[Snave01]

It's too bad there are very few service stations anymore that serve up non-ethanol fuels. There are only 2 that I am aware of in Cinci and if I'm in the area on the motorcycle, I will fill up there. I used to get it for the lawnmower and small engine needs since they are more sensitive to the ethanol but it's just become a pain to do.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by David70

We mostly buy fuel at Kroger (unbranded, not Top Tier) and Costco (unbranded, Top Tier).

Same, never had a single issue. 87 octane for my DD is down to $2.20 at my local Kroger. Both BMWs get Kroger fuel too, they've never complained.

[David70]

Originally Posted by Chihuahua

Same, never had a single issue. 87 octane for my DD is down to $2.20 at my local Kroger.

Come on these forums and it seems like any day now you will be stranded.

Anyone here have fuel quality related issues they think would have been prevented by using Shell gasoline (or whatever the non proven "best" brand is)?

[David70]

Originally Posted by Snave01

It's too bad there are very few service stations anymore that serve up non-ethanol fuels. There are only 2 that I am aware of in Cinci and if I'm in the area on the motorcycle, I will fill up there. I used to get it for the lawnmower and small engine needs since they are more sensitive to the ethanol but it's just become a pain to do.

I also live in Cinci, I used to fill up my Z4M for the last time each Fall with ethanol free before putting it away for the Winter but stopped doing it years ago. I just sold the Z4M (owned for 12 years) so stopping didn't create any negatives.

I'm also happy I haven't been driving across town for the last 16 years to get non ethanol gas for my lawnmower. Considering the hassle of the 40 minute round trip and the high price for the fuel I don't see it being worth the benefit. I don't know of any performance benefits I am missing out on for my 16 year old Toro push mower with a Honda engine.

What Is Unbranded Fuel?
Unbranded fuel is not attached to a major gas company. One might call this fuel generic, but there are some core commonalities between unbranded and branded fuel. Due to the EPA’s stringent guidelines on fuel quality and additives, even generic unbranded gasoline must have additives and detergents to regulate the amount of pollutants entering the atmosphere.

As to whether unbranded is good enough, I am still waiting on proof or to have or hear about fuel additive quality issues. If the price is really close I will buy the branded fuel.

[Snave01]

Originally Posted by David70

I'm also happy I haven't been driving across town for the last 16 years to get non ethanol gas for my lawnmower. Considering the hassle of the 40 minute round trip and the high price for the fuel I don't see it being worth the benefit. I don't know of any performance benefits I am missing out on for my 16 year old Toro push mower with a Honda engine.

The impacts are probably small and would only probably shorten engine life by a small amount, they just aren't designed to burn corn alcohol. I did a bunch of reading on it years ago and I forget all the things. The thing I do remember well is ethanol is hydrophilic and tends to grab moisture out of the air so for lawnmowers and such that sit for periods, have a much greater tendency absorb this water. I throw stabil in there anymore and go worry about bigger issues haha.

[SnowCover]

Originally Posted by Snave01

It's too bad there are very few service stations anymore that serve up non-ethanol fuels. There are only 2 that I am aware of in Cinci and if I'm in the area on the motorcycle, I will fill up there. I used to get it for the lawnmower and small engine needs since they are more sensitive to the ethanol but it's just become a pain to do.

my nearest Shell station has two nozzles at every pump. 1 is for 89/89/93 gasoline with "up to 10% ethanol" and the other one is for "Shell Ethanol Free" 89 gasoline.

I talked with the owner/manager about this and he said not that many bought the ethanol free gas. Mostly people with power equipment that needed ethanol-free gas and a few random car owners. The gas tanker truck only delivers ethanol free gas about once every 3 to 5 months. Based on that, I'm probably never getting the ethanol free gas because it's "stale" gas. Compared to the 87/89/93 gasoline, which receive new gas delivery at least once a week, with "fresh" gas.

[Snave01]

It tends to be more readily available in areas that have marinas as boats are large consumers of ethanol free fuel.

[David70]

Originally Posted by Snave01

The impacts are probably small and would only probably shorten engine life by a small amount, they just aren't designed to burn corn alcohol. I did a bunch of reading on it years ago and I forget all the things. The thing I do remember well is ethanol is hydrophilic and tends to grab moisture out of the air so for lawnmowers and such that sit for periods, have a much greater tendency absorb this water. I throw stabil in there anymore and go worry about bigger issues haha.

I agree on the issues with ethanol absorbing water. If things go well I use up the gas in my lawnmower and container at the end of the year. I will at least use up what's in the mower and the container is sealed, also small container.

Part I am not sure of is if the mower fuel (coming from the container, mower sat dry all Winter) had some small amount of water in it, as long as it wasn't enough water to affect operation, if it would matter. Mower engine is pretty low tech and I don't see where some tiny amount of water going through it for a use or two would hurt anything long term.

[FrankMstein]

I tried using Kroger (because points) in my daily G37 (11:1 compression) for almost a year and within 5 miles of using Shell - FIRE!!! I never used Kroger crap after that. I hear the same from others about oil and "no issues" but you can eat at McDonalds for every meal and stay alive...