Anyone research this topic lately? Got a Pure station close by with 93 octane w/o ethanol but a $1.50 more per gallon. Some say fuel lines etc can go belly-up with continuous use of ethanol containing gas. What's the latest on this? I drive my turbo so little that if there was some truth to this ethanol issue, I could go to ethanol free gasoline.

 

All modern cars sold in this country are designed for use with ethanol containing gas. I don't think there is too much to worry about unless you don't drive your car but once a year.

 

this concern was raised in the news recently but it refers to E85 gasoline (85% ethanol content) not the regular pump gas you have been using which has 10%-15% ethanol per galln IIRC. My understanding is that E85 should only be used in flex fuel vehicles which are designed to run on ethanol, however if E85 is used in a car designed to run on gasoline then the fuel lines etc are in jeopardy

What you're going to see this year is E85 pump gas popping up at your gas station next to your "regular" 91 or 93 octane pump station and the E85 will be cheaper per gallon (but you get less MPG because E85 has less power per gallon than gas so it is not really cheaper) so the concern is that folks will buy the E85 because it is "cheaper" but not realizing that it is not safe for their cars. Many car manufacturers have come out and said using E85 in your car will void the warranty

Anyway, this is a "green" push because E85 burns cleaner than gasoline and the administration wants to see more of these E85 pump stations in place to build up the infrastructure for green vehicles

 

Gas with ethanol does not have a long storage time. So if you dont plan on using the car alot you would be better off with the non-ethanol gas unless you plan on using a additive. If you go to any marine discussion board there will be pages of information on what to do if you plan on storing a car, boat, cycle with ethanol gas.

 

It has been proved that E85 does not burn cleaner. Thats a myth started by the corn lobbiest.

 

If you're really worried use this:
http://www.goldeagle.com/products/32_oz_ethanol.aspx

 

I wouldn't worry about the corrosiveness, as the concentration is low and newer cars typically use viton seals. We have seen drivability issues, particularly with a few of the turbos, due to higher ethanol concentration fuels. If anything, I would say it is just something to keep in mind. But if the car is driving fine with the ethanol concentration in your region's fuel, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I've run an estimated 10,000 gallons of premium with "10%" ethanol through my Boxster (it has covered over 262K miles) and its fuel system with no problems. Fuel pump quit at around 200K miles but I think it just got tired...

Original fuel lines, injectors.

I've run an estimated 5,000 gallons of premium with "10%" ethanol through my 03 Turbo (it has covered over 102K miles) and its fuel system with no problems.

Oh, I typed "10%" because while the label on the fuel dispensing pump may say 10% my info is refiners have kept the ethanol percentage at around 7% to 8%.

There is however a push to up this to 15% though I do not know where this is.

In the case of your car if you do not drive the car very much the car might be better off with ethanol free fuel since there there is some risk as ethanol blended fuel sits it can stratify and this can cause problems.

However, even ethanol free gasoline doesn't like to sit around for long.

That 93 gasoline will get stale as the car sits unused and this in itself can cause problems. While there are gas additives to help combat this they are not the cure all.

My rough rule of thumb is if you are not driving the car enough to go through a tank of gasoline per month (a tank is roughly 200+ miles) you really aren't driving the car enough. Ethanol free gasoline and a gas additive are just band aids. The real cure is to use the car more.