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Octane is a measure of how prone to knocking the fuel is, not energy.
Knocking is premature combustion, I.e. why lead used to be added.
holy fuck you're right. I always knew that higher quality fuels reduced knocking, but I thought it was a side effect of the fuel being more pure or something. I haven't really put any thought into this since I was a kid
That cheaper 88 octane fuel is a blend of 85% unleaded gasoline and 15% ethanol. It's also known as E15 fuel.
The ethanol is an oxygenate: it adds oxygen atoms to the fuel mix so the fuel burns more completely. That's good for vehicle emissions. However, the ethanol is less energy dense than gasoline so you will get slightly worse mileage.
https://www.motortrend.com/news/what-is-e15-gasoline-pros-cons/
does it still eat away at your seals or have they fixed that
Both. Ethonal is still corrosive and the majority of fuel systems these days are compatible with E15. That said, check your owners manual.
Just finished restoring an old Jeep and had the brand new fuel pump give up within the first tank of regular gas. Everyone I talked to the first thing they asked was, "Did you use ethanol free gas?" Like it was some street smarts thing I should have known.
I would have thought by now any component built in the last decade would be built to withstand modern gasoline mixes. Joke's on me.
Depending where you live, it can be really hard to find ethonal free gas. As an added bonus, carburators hate having ethonal sit in them. They'll develop a varnish. Carbs also don't like sitting partially dry and getting all the fuel out of them is a massive pain. Yay lawn equipment.
My dad thought it was silly for me to replace my gas powered motor with an automatic throttle control that doesn't really work with an electric one, but having no knowledge or desire to rebuild a carburetor (like him), I think I made the right move.
My electric chainsaws and weed whacker always start. Eventually our lawn tractor will kick the bucket and I'll either convert it to electric or buy one.
They're so much quieter, too. Not as easy to notice when you're the one using the tool, but compare how it sounds to be nearby someone else using one and it's a biiiig difference
Problems with ethanol in gas usually happen over a longer time, not within a single tank of gas. That pump was probably faulty to begin with. I would recommend lower ethanol fuel for older vehicles though, so it's not bad advice. But it isn't like pure acid that will dissolve the car within no time.
Appreciate your perspective. Makes more logical sense than the "shouldn't have used ethanol" responses I got. Thanks!
are they adding extra ethanol or something?
Yes. 88 has up to 15% ethanol. You should check your manual before using it.
this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2024
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