Hi guys. I searched but didnt see anything from recent experiences. I appreciate your input here.

Filling up my DD today, i noticed Shell gasoline says up to 10% ethanol. Dont know if its always been that way, but i started wondering if i should switch since i usually fill up w Shell in my 996 (has 43k miles on it). Ive got a lot of options in North Texas. I always fill up w premium in all my cars, and really only care about the P car.

Is 10% high or is that normal these days? And should i be taking my future gas money elsewhere??? Wondering if there are issues possibly in store for me in the future if i keep using Shell!?!

Thanks guys.

 

E10 has been the "norm" at least for the last 4 years, E5 before that. Just use a 93 octane "top tier" fuel (Shell, Chevron, etc.) and avoid any E greater than 10 and you'll be fine.
http://www.toptiergas.com

 

What jhbrennan said.

To add to it a bit I've run 91 octane with "10%" ethanol in my 996 Turbo almost exclusively -- because I'm in CA -- and with over 152K miles there have been no ill effects other than gas mileage sucks a bit.

Likewise my Boxster has covered over 309K miles and while not all were covered using 91 octane most were and the engine's fine (injectors are original as are those in the Turbo I might add).

My info is while the sticker/decal on the pump may "say" 10% ethanol fuel distributors stay on the low side of this number so the fuel may have only 7% to 8% ethanol.

Best advice I can offer is try to use 93 octane as 91 octane is not optimum for these engines. With 91 octane ignition timing gets dialed back a bit and this reduces the engine's efficiency some. (The few times I have had a chance to run 93 octane in my Turbo... Oh boy. What a difference 2 octane points makes.)

Buy a top tier gasoline and buy from a busy station to ensure you get the freshest gasoline.

For my Boxster I have found Chevron to be the "best" as after a few tanks of gasoline the engine was running noticeably better after having been fed a regular diet of Shell V-Power. I attribute this to the presence of Techron in Chevron gasoline. Porsche techs confirmed this to me as this is their experience too. Not all run Chevron steady -- some prefer Shell because they claim it provides a bit more power -- but even those that run Shell steady tell me they run a tank or two of Chevron once in a while.

The Turbo manifested no change (for better or worse) when switched to Chevron from V-Power. Still the Turbo gets Chevron same as the Boxster.

 

Not sure if the fuel comes from the same refinery or uses the same process or concentration of additives, but Texaco (part of Chevron) also advertises Techron as an additive. I, too use Chevron or Texaco whenever possible because of Techron additive.

 

Thanks for the input guys. My apologies for the delayed response and gratitude.

The Chevron input and experiences make sense. Ive been making it a habit of dumping their fuel additive to a tank twice a yr, which obviously will experince a difference in that fill up. What i noticed since posting this, is that just one tank of reverting back to Shell after the Chevron treatment and Chevron fill up is showing a bit of noticeable idling. It might be reticular activation since seeing the 10% notice, but its a peace of mind knowing theres no long term affects on the fuel systems, so thanks Macster.

Regardless, Im switching to Chevron full time now.

A healthy and hearty Spring Break wish to you all! Thanks again!

 

In s FL we can buy Rec90 which is non ethanol 90 proof. Running e10 you lose about 3% of your octane rating due to the ethanol component, so that's like running 91 oct.

 

VP has an ethanol free 93 octane, there are several places in Dallas that sell it, little bit more expensive then what most 93 blends. I use it primarily for my motorcycles, some of them do not get ridden very often.

 

Actually ethanol is an octane enhancer in that it it is more resistent to detonation. If the fuel pump says 90 the fuel is 90 octane regardess of the ethanol content.

90 octane with or without alcohol is the bare mininum octane Porsche sanctions for use in these cars. If that is all that is available to you that's fine I guess but the engine really can make good use of higher octane gasoline. As I think I mentioned in a previous post the time I got to run 93 octane in my Turbo and the engine's favorable reaction to the higher octane was a real eye opener in terms of what higher octane gasoline means to these engines. I mean I understand the physics/chemistry and can experience the benefits in my head but to experience the benefit in the seat of my pants was, well, a real eye openers.

 

Premium gasoline can go stale. If you don't ride the motorcycles often you might want to try to arrange to park them with less than a fuel tank of gasoline so when it comes time to ride you can fill up the tank with fresh premium.