Non-ethanol gas? Worth the upcharge?
 

Salesman told us golf cart is ok with regular gas but then I keep hearing that it is better to use non-ethanol gas. So this morning I go to Marathon in Pinnelas with the intention of trying non -ethanol only to find that it is much more expensive. $2.83 for regular vs. $3.99 for the non-ethanol.
So my question is, is it really worth the difference? I don't mind paying the extra 5 bucks or so a tank if I will get better performance or better preserve the engine. What is your opinion? Is it worth it?

Just my 2 cents. I have been using regular gas for 6 years now and have no problems whatsoever. I think u will be throwing money away using the other gas.

My salesman at The Villages Golf Cart Store said to use a higher grade gas and drop in a little marine StaBil (1/2 oz.) when you fill up.

Have two carts Yamaha and Ezgo. Both 4 years old, run thousands of miles , always on regular ethanol enhanced gasoline. Never had any engine problems on either. Do the math - I probably have 8 thousand miles on these carts x $1.00 gal.

Could do a lot of engine work for $8,000 or $6,000 or even $4,000

I see the math as follows:

8000 miles at 40 miles/gallon = 200 gallons. If you bough the more expensive gas it would have cost you an extra $200.

OOPs bad math. My careless error and I should know better.

Hope my engine replacement doesn't exceed $200.

Try this one . I have had the last three cars for over 75000 miles each. Assume 25 miles gal. Think that adds up to 9,000 gal x @1.00 = $9,000.

No (not any) engine issues.
Hope that I got the math right this time , but you better check me.:shrug:

By higher grade gas does he mean higher octane or a brand name gas instead of a no-name gas? Running higher that 87 octane probably has no value. There may be some value in using a brand name gas -I don't know for sure. If you are using the cart regularly there is also probably no reason for StaBil. A salesman at The Villages Golf Cart Store told me the Yamaha carts have 2-cylinder engines (they don't) so I would not rely on them for technical advice. Consult your owner's manual or call the manufacturer.

That looks good, I think ;-). Essentially engines last a very long time if you change the oil regularly and don't abuse them. Use the recommended octane, nothing higher, and perhaps use a brand name of gas. 10% ethanol is OK for modern engines. My Yamaha manual says no greater than 10% ethanol.

Remember hearing "Clic and Clac" on saturday mornings

"Dont use gas over 87 octane unless specifird in owners manual"
"No gas additives"
" Forget 3000 mile oil change cycles"

Was surprised to hear that they thought 10,000 mile interval was normally sufficient.

The oil change "computer" on my Honda essentially winds up indicating oil changes every 10k miles. I can't bring myself to go that long so I typically change the oil every 6k miles. I do it myself so the cost is pretty low.

I have two gas carts. One is going on 50,000 miles have used regular unleaded since it was new. Each year I have the oil changed and a new spark plug. Never had a problem. Save your money.

non ethanol gas is best for small engines like lawn mowers,weed wackers,and boat motors,engines that you don't use that much and store for a long time. if you lay up your cart for the summer yes,but just the last tank.

is non alcohol better? Yes.

Is it worth the prmium? No.

Figuring the probablilities of non alcohol helping save parts? Like measuring out to the 10th decimal place.

Save the $$$$ for something with better odds!

The main problem with the fuels with ethanol is that ethanol is very corrosive and many older gas powered equipment cannot handle this fuel well. In the case of the small 2 cycle engines, I have had the fuel lines get gummy from the ethanol, had to replace with line rated for ethanol. In my older cars, had to replace fuel lines, carburetor components, etc. due to ethanol.
IMHO, if the manual says 10% ok then go with regular gas. If you have older equipment you may want to consider the pure gasoline product. I agree with a previous poster about no additives, Stabil, is used for storing gasoline over a long period of time.
Just my thoughts.

My 2 cents worth is this. Ethanol added gasoline would seem to attract more condensation inside the gas tank, but during weather conditions where there is a large temperature change if the vehicle is not driven for long periods of time. So if you are storing a classic car over the winter months, you should consider putting in a gasoline stabilizer to minimize this and keep the gas tank close to full and prevent rusting inside the tank.

Gas golf carts have plastic tanks so rust inside the tank is not a concern. I put a gas stabilizer in my last tank of gas in my golf cart and shut off the gas valve and run the engine till it stalls when I put the cart away for a period of time when I go north to visit family.

So in answer to the question, my opinion, not necessary to purchase the ethanol free gasoline if you treat the gasoline for the longer non-use periods.

^^^^ this!!

I've found the same thing, those salesman don't really know what their talking about and I've gotten wrong advise from them several times. Mine told me to use high test once a month. From all I've learned, these carts were designed to run on reg. gas and high test which is higher octane, would cause deposits in the engine over time since they are slower burning.
Using non-ethonel gas would be good but that station only sells non-ethonal gas in high test which is not needed and a waste of money.
Another bad advise they gave me is to change the oil only once a year. According to the owners manual it says every 1200 miles. I use my cart 4,000 miles a year and need to change about every 4 months. I'm talking about a Yamaha gas cart.

I have been using regular unleaded in my 2009 Yamaha since I bought it in 2011. I added Marine Sta-Bil each time I filled up. I have had no engine problems.

When the Marathon in Pinellas opened, I decide to give ethanol-free a try. I used it for a total of three fill-ups. Here is what I found:
-- It seemed to have a little more "pep" - seemed to accelerate quicker.
-- My top end increased by 1 MPH on my speedometer. I didn't expect this since we know this is controlled by the governor on the engine. By the way, I won't discuss what my top end speed is.
-- My miles per gallon did not change at all. I had been getting 40-42 MPG with regular unleaded. I got the same with the ethanol-free. This surprised me because I expected to see a small increase.

Bottom line: I see no need to spend the extra for ethanol-free and I have switched back to regular unleaded with Marine Sta-Bil.

I know you asked about golf carts, but I have to add this about small engines. I have a mower with a 4-stroke engine and an edger with a 2-stroke engine.

Since moving here in 2011 and using regular unleaded with Marine Sta-Bil, I have been forced to replace the carburetor and fuel lines in both. I used regular unleaded in Illinois with no engine problems.

So, I switched to using ethanol-free with a little Sta-Bil in these two engines. I hope it helps. The cost difference for these two engines is tolerable since they don't use much gas.

My thanks to all for the input. :cool smiley:

I've put high test in my 2006 Yamaha rebuilt since I bought it in the fall of 2009. It was per Villages Golf Cart sales and service suggestions. After reading all the above I will try regular.

I put Stabil in a full tank every April before returning north for the summer.

I do an oil change every fall when I return to TV. The other day the oil looked just fine after 6 months use but I'll continue to change it on this schedule.

As for my car, it gets an oil change every six months whether it needs it or not.

Nice analysis ..... HOWEVER, ethanol free gas is NOT "leaded". NO gas sold for road use has contained lead since 12/31/1995.

50,000 miles ? Where do you go? Hope you have a Sunpass and a see America pass. Do you have an odometer?

You are correct - thanks. I edited my post.

What's more, the small print on the pump says you're still getting some ethanol.

Champion, this doesn't suprise me because ethanol has less energy than gas, and when you replace 10% of your gas with 10% ethanol you can't get the same performance. When ethanol first came out I found I got about 10% less mileage on my truck, car and motorcycle.

FYI:
Corn ethanol was first introduced in gasoline about 1933.
At the Marathon station in TV you often see antique cars filling their tanks with "non-eth" gas because the ethanol eats at the seals and valves in older cars and forms sludge in carburetors.

Other countries around the world have jumped up to 25% ethanol from sugar cane.
E85 is mostly ethanol, only 15% gasoline.
The ethanol industry says it reduces harmful tailpipe emissions like carbon monoxide but doesn't mention that it produces MORE formaldehyde AND ozone in the air. Farmers are all for ethanol added to gas so they can get more for their crop when demand increases.

Ethanol is a very controversial subject and "non-eth" gas should actually be only slightly more expensive than 10% ethanol gas.

Skip

Ethanol apparently has 1/3 less energy per gallon than straight gasoline so E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline) should decrease your mileage by about 3.3%

I too was told that recreational gas (93 octane) was better. However, the Yamaha rep said the engines are designed to use 87 octane with ethanol per the manual. The more expensive fuel plus a stabilizer is better if your cart sits for long periods without use.

Yes, you are correct. This is why I am surprised that my MPG didn't increase when using ethanol-free gas. I saw no change in MPG.

Thanks to everyone for a thoughtful and lively discussion. After processing ask this advice I am sticking to ethanol enhanced gas and saving the money, be it $200 or $8,000, for something more worthwhile.

I like the non ethanol when I store small engines, lawn mower, weed eater, etc. It stays fresh longer.

IMO Off road vehicles get poor gas mileage regardless which gas you use, if you want more power you use higher octane product (good example would be TAFC VS TF. Golf cart with single cylinder engine should get a lot more MPG (at least Double what they are getting?) due less weight when compared to car. My car get 27 to 29 MPH around the villages and 34 to 38 on the road. So I am not surprised Regardless which gas you use in your golf cart that the MPG hasn't changed. WHY, they are not fuel efficient. IMO living in the south ethanol make little difference due to the mild temperature changes. Additive cheap insurance (and we know insurance waste of money 99.9% of the time, but we still buy it just in case), I prefer sea foam marine additive if I think I need it.

Any automotive person wort there salt will tell you that the up-charge is not worth it. The golf cart engines are designed to run on 87 octane fuel. What the ethanol attacks is the fuel lines,pumps and any rubber item. Not the engine. The marine additive is nice but not necessary. Fuel lines can be changed at the house for about $15.00 in 10 years, are we Ok with this!!!!!!!

You have apples and oranges. Automobiles and golf carts are not the same beast.

Skip

We have a friend up north that uses non- ethanol in his motorcycle. He also services our lawn mower(s) and said it would probably be wise to use such. If I can get non-ethanol for my golf cart (small engine) at Circle K, I will pay the extra.

Not worth the upcharge.

Ethanol and biodiesels have a cleaning effect on the engine. They also soak up water. It will only gum up an engine if gas has gotten real skanky by sitting idle - because it's cleaning the junk out. That's also why you always hear people say ethanol gummed up "my OLD truck." It cleaned the engine. I'm sure old seals can be dissolved by it . . . but I'd be shocked if manufacturers didn't switch to seals that accommodate ethanol ten years ago.

It's best to use the 87 the manufacturer recommends . . . and to settle on one type of gas and use it all the time.

Today's golf carts are built to run on gas with ethanol - so any perceived benefit of non-ethanol gas is not worth the upcharge.

I switched to leaded gas on my Yamaha gas cart and it runs smoother like it was fuel injected. Single cylinders need a lot of lubrication and the lead makes a big difference. Sure it costs more, but when you feel how smooth it runs, you will understand.

Where are you buying leaded gasoline?

Marathon station on 466A in front of Pinellas shopping plaza, where Winn-Dixie is.

The salesman who said add STABUL, doesn't know what he is talking about-You only need STABIL, when you won't be using any gasoline engine without a sealed fuel system for a prolonged period of time. STABIL was used when winterizing marine fuel tanks on the old carburetor engines.