Resurgence of Ethanol free gas, Thoughts?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
From: Pittsburgh
2005 C55, 2007 Volvo XC90 V8 Sport
Resurgence of Ethanol free gas, Thoughts?
I live in Pittsburgh, almost every gas station has 93 octane as premium gas. Every once in a while you find both 91 and 93. All of it has Ethanol. The concerns of ethanol in our gas is mitigated slightly since we are running large V8's and not little 4 bangers but... non-the-less I wonder with federal mandate looking like allowing 15% or even 20% in the near future how much life is this taking from our cars.
This brings me to my question! I was in Upstate NY this past weekend visiting my parents and you can't find 93 anywhere. But you can find 91 ethanol free almost everywhere. My dad was telling me that do to the resurgence of the snowmobile industry in the catskills over the last couple years there is a huge demand for ethanol free gas for the sleds. I was running on fumes and filled up before heading back to PA and everything ran as usual. Obviously my burn temp for the 91 is different than the 93 but any thoughts on the 91 ethanol free vs 93 with ethanol???
This brings me to my question! I was in Upstate NY this past weekend visiting my parents and you can't find 93 anywhere. But you can find 91 ethanol free almost everywhere. My dad was telling me that do to the resurgence of the snowmobile industry in the catskills over the last couple years there is a huge demand for ethanol free gas for the sleds. I was running on fumes and filled up before heading back to PA and everything ran as usual. Obviously my burn temp for the 91 is different than the 93 but any thoughts on the 91 ethanol free vs 93 with ethanol???
Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2014
Posts: 255
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From: Downingtown, PA
none... for now
Better mpg, yes.
More power, no.
10% will harm NO car engine made since the 90's, being a V8 doesn't matter. They are built for it. If your car doesn't sit, I wouldn't have a problem using E15 either. It eats at some rubber parts though. If you use it, especially say, E85 one day and E10 3 days later, it probably has 0 impact.
A performance car built for E85 is great. The only downsides are availability, potentially cost, and mpg.
BUT, it's not magic juice. You can't ramp timing up forever, and your static compression is what it is. E85 has a small HP impact on stock engines. Just as running straight gas will give a small improvement in mpg.
More power, no.
10% will harm NO car engine made since the 90's, being a V8 doesn't matter. They are built for it. If your car doesn't sit, I wouldn't have a problem using E15 either. It eats at some rubber parts though. If you use it, especially say, E85 one day and E10 3 days later, it probably has 0 impact.
A performance car built for E85 is great. The only downsides are availability, potentially cost, and mpg.
BUT, it's not magic juice. You can't ramp timing up forever, and your static compression is what it is. E85 has a small HP impact on stock engines. Just as running straight gas will give a small improvement in mpg.
Super Member
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 762
Likes: 21
From: ATL
2006 C55
Better mpg, yes.
More power, no.
10% will harm NO car engine made since the 90's, being a V8 doesn't matter. They are built for it. If your car doesn't sit, I wouldn't have a problem using E15 either. It eats at some rubber parts though. If you use it, especially say, E85 one day and E10 3 days later, it probably has 0 impact.
A performance car built for E85 is great. The only downsides are availability, potentially cost, and mpg.
BUT, it's not magic juice. You can't ramp timing up forever, and your static compression is what it is. E85 has a small HP impact on stock engines. Just as running straight gas will give a small improvement in mpg.
More power, no.
10% will harm NO car engine made since the 90's, being a V8 doesn't matter. They are built for it. If your car doesn't sit, I wouldn't have a problem using E15 either. It eats at some rubber parts though. If you use it, especially say, E85 one day and E10 3 days later, it probably has 0 impact.
A performance car built for E85 is great. The only downsides are availability, potentially cost, and mpg.
BUT, it's not magic juice. You can't ramp timing up forever, and your static compression is what it is. E85 has a small HP impact on stock engines. Just as running straight gas will give a small improvement in mpg.
