Good morning and Merry Christmas. I’ve been lurking in this forum for a year and finally created an account today.

Have a 23 Powerboost with 11K on it and have always filled with premium fuel. Yesterday when i filled up the two premium options at my local Shell were 93 E10 and 91 E0. The ethanol free was only .09 cents a a gallon more so I put 29 1/2 gallons of that in the truck. Will be interested to see if my Minnesota winter average mileage of 20 MPG improves.

 

I envy you. Here in California, I'm stuck with that crap. Even Mexico now puts ethanol in, I used to drive down there to fill up.

 

Here in Iowa where we make a bunch of ethanol, I can get 87 with ethanol or non-ethanol, 91 and 93 also both ways, and E15 through E85. Obviously every choice is not available at every station but depending on what I want I know where to go. For small engines or my play vehicles that sit for extended times I use non-ethanol, otherwise E10 works just fine.

 

I’ve ran the ethanol free fuel here. But here it is 90 octane. It’s a bit of drive to get it and a bit out of the way. I usually just run 93 premium

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

ETH in the fuel will result is a bit less fuel mileage.
The higher the content in % the lower it will tend to be.
Why? Eth Density is greater than straight Gas and shifts the fuel tables in program Richer in response to the greater amount of Ox detected in the combusted exhaust gas.
The Octane rating is the result of the combination of the base GAS Octane and the ETH Octane because they are from two different sources and are two different values that are present (they don't mix), and averages slightly higher than Gas, alone is the result and is dependent on the mix % ratio. E10, E15, E85 to the base Gas.etc.
Good luck.

 

Asking out of ignorance...

Is there any difference in using Ethanol vs Ethanol-free gas to the engine? Ignoring the MPG issue, and just focusing on the engine and its lifespan, or maintenance needs? I can get an Ethanol-free 90 octane gas at my usual station, as it serves a rural area and lots of people use it in their equipment here. When I drive into Houston (hour away), I never see Ethanol-free gas at any station.

 

Here, ethanol free is labeled "Rec Gas". I'll be damned if I'll pay up to a dollar more for rec gas, for an engine and fuel system that is built for both all the way to E85. See no performance gains between 87 E10, and 87 Octane rec gas in my experience, of course I've done no scientific experiments or anything, just never noticed anything the few times I ran E0, Sure can't be worth the extra $$$

 

Here where people must store the seasonal toys for up to 6 months we have the 0 ethanol fuel option.

To many toys have been subject to major repairs from ethanol type fuels sitting unused for extended periods of time.

Personally run 0 ethanol in my older cars and ALL of the small engines that get seasonal use.

All vehicles built after 2005 get the ethanol fuels which can be E10 or E15.

The present 22 F150 2.7EB is getting the E15 now with only a slight reduction in overall Fuel Mileage.

Located in central Wisconsin just east of the Twin Cities.

 

The biggest issue is when the vehicle sits for extended periods of time. Ethanol combines with water so some ugly things can happen. It's worse on open fuel systems like small engines with carburetors or old cars. I just run ethanol-free in those engines so I don't have to concern myself with purging at the end of the season.