Fuel Type - anyone use ethanol and any problems?

[rcturner]

Just purchased a 2016 F3-t and the manual says high octane gas! My issue is I live in Minnesota and ALL gas here has ethanol in it at 10%. Does anyone use ethanol and any problems?

To a point, octane and ethanol are unrelated issues. Ethanol is OK except for storage times.

[dpetrick]

I live in Iowa, but ride a lot in Minnesota, since we are near the border. I have found Premium fuel with no alcohol at many stations. Some of the pumps have a label say this fuel is for off road vehicles and other vehicles not designed to run on ethanol such as classic and vintage cars, and motorcycles and ATVs and watercraft. BP station in Lakefield, MN has this fuel.
The 10% blend should not be a problem for any of the Spyders, unless not ridden for long enough periods to allow separation and water being absorbed. The manual for my 2009 RS indicates not to use fuel with more than 10% ethanol. We have run ethanol in cars for hundreds of thousands of miles, with no issues. Issues can occur when a vehicle is stored, or not used for weeks or months. Startron seems to be a good option in these cases.
Real issue is the newer blender pumps that are dispensing E10 and E15 (Some even E25) from the same hose, which can cause a higher ethanol content because of the remaining fuel in the hose.
Iowa subsidizes ethanol, so E10 is cheaper than regular. Stations in Spirit Lake offer E10, Regular and Premium non ethanol. Regular (non ethanol) is 20 to 30 cents higher than E10, per gallon.

[jaherbst]

Ethanol here in Arizona with no problemo's, however the exhaust smells a little bit like corn.

​Jack

[Michaelscs]

To a point, octane and ethanol are unrelated issues. Ethanol is OK except for storage times.

I agree with rcturner. As far as non-ethanol in MN goes, I've ridden my Syder, Cobra & snowmobiles all over MN and I can almost always find non-ethanol 91 octane. I will say the closest I've ridden to the OP is Marshal & New Ulm.

[kamper]

I live in Elkton SD and to get no ethenol you have to sneek over the border. High octain means more fun

[Highwayman2013]

ethanol does several things it helped eliminate lead, it provided a market for corn an abundant US product, reduces our dependence on foreign oil, and reduces emissions. Seems like a fairly go idea to me JMO.

Sorry, lead was eliminated from gasoline long before anyone thought of putting ethanol in. I also find that when I use non-ethanol gas my mpg's improve.

[2Paw]

Sorry, lead was eliminated from gasoline long before anyone thought of putting ethanol in. I also find that when I use non-ethanol gas my mpg's improve.

I have also found that my gas mileage improves when using non-ethanol gas. Last I checked I got an extra 25 miles a tank.

[WilderThomas]

Farmers can sell there corn generally at a higher price to the Ethynol plant than at the elevator! My opinion of this law was to make the STOCK holder filthy rich!

Today, we have gas with ethanol. Some years ago we had a product called, gasahol. I'm wondering if there is any real difference?

[Bob Denman]

The difference?

Marketing!

[BajaRon]

Just purchased a 2016 F3-t and the manual says high octane gas! My issue is I live in Minnesota and ALL gas here has ethanol in it at 10%. Does anyone use ethanol and any problems?

All vehicles that use Ethanol fuel have 'Issues'. You will get lower fuel mileage, less horse power, more water in your fuel, shorter storage time, it costs more (though you pay the difference in taxes instead of at the pump to hide the fact). Not to mention it takes more oil to make a gallon of ethanol than it takes to make a gallon of straight gasoline (the whole reason we are using Ethanol fuel in the 1st place).

To me, these are issues...

[Jeriatric]

No problems but I do add seafoam every other tankful...keeps things purring...

Me too, and anytime i'm not sure it's a top tier fuel that's going in the tank. Which happens often if you're not a freeway flyer.

[Firefly]

You can run it.. and also don't need to run the expensive higher octane.... it will run just fine on lower octane fuel.

[willey]

if you were a new spyder owner and read these last 38 post you should be really confused.you should understand that a lot of guys have a big hat but no cattle.check out guys like firefly [ 100,000 k ]that is a lot of cattle or you could just read your manual.hope i didnt step on to meny toes.have a great day.

[Bob Denman]

You didn't...
"Read your manual", is always good advice.

The 1330s run a 12:1 compression ratio. They're designed to run on 91 octane,,,
But if it'll burn: they can use it!

[Jeriatric]

if you were a new spyder owner and read these last 38 post you should be really confused.you should understand that a lot of guys have a big hat but no cattle.check out guys like firefly [ 100,000 k ]that is a lot of cattle or you could just read your manual.hope i didnt step on to meny toes.have a great day.

You mean gallon riders?



You can only step on toes when they're not on pegs..........or boards.

[PR Spyder rt]

How many SL members have altered their Spyders Intake ,Exhaust and Cat Converter and have not had to add a fuel management system to the bike.just trying to figure out which route if any should I take . Thanks in advance for your help in this matter...Ps my baby is a 2012 RT Ltd Se5

[michrick]

I add a little Star Tron Enzyme Fuel treatment to every tank. Just a little extra peace of mind.


Run un it in my scoots and SXS

[rcturner]

All vehicles that use Ethanol fuel have 'Issues'. less horse power,

Actually, ethanol raises the octane slightly and also horsepower. E85 is not apples & apples but, E85 raises the octane to about 106 and on my truck, the horse power increases from 355 to about 385. It also runs really well but gas mileage drops a bunch. BTUs with ethanol are down and as such it takes more fuel to produce the power. Overall, I feel that ethanol in any concentration is bad.

[Firefly]

I've run many different intake systems, ran a juice box and then power commander, different exhausts, etc. The engines can pretty much handle whatever you change.. intake.. exhaust.... octane and adjust on the fly.
Yes, the manual calls for higher octane... but I've never noticed any difference in performance or MPG in the 100,000 miles I put on my first two Spyders (2008 GS and 2012 RT).
I expect the F3 to be the same. 3,000 miles and most of it running plain old regular.
Additives are usually a ripoff with the exception of octane boost for engines that truly need it. HD riders claim they don't run well on lower octane even though they're lower compression.... so they'll use a booster.
I tried Star Tron and there was zero difference in Performance or MPG.
If anyone tells you they can increase MPG with an additive they're pushing snake oil.
Also remember that higher octane usually sits longer at the station... and thus loses octane... so you might be paying for nothing.
Run what you want, but you're not going to damage anything running the lower octane... the engine will adjust as necessary.
Just my .02.


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[Bob Denman]

Dan,
Your GS WAS set up to run on 87 octane.
(only a 10.8:1 squeeze on that piston...)
Rotax builds some pretty nice engines, and they've got all of the electronic wizardry to compensate for fuels that don't actually meet the requirements as set forth by the engineers.
Your RT might have done better on high test...

[2dogs]

Octane simply lowers the ignition temperature at which the gas ignites. With higher compression engines like the 1330 octane keeps the gas from pre igniting and causing what is called 'engine knock," not a good thing. If you run regular gas it's quite likely your spyder's computer has adjusted it's self to compensate by reducing the timing at which the spark plug fires. (It's actually piston position) Not a bad thing. As far a moisture in the gas goes it depends on what you are putting in as to how harmful it could be. I remember running water injection on one of my earlier vehicles and it increased my MPG by 3 MPG. Fighter aircraft in WWII used to run water injection for short periods of time to increase power and speed when needed. Water injection assist has been around for a long time. With the new types of cars without carburation you won't see water injection any more.

[Firefly]

Ahhh... water injection...... reminds me of 1980's popular science classified ads......;-)


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[Firefly]

Dan,
Your GS WAS set up to run on 87 octane.
(only a 10.8:1 squeeze on that piston...)
Rotax builds some pretty nice engines, and they've got all of the electronic wizardry to compensate for fuels that don't actually meet the requirements as set forth by the engineers.
Your RT might have done better on high test...

I ran all different gases in my RT. Never noticed any difference. Biggest difference was always comparing highway to city... with highway being much worse on MPG. I could tear up the twisters in the smokies and get way better MPG than on the highway. Wind resistance .......


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[Bob Denman]

With the speeds that you like to run : I'm not surprised at all!

[Bam Bam and Pebbles]

I have used all types of fuel in my bikes. I think the best mileage I have gotten is with fresh 87 octane gas. Doesn't matter if you use 93 or 87 if it has been sitting in a tank for a month. The worst gas I have gotten is 93 octane that I bought a little while ago. I am now running fuel injector cleaner in my tank because I am having a bit of trouble starting Cocaine every once in awhile. Not sure if the injectors are clogged or not, but old 93 gas is a heck of a lot worse than fresh 87. JMHO Plus, who really cares what kind of mileage we get. I run this thing as fast as I can, whenever I can. It's a heck of a lot more fun than worrying if I am getting 35 or 40 MPG's. PS....I usually get 35. Hard to hit higher than that doing 90 on the highway.