maximaman1313

I noticed at the chevron down the street saying can contain up to 10% ethanol. I always get chevron 92 octane. Are there any gas places that don't use ethanol?

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

lots; all gas stations are required to put signs saying possible alcohol content. many places brag about 100% gas, placing near the gas prices they advertise.
but a little ethanol won't hurt your car. the price difference between the two usually evens out the mpg. (ethanol gas is a little cheaper, but gets fewer mpg)

Mysticcal

I believe here in Cali. and possible other states. they're mandated to have 12% ethenol. for overconsumption issues.

MIC5631

sorry to ask a stupid question, but do all Maximas take 92 oct?? i will be getting a 3rd gen and i am not sure what octane it requires

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

whatever octane you put in there, itll take it. VEs recommend high octane, but work okay on regular.
barring some extreme timing, or engine mods, of course.

iwa2008

no, I believe only the VE " requires" 92 oct. All the pumps around me have some ethanol, except sunoco, but they are too expensive/ out of the way.

burhan92SE

VE does NOT require 92oct...in other words its not dying without it ...its recommended for maximum performance cuz VE30DE engine's compression is at the line where it can operate on regular gas or Premium....but to get all horses outta the VE u need to use 92+.....otherwise its running on regular too no problem... yes u advance the timing specialy on VE u need to start using the higher octane otherwise u get detonation from the engine in other words ****ty performance...

SilverMax_04

My 04 Owners Manual only recommends 91 octane premium for optimum performance. I doubt if Nissan has changed that recommendation since then. In California 91 is the highest octane available in the entire state.

Thanks to the politicians, most gasolines now contain 10% ethanol -- a sop to the farmers. Ethanol certainly does deliver reduced mileage -- because it contains less energy per gallon than 100% gasoline.

There may be brands and some grades of gasoline without ethanol, but today most now contain 10% ethanol.

I worked for an oil company for 35 years before retiring in 1998, so I know something about the industry. To show some of what I know, check out my earlier posts on "Octane Number and What It Means" here:
http://forums.maxima.org/fluids-lubr...hat-means.html

The information on this post is still correct and up to date.

talkinghorse

iTrader: (121)

You know much more about this than I do, but i believe the decision/requirement to blend ethanol into the gas formulation also has something to do with air pollution levels/targets as well. In San Antonio we buy gas without ethanol; however, in some of the more congested metropolitan areas in Texas, ethanol is blended in with the gas. Based on news reports from summers past, I seem to recall that we are allowed only so many days where air quality levels exceed a standard before we would be required to have re-formulated gas. On a trip to new England last fall, I noticed that much of the gas along the way, and all the gas up there contained ethanol.

MIC5631

Thanks! i have yet to read the owners manual as i dont have the car yet LOL
but its a 92 GXE (VG30E??) i think SOHC 3.0L

SilverMax_04

The story is long, but I will try to condense it down to the essentials.

Back in the 1980s, the state of Colorado was worried about incomplete combustion of gasoline due to reduced oxygen in the air at higher elevations. So tests were done that showed that blending 10% ethanol in gasoline improved the combustion because of the added oxygen content of ethanol. So Colorado mandated what became known as "oxygenated gasoline" -- it had to contain either ethanol or MTBE to get extra oxygen into the combustion process at higher elevations. The oil industry preferred MTBE, but as you may remember, gasoline with MTBE leaked into the ground from old gas station tanks and polluted the water table. So MTBE was eventually outlawed. This left only ethanol for getting extra oxygen into the combustion process.

The problem was that these tests were all done on vehicles with carburators. Now all vehicles have fuel injection. With fuel injection, the oxygen to fuel ratio is correct with or without the extra oxygen from ethanol -- even at higher elevations.

Well none of these facts stopped the ethanol industry or the politicians from deciding that extra oxygen in gasoline must be good -- so over time it has been mandated in more and more markets. All of this based on tests done in Colorado (high altitude) on vehicles with carburators. This is the kind of "good science" that politicians like to quote -- that make government mandates seem like a good idea until you look beneath the hype at the true facts. Ethanol in gaoline is simply a political gift to the ethanol industry (and to a much lesser extent to corn farmers.)

maxdriver10

I read everyones posts talking about 92 octane...where do you people live? lol they only have 87, 89, 91, and 93 (exxon supreme is what my baby gets) where i'm from...and IMO ethanol content has been increased/used in the past few years in order to make two groups happy: the frieken tree-hugging, prius driving, global warming beotches of the world and for the poor-a$$ corn farmers who need the extra subsidy...IMO its all BS and i would gladly pay more for 100% GASOLINE, who cares about CO2 emissions anyway?....BRING BACK THE H1 AND QX45s OF THE WORLD!!! muhahahaha


excuse my tirade...but in all seriousness whatever lol im not too worried about a little ethanol


lol oh and anyone who reads that will probably think im some ultra conservative republican but im not....but when it comes to my cars i say FU hyrbids! You sure as h3ll cant put new headers or a CAI on an electic car either