[QUOTE=gchu...What have been everyone's experience?...[/QUOTE]

I'm a little surprised it isn't any cheaper for you, since here in corn country it has been 10 cents a gallon cheaper than regular for quite some time now, probably since prices topped about $2.00 per gallon. Of course, we have the ethanol refineries right nearby, since this is where the corn source is, so the transportation costs are low here. When gas was about $1.50 per gallon the differential was about 5 cents, as I remember.

All of the E10 around here is rated at 89 octane rather than 87. I assume that would be standard.

I've been using E10 for so long now I don't even notice anymore. But this tank I filled up with regular to see how much difference it would make. So far on my daily commutes I can't notice the difference, but only have a few trips on this tank. I'll run a few tanks on regular and compare the results to my E10 results.

 

I noticed the sticker at my local Shell Canada station telling me that the 87 octane fuel has 10% ethanol. IIRC, 89 octane gets 5%, and the premium gets none.

This was in Toronto. It may be true of Ontario, and it may be true of all of Canada. I just couldn't find mention of it on their web site. They abide by the Top Tier program, of course, but I don't see how it requires ethanol.

 

spinner — I contacted Shell in Calgary, Alberta, and what they're doing is the following:

• They put 10% ethanol into their 'Bronze' 87-octane gasoline only in major cities in Canada. Their 'V-Power' 91-octane gasoline has no ethanol. Their 'Silver' 89-octane gasoline is a 50-50 mixture of the 87- and 91-octane grades, and so has 5% ethanol. This meets the Canadian government's current requirement for gasolines to average 5% ethanol.
• In other areas, such as in my Kitchener-Waterloo area, there's no ethanol in any of their grades. The pumps consequently do not have any ethanol advice stickers on them.
• Other refiners may also be doing similar things. This may also hold true in the U.S.A.

Stan

 

This makes sense. Typically it is the urban areas that need ethanol to improve emissions performance. The rural areas are well out of that urban island effect and the needs is less. Furthermore, they tend to have more longer distance driving so again, benefit most from a higher energy fuel. But thanks for the warning.

On our next Canadian vacation, I'll be sure to fill-up only midway between cities.

Bob Wilson

 

Thanks for the clarifications!