Premium Fuel?

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bbeep71

bbeep71

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I was reading an article about the Chevy Volt( be nice) and it said that you have to use premium fuel because the fuel can be in the tank longer than normal. Does premium fuel last longer than regular as far as entanol is concerned?
 
No. Avoid jokenol if you can. Also, leaving the gas tank low allows moisture laden air to be incontact with the gas and when it gets colder the moisture will condense. Water and jokenol are where the real problem is - the mixture is corrosive.
 
E10 has been the only fuel availble in my area since the 90's. I have never had an issue with it in my cars or lawn equipment.
 
The article implied that premium will last longer than regular in the tank before it causes problems. I was wondering if this is true then is premium better in your tank when car is stored for the winter? Also, how long does it last when stored before a problem begins?
 
I'm a chemical engineer in a refinery. Here's what I know.

Many brand name premium gasolines will have superior additive packages to regular gasoline. This may include anti-gum additives.

Save yourself some money. If your gasoline will be in your tank longer than a month, use a product like "Stabil." It's available at Wal Mart.

I have an F250 that I rarely use because of it's mileage. I use Stabil.
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
as fuel sits....it loses it's octane, so the longer it takes to use...the lesser potency/octane it will have.
Click to expand...

2x... here in AZ during the summer i cant put more than two trips worth of gas in it or the next time i want to drive it it pings lol... our octane just disappears very quickly...
 
If the Volt is like the Prius, it also requires premium fuel. I attended a Toyota training class when I worked for Toyota.
I was told by the trainer, that the Prius had a higher compression engine (10.5:1).
This engine was used in other Toyota products as well with 9.0:1 compression.
The reason given, The higher compression lets the engine start quicker when changing from electric to gas. This helps the transition to be more seamless between the functions.
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
as fuel sits....it loses it's octane, so the longer it takes to use...the lesser potency/octane it will have.
Click to expand...

This could indicate that the gasoline has ethanol in it. Ethanol has a very high octane rating. But ethanol is also very volatile so it evaporates quickly and leaves the lower octane components of the gasoline behind.

Other high octane blending components, such as FCC gasoline, alkylate, or reformate, are used in higher percentages in non-ethanol gasoline. Those components should not evaporate significantly faster or slower than the rest of the bulk gasoline.

Octane could increase if you are using a winter gasoline and it gets hot outside. Butane is added to winter gasoline for higher volatility for faster starting. Butane has low octane. If it evaporates out of the gasoline faster than the rest of the components, you will have a higher octane gasoline. (But less of it.)
 
Even if you do have to use 91, you will still save a lot of money in the long run. Don't those things go something like 50 miles on electric before they switch over to gas, and then get 45 MPG once it switches to gas? If so, you're still saving A LOT of gas money, even with premium.

I have one of the first gen Honda Insights and get 60 MPG average out of it. It does not require premium, so I spend about $40 every 2 weeks on gas with a 25 mile commute each way. When I drive my truck, I spend almost that in Diesel on a round trip to the track that's about 35 miles away (towing the Duster), about 13-15 MPG not towing.
 
So when I deploy in December for a few months, would it be better to leave the tank completely empty, or fill it up all the way? My wife will not be driving it, I'm hiding the keys before I leave ;)
 
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