2021 Treat Your Tacoma to Ethanol Free Gasoline

A de-icer in your fuel tank? I guess if you like absorbing water in your fuel.

Just as any county (or city) that has a population density rating of assholes-to-elbows is prohibited by law from selling pure gas (ethanol free).

 

Once upon a time ago.....fuel deicer was commonly sold. The product was HEET. IIRC, it was ethanol or some variant of alcohol.

 

Agreed, there's definitely some confusion surrounding the topic. I ran an E48 blend in my MazdaSpeed3 (along with many more things under the hood) and made right around 600 to the wheels. Ethanol might contain less energy than gasoline but it has a lot more fun properties as well - so long as your tune/fuel system can handle it!

 

So whats the conclusion? Run ethanol-free or just premium? There’s a lot of back and forth about it.

 

Neither you nor your truck will notice a difference between ethanol free, premium or regular. Just do whatever makes you happy.

 

If your manual recommends 87 octane, run just that in whatever configuration you enjoy. Ethanol in fuel can absorb water (very slowly at 10%) so if your truck is going to sit for like 6mos or more, it might be beneficial but at the end of the day, running higher octane than the vehicle is designed/tuned for is a waste of money.

 

Right on. Ive been running E0 ever since the dealers fill was used.

 

Manual states : "select octane rating 87 or higher".

 

Does anyone understand what the Octane rating means?
or
Does anyone know what Octane does?

Octane is a rating to resist pre-detonation (pinging) in the cylinders. This is the purpose and what Octane does.
A higher rating indicates greater resistance to pinging.

Common mythconceptions surround Octane ratings
Higher Octane DOES NOT provide more POWER.
Yes, higher octane is often used in vehicles with high compression ratios, typically found in "Sport or High Performance" cars. These cars have engines designed with higher compression ratios that are prone to pinging. These trucks are not anywhere close to having a high performance engine. Although, many users will swear they have more power based on their butt dynamometer readings.

Higher octane fuel is not "better", although it is more expensive. It is formulated to resist pre-detonation in high compression engines.


If you are burning High Octane, then you are likely increasing your fuel costs without benefit.


In years past, cars ran on simple ignition systems and carburetors. Pinging was a normal situation, so higher octane was needed. Pinging can destroy an engine in short order.
Today's vehicles use a complex, intelligent ignition system with fuel injection. This system is able to detect and adjust timing and fuel mix to avoid pre-detonation.

 

What? Fuel doesn't freeze until somewhere south of -40 degrees C or F. If you live in a place that cold then Ethanol isn't going to save you. Otherwise, are you spraying it on your windshield to de-ice it? I can't make any sense of your statement.

 

Nonsense. Ardbeg or go home.

 

You can always run higher and not hurt anything, it's the lower that'll affect the engine. If you detect a lot of engine knock get a higher octane. If not, run the minimum recommended.

 

This isn't entirely true. If your ECU can advance the timing, then yes you can get improved mileage and power out of the engine, but if the engine is not tuned to take advantage of the higher octane then you are just wasting money. I don't know if Toyota's ECU does that to be honest, so that is the question you should be asking.

Even if it does advance timing, it will take several tanks before you see the improvement as advancing is very slow, but one tank of low grade will retard the timing very quickly as more knocking is detected.

 

Since I started this mess I’ll give my conclusion. I run ethanol free gas from time to time for fun. Truck is more responsive and I like that about the performance.

But it’s expensive.

So I run Shell V-Power Nitro+

But that’s expensive too. So I run the cheap stuff too... 87 Octane.

I rotate. In my opinion... The good stuff is better but hard on the pocketbook.

 

You should run 87 as that's what the factory tune calls for. You will get no benefits from higher octane without a tune.

Ethanol free is a godsend for fuel systems that ARENT DESIGNED FOR IT. They have different materials. Cornwater gas in my NSX eats the seals to shit and clogs the fuel filter. Its highly corrosive to the existing system. However, the taco has seals and lines that are DESIGNED for cornwater so it really doesn't hurt anything.

Same goes for your mower, cornwater eats up the carb seals and it runs like shit. Ethanol attracts water, water is very bad. If you are going to burn the tank of gas in the next month, then cornwater gas is just fine in your car/truck. If you are going to let it sit for 5 months then you want to use ethanol free and/or a stabilizer.

 

Interesting claims.

I have run a '63 and a '71 Buick on "cornwater" for many years......never a fuel related issue.
All my yard equipment (snowblower, lawnmower, weedeater, chainsaw) have only been fed "cornwater". Yes, I use fuel stabilizer. None have had fuel related issues.
My '81 Honda motorcycle has been on a diet of "cornwater", stored for months with fuel stabilizer, never fuel related issues.
All the cars and trucks I have owned have lived on "cornwater", multiple models and brands, not 1 fuel related issue.

I believe your NSX has fuel problems. I'm not sure if the "cornwater" is the source, although I believe the fuel is an easy blame. I would believe the NSX has been designed and built within the last 15-20 years or so. It should be built to handle "cornwater". This fuel blend has been common since the early '80s. Have you done any performance mods to the NSX? These could be a source of contaminants fouling your fuel system.

Yes, ethanol is hygrophobic. It will combine with water. It will carry the water into the engine to be burned. The 10% blend won't "attract" gallons or quarts or ounces of water into the fuel tank. More in the weight level of grams or less. This bit of water can only enter the tank by the humidity in the air from the venting system or from the fill neck. Gross amounts of water are generally from the fill neck.

Ethanol by itself is not corrosive. Look into the chemistry.

Anytime a fuel is stored for more the 6-8 weeks, it needs a fuel stabilizer. Don't matter if 0%, 10%, 15% ethanol.

There are countries, Brazil for instance, which run a much higher %age of ethanol than the USA. Care to guess what companies sell cars and trucks in these countries? Engines have been built for years with the correct materials to operate with ethanol.