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Old 12-02-2019, 03:24 PM
Win1894 Win1894 is offline
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Wow, some of this is confusing.
Ethanol-Free gas is regular gas. 87 octane pump gas containing 10% ethanol is also regular gas, so saying 'regular' gas is somewhat misleading in this thread.
I use ethanol-free gas in all of my small engines as they run a bit better and ethanol-free gas will store longer without degrading.
I use ethanol-free gas in my airplane, mainly because the FAA does not allow the use of ethanol containing gas in GA aircraft.
Most marinas sell ethanol-free gas for use in motorboats due to marginal compatibilit of ethanol containing gas with water and humid environments.
E85 fuel contains between 50% and 80% ethanol, not 15% ethanol. Do not use this fuel in anything but a flex-fuel vehicle.
If you use your golf cart regularly, ethanol containing gas is fine and most would probably not notice the slight difference in energy content between it and ethanol-free gas. This is not something you should worry about.
If you are storing ethanol containing gas for some period of time it is known that the ethanol may start to stratify out of the gasoline, especially in humid environments. Here is why that could be a problem. Ethanol has an octane rating of about 113 so when it is mixed with gasoline a lower octane gasoline is used - about 84 octane if memory serves - therefore, the 10% mix yields about 87 octane. If your gasoline has stratified after a long storage period you will be drawing a very low octane gasoling off of the bottom you your fuel tank. This could be a problem for some engines. Before starting pour a quantity of fresh gasoline to slightly mix what's in the tank.