For the past year or so, I’ve exclusively filled up at Shell stations using premium. While Shell 87 Regular has 10% ethanol, their 91 Premium contains no ethanol.

Now why would I be so adverse to a gas additive that is seen as “environmentally friendly” and that raises octane ratings on fuels? The simple reason is that most car nerds long ago saw empirical evidence to the contrary. Now, that evidence is being substantiated by more mainstream media – today it was the New York Times.

Drivers of BMW’s and Mini’s seem to be the most succeptible to damage. From bad fuel pumps to damaged fuel lines – attempts are being linked to the ethanol content in gasoline as the cause. These are still not completely proven, but with enough anecdotal evidence from the forums, it’s enough for me to stay away.

In my own driving, I’ve noticed that ethanol-blended gasolines, like Sunuco 94, gave my cars bad mileage. When I had a turbocharged Audi car I appreciated the octane boost over 91, but the mileage suffered.

For as long as I can, I’ll try to keep the car filled up with ethanol-free gasoline. Canada soon is going to mandate ethanol content in our gas, so this might not last very long.

1. Make sure the tire pressure on your car is at the recommended level.

2. Drive like grandma. Light acceleration, lots of coasting.

These work. Seriously.

There’s a site that produces info on gas prices around the local area. They have graphs of 1 month average prices as well as which stations are the least expensive.
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Graph from TorontoGasPrices.com