I would run the ethanol free, if it were me. One thing to remember....the posted octane on the pump is the MINIMUM octane rating for that grade of gas. Typically, the actual octane will be a touch above that. The 89 at my station will always test between 90 and 91.

 

Once again ih4x4 posts false and misleading information. Why he does this one can only guess. You cannot believe anything he posts on this forum.

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/octane.shtml

 

What does this mean? It makes no sense.

 

Didn't ask for help man, just asked for opinions. I already said what I do...this is a discussion forum...super weird that i'd want to discuss something! But thanks for your input! It was super helpful i'm sure to those that are only just discovering manuals.

 

My understanding is that if the spec for the vehicle says Premium Recommended, you can elect to not use it, and the vehicle may compensate for the lower octane.
If the spec says Premium Required, then you should use premium.

The owners manual for my limited says neither- it just lists the octane as 91, but doesn't say if it's required or recommended.

Since it's an extremely small extra cost to buy premium vs regular- maybe a couple bucks a tank, I opt to take the conservative approach and use premium.
I don't care if the gas has ethanol or not, E10 gas has never given me any problems, and I don't notice any difference in performance using non ethanol.

 

Can't speak for him but I took it to mean 89 ethanol free vs 91 w/ethanol, that was the original quetion by OP. Ethanol gets pretty nasty when it sits.

 

OK - The only thing I've got that sits around unused for any considerable length of time is my chain saw and ethanol trashes them pretty quickly. I always use pure gas in it.

 

the answer is simple its in your manual one hundred one off situation wont change what the factory recommends

 

I use the 93 with 10% ethanol. All stations I have traveled to have it. No problems to date.

 

One summer day (105 degrees), My wife 2010sportster ran very low on gas looking for gas way back in the boonies. We finally found an open gas station but all they had was 87 octane w/ ethanol. In desperation, we filled her bike and it ran just fine, even in the heat and mountains. There was no noticeable difference in fuel mileage. We still run 91 in both of our harley's unless it is unavailable.

Of course this is not a long term trial of lower grade gas, just our extremely limited experience. Ethanol free gas is unavailable where we live.