 that is E10 but the last several tanks before winter storage are 91 octane ethanol free to get the farmer gas out of the system prior to storage. Ethanol and moisture are a very bad combination and there is no way I want that setup in my car when it is stored for several months. It isn't an issue if you drive your car year round.

The current factory recommendation for the C7 generation is not to store with a full tank of fuel because of a fuel level sensor corrosion issue and if you are using moisture attracting ethanol laced fuel be sure and follow that recommendation. And also use a very good stabilizer designed to work with ethanol blended fuel before storage.

As others noted the best solution is to get rid of the mix of subsidies and requirements that are distorting the market. Ethanol is one of the biggest price support programs ever put together for the ag industry masquerading first as a patriotic move away from imported oil and then as an environmental program but it isn't either.

E85 is an attempt to maintain ethanol sales in an era of rising fuel economy and I guess the lobbyists next step will be to try to force ethanol fueled electric generators to provide the power for recharging electric cars.

Biomass diesel, largely soy based, actually provides a pretty good energy input required to grow and process to bio fuel output ratio and the soy oil makes up for lubricity lost in refining to ultra low sulfur diesel. But ethanol requires a lot of lobbying and unrealistic assumptions to appear as a rational choice.

Here is another resource for finding ethanol free fuel in your state: https://www.pure-gas.org/

Gearbox22

Ethanol does not age well and turns into a brownish molasses gunk after a while. I store my collector cars over the winter for about 4-5 months and when it first came out, I was spending a lot of time draining my tanks, rebuilding my fuel pumps and carbs as the stuff turns into a sticky mess. And it leaves a brown stain that can't be removed with acetone or any other type of chemicals. Now I try to use Aviation fuel or at least a can of seafoam before storing any of my cars. Also, on some of my older vintage cars, it seems to also dissolve fuel lines, making them soft and spongy.

Foosh

The sale of leaded avgas (100LL) is heavily regulated for aviation use only, and virtually all retailers will refuse to put it into anything other than an aircraft. They are allowed to dispense it into containers, but the purchaser is supposed to certify it is for aircraft use.

Use of avgas in a vehicle on a public road is illegal and could result in your vehicle being impounded. You also may be doing more damage than good even in a vintage engine as the article below also explains.

http://www.fuelexpert.co.za/canirunavgas.php

jcsperson

My local Shell has E0 93. It's about 30 cents higher than the 93 at other stations.

Good resource. My local Shell on US-70 in Hillsborough is listed.

tubajim

Didn't ethanol come into vogue as a replacement for MTSB or some such named oxygenate that was causing all kinds of problems with the water supplies? I thought that's when ethanol became the new oxygenate. Is there any truth to that? Just wondering if there really is or was any connection.