I started using non-ethanol recreational fuel

[MrWideTires]

So starting today I switched my G35 from 89-octane E10 to 90-octane "recreational" fuel with no ethanol. Price difference is about $3.95 vs $4.25.

My gas mileage instantly went up, I measured both of them at 50mph with cruise and no A/C. With E10 I got 31mpg, with non-ethanol it jumped to a steady 35mpg.

Also performance seemed to go up a bit, not by a big notisable margin, but it is definitely pulling harder. IMO well worth the extra money.

I can also get 93 octane "recreational" non-ethanol for $4.50 but I doubt it's worth the extra money over the 90 octane, I'll definitely still test it though to see any gas mileage difference because this engine does ask for "91 or higher"

 

[pair of Blazers]

nice. wish I could find that here.

 

[mechanicx]

It seems a lot of people are reporting up to a 10% loss in mpg between E10 vs. non-ethanol gas which is more than the 3-5% theoretical loss. E10 stinks.

 

[Turk]

YES! I absolutely do what you do and have so for several years. Big difference!

 

[ctrcbob]

Recreational Fuel? Does that mean that you pay no Road Tax on this fuel? If so, bad bad.

In my area, there is one place where they sell 90 octane ethanol free, but it is for boats. No road tax, but costs a lot more than 87 E10 at local stations. (They also sell 100LL for sea-planes).

Another place locally that sells ethanol fuel for cars etc. They have 87 and 93 octane but the price is 15% more than local E10. This place also sells Racing fuel of 100 octane and I think they also have 105 octane, but can't remember what the octanes are. Prices up around $7 or $8 a gallon.

As for me, my former 2007 car got 10% better mpg with the ethanol free vice the E10, but my former 2009 and now my 2010 get the exact same mpg with E10 or ethanol free. Never tried with my 2002, as it is used so little, that it is not worth even checking.

 

[pidster]

If your engine calls for 91 oct then going from 89 to 90 alone would be responsible for quite a bit of the improvement, but the lack of ethanol is certainly a large factor as well. I'd make a wild guess that it's half and half. If you could get your hands on some 91+ without ethanol I'd bet with confidence that it would rise another MPG or so.

Where do you buy this stuff? Like mentioned, is it road taxed? Heck if I could find this anywhere near me I'd go out of my way to buy it just to get that rebellious satisfaction of skipping out on one of the hundreds of ridiculously inflated taxes we're raped with here

Luckily we can buy premium here at some stations that is ethanol free, so if your car calls for that you're laughing. But my ride calls for plain ol' 87 and I highly doubt I'd recover the price difference in MPG gain. No other grade can be had without the 10% engine booze mixed in.

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

I see you're in North Port, where did you find this?

 

[MrWideTires]

Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
I see you're in North Port, where did you find this?


90 octane you can get it down in port charlotte at the Marathon gas station, right by faucett and peace river hospitals, only 2 pumps have the non-ethanol fuel.

93 octane you can get it up in Venice at the sunoco around the intersection of US41 and Seminole

 

[asiancivicmaniac]

Cool. I'll have to stop by that Marathon station and check it out this weekend when I'm home.

 

[CBR.worm]

I have an '06 G35 6MT, on the rare occasion I can get E-Free gas, my mileage, power and overall responsiveness come up significantly and it pings less. For me it works out to about 40 extra miles per tank on the highway, which is more than 10%. I know it sounds like snake oil, but this is very consistant.

I will gladly pay more for it.

 

[glxpassat]

Use this website to help you find pure gas - http://pure-gas.org/