Fuel/Gas: 87 Octane vs 89 Octane E10

[wilson83]

Which is better? Performance? Efficiency/Higher MPG?

87 Octane Regular Fuel?

or

89 Octane E10 (10% Ethanol)?

The reason I'm asking this is because I remember driving to Chicago from LA a month ago, and somewhere in between, there's gas station selling the 89 Octane E10 for about 20cents cheaper per gallon compared to 87 Octane regular gas. I ended up pumping the 89 Octane E10.

So which is better, in all different aspects ...

Oh by the way, I drive an 08 Camry LE V6 ... owned it since December 31, 2007 ... and funny enough that I had my transmission replaced 2 weeks ago, and it started to flare again about a week ago, and I'm getting a 2nd transmission replaced ...

[TRD VVTi]

Efficiency and performance are nearly the same thing.

Stick with the 87 octane. The Camry doesn't benefit from higher octane in most situations.

[kenny1773]

Originally Posted by wilson83

Which is better? Performance? Efficiency/Higher MPG?

87 Octane Regular Fuel?

or

89 Octane E10 (10% Ethanol)?

This is practically IMPOSSIBLE for any here to answer accurately.

Ethanol has less BTU's per gallon than unblended gas, therefore, you will get lower MPG the more Ethanol you blend in.

HOWEVER - there is a point somewhere in the efficiency curve with Ethanol that states a certain percentage blend **COULD** cause a more efficient burn in some engines under certain conditions - you just have no idea where that lies for your application and if 10% is the most effcient blend.

I would say run the cheaper stuff for 4-6 tanks and take an average MPG over those tanks and see where it stands.

If I had to take a wild guess, I would guess that 10% ethanol will reduce your overall MPGs, the higher octane rating will not gain it back.

[wilson83]

Thanks for the reply. The next time I travel around those areas, I'll remember to go with non-ethanol gas.