non ethanol gas vs 87 grade
 

Hey guys just curious your thoughts on using non ethanol aka boat gas in your inboards. I have a 2002 xstar and wawa just opened right by me with non ethanol gas. Was thinking of switching to that instead of regular unleaded. Any thoughts either way.

I avoid ethanol in all my toys or tools that will sit for prolonged periods of time. With that said, my 94 205 has never had a drop of ethanol.

I wonder about this too. I have an Ls3 engine that says it requires 91. The only ethanol gas around me is 88. I've been using the normal 91.

having replaced both fuel pumps in my rig from running the 10% crap, all I use is ethanol free

two ENTIRELY different topics, as neither has anything to do with the other.

Finally. I was scratching my head & getting a headache reading the crap above.

Ok guys then NON ETHANOL gas vs Gas that contains amounts of Ethanol in it. Most the outboard guys in the florida area use non ethanol gas. I use it in my small engines. How many of you are using NON ETHANOL gas in your inboards and why. What is the advantages?

For those that use a boat regularly and have short winter layups, there should be little worries with the use of ethanol. Just use some fuel treatment. For those that put little hours on the boat or have long layups, non-ethanol can be an advantage, as ethanol is prone to more moisture absorption then non-ethanol gasoline.

My 210 always gets non ethanol fuel only. I am an automotive service manager and understand that 100% gasoline burns more complete and efficiently.

I burn E10 all summer long when the boat's in regular use. In the fall I switch over to ethanol free for the last few tanks, just so it's not sitting with ethanol in it all winter. So far, no issues going that route on an old 94. I'll do fuel lines this winter, but only because they're old and it's cheap/easy to do (not from any performance issues/problems).

Small engines and anything used infrequently, non-ethanol all the way.

non ethanol round here is not easy to come by & the one place I know of is expensive. I however boat weekly & sometimes during the week. For storage put in some stabilizer & fill the tank all the way with gas so there isn't room for moisture & you'll be fine.

If you are constantly running your boat I wouldn’t bother paying a premium for non-ethanol gas. You’re just wasting money and you’re not seeing any gain in performance. Now for the end of the season like mentioned above, the last tank or last two tanks of ethanol free is a good practice for storage. Treated ethanol blend gas will go 6 months. If storing longer ethanol free is the way to go for storage. Regardless ethanol blend or free, for storage it’s always good practice to top off the tank as there is no room for condensation in the tank to produce moisture.

Costco 93 E10 all year no issues.

Stabil in the tank for winter time.

Doesn't need to be hard lol

I guess I am missing something The only non ethanol fuel in my area is 87 octane which is too low of octane for watercraft. Carbureted Higher HP. older engines require 91 octane. That about covers Watercraft. You can use Octane booster but that is a product with deceiving Octane boost numbers

You can use 91 or higher E10 or use 87 non-ethanol and mix in your octane booster additive to reduce the volatility.

Chipthril Did you not read what I said about octane booster. Please do some research on the numbers that are on the supplement bottle. No 91 non-ethanol or E-10 available from the pump. You can buy anything in 55 gallon barrels. I am paying 6.80 gallon for racing fuel right now.

Now ill ask what am I missing? If you want to avoid E-10, you can run 87 and add "octane Booster". If you dont want to do this and still want to avoid E-10, then I guess keep paying 6.60 p/gal or let the boat collect dust.

To know the octane boost numbers are deceiving, implies someone has figured what the more realistic ratios are.

Avoid ethanol if you can. It attracts moisture which you don't want in your fuel tank. Especially during storage.

Non ethanol gas is more efficient than ethanol gas. It *might be* that the gasoline burns more efficiently w/ ethanol, but if so then the ethanol must be really inefficient because the net result is less efficient.

It's not just the water but ethanol is so hard on anything rubber. Long term its not great stuff.

As a service manager, you should also understand that ethanol has significantly lower energy density per volume than gasoline.

Actually he basically said that. My reply to his post was because I misread it. We all agree that ethanol in the fuel lowers efficiency, or MPG if we were talking about cars. Bottom line is that ethanol in gas has no known benefits except welfare for corn growers.

Funny you say that because the only people I find who like ethanol are my corn growing relatives.

I am guessing that from a price standpoint the lower energy value is made up for by the premium charged for non-ethanol.