They don’t sell ethanol free gas where we live up north so whenever we drive to our villages home i always bring two 5 gallon cans of ethanol free gas back north. I use the ethanol free gas in my less frequently used small engines such as chainsaws, weed wackers, leaf blowers, etc... Before using ethanol free gas I was constantly cleaning out gummed up carburetors, since using only ethanol free fuel I have not had a single engine issue. It works great on any small engine, including golf carts, that are not used on a consistent basis.

I find that my Mercedes runs better and gets better Mileage with ethanol free gas, Remember that Ethanol collects water.

The energy difference between a gallon of gasoline (no ethanol) and a gallon of gasoline with 10% ethanol is 3%. For the maximum 3% increase in mileage you may wind up paying 30% more per gallon. You can impact your mileage more than 3% by changing your driving style. The collection of water is not an issue if you are using the car regularly.

Who, exactly, is recommending ethanol free gas for golf carts ? The manufacturers aren't. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence to support the manufacturers' recommendation that 10% ethanol is OK.

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.

Thanks all for your replies. As WaWa's is on our way to Walmart, I will be gassing up there. We may go a month or more without needing gas, so will use the ethanol free gas.

Rollie

In TV 13 years, gas carts 10 years. Always used regular gas with ethanol. No problems even when they have gone unused for a few months. Friends and neighbors with similar experiences with their gas carts whether old or new. Fore!

It is more of a preventive measure to remove any build up of combustion products.

Thousands of carts with no problems. Is it worth $1. per gallon (30percent upcharge) for a problem that has a very low probability of causing problems?

How would you know if there was any "build up of combustion products"? How would you know whether Seafoam removed any "combustion products"? Assuming there was some "build up of combustion products", what issues are they likely to cause? The auto parts stores are filled with products to address non existent problems. Gasolines already contain detergents to keep engines "clean". If you want to extend the life of your cart, change your oil regularly, replace your air filter when it is dirty, replace your spark plug every 20K miles, replace your differential oil every couple of years, maintain the appropriate tire pressures, and lube the zerk fittings on your clutches.

No ethanol for me
 

Ethanol is a corrosive

Ethanol does not stay in suspension with gas, it separates like oil and vinegar dressing

Ethanol has a specific gravity heavier than gas, so it sinks to the bottom of the tank. Gas station tanks have no stirring mechanism, so ethanol sinks to the bottom. Guess where the fuel pick up is.

Ethanol has less BTUs than gas - 30%

Ethanol is the great American scam

Distributors pay $0.52 a gallon,. How much do you pay at the pump??

Wawa
 

WAWA has it on the two end pump islands

Not exactly.

Gasoline with ethanol will only experience phase separation if it has absorbed a "fair" amount of water. Otherwise it is well mixed.

I don't claim to fully understand the economics of gasoline refining and distributing but the last time I looked the commodity price for ethanol was about $1.50 per gallon.

While ethanol does contain less energy than gasoline it has the positive effect of burning cleaner than pure gasoline and is also an effective octane booster.

If you are unhappy with the outrageously low cost of gasoline in this country (compared with a good chunk of the rest of the world) you can certainly buy an electric car and an electric golf cart.

Why all the questions about Ethanol? Usually someone will ask about something when there’s an issue. Don’t understand all the concern! I work for Ford Mo. Co. for 38 yrs. in the Dyno Lab & we burned 100’s of gal. of gas a week & I never heard one bad thing about Ethanol except is it was hard on Throttle Bodies & Injectors. But never was a concern! Not criticizing anybody just was wondering because there’s not a concern.

The OP: Just purchased my first new gas powered Yamaha. Looking for opinions on gas.