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We have gas station nearby now that is selling non-ethanol gas. Unfortunately it is only regular grade. Would that be any better than the premium grade with ethanol or does the octane win out over the purer mix?
Just curious.
Got an app for my iphone that tells me what stations have the non-ethanol stuff and what octane they have, kinda cool if I ever get near one of those with non-ethanol premium.
David
Octane and engine is pretty much as foot and shoe.
If your engine is designed for premium fuel then that's what you want to use. Lower octane will damage your engine under certain conditions. If your engine is designed for standard there is no benefit using premium, as a matter of fact premium will burn too slow and can theoretically damage your valves.
Conclusion, use the octane your engine is designed for, ethanol or no-ethanol does not matter in this regard. And do not listen to wannabe pundits who tell "I've been doing it for months, years, lifetime and nothing bad happened".
Octane and engine is pretty much as foot and shoe.
If your engine is designed for premium fuel then that's what you want to use. Lower octane will damage your engine under certain conditions. If your engine is designed for standard there is no benefit using premium, as a matter of fact premium will burn too slow and can theoretically damage your valves.
Conclusion, use the octane your engine is designed for, ethanol or no-ethanol does not matter in this regard. And do not listen to wannabe pundits who tell "I've been doing it for months, years, lifetime and nothing bad happened".
What this member says is correct. Octane wins out.
Thank you everyone for the input. I sorta figured octane was more important than being non-ethanol so guess I will keep on doing what I do assuming the newer engines (mine is a 2013) are designed for the ethanol. According to this app, there are some stations who have premium non-ethanol but not as many that are regular only AND none of them are around here. Good excuse for a road trip.
David
Last edited by drgibson; Apr 10, 2014 at 01:28 AM.
I tried some non-ethenal in my 78 lowrider and it didn't run all that good. I tuned it to run the ethenal fuel so I think it was running way too rich with the non-ethenal fuel. When tuned right, ethanol fuel will give you more performance.
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