Is Shell VPower Premium ethanol free?

[big bubba]

My regular ethanol free dealer is out of business. Some say Shell VPower premium is ethanol free. Is it? my feeling is that some of it is free, but not all according to location. need it for small engines & old school pickup. know there are specialty places around here, but in my area very high. Shell premium wold be convenient if so. thx in advance

 

[Roadworthy]

There are websites which will tell you where to find ethanol free gas - do a bit of surfing: https://www.pure-gas.org/ Older trucks will run on ethanol mix but it does tend to rust fuel tanks. On my small engines I'm less concerned as they have plastic tanks. At the end of the season I will empty the fuel tank and run the engine until it runs out of gas to clear the carburetor. That prevents the need to clean out the varnish later.

 

[number two]

Probably not ethanol-free,unless it is stated at the dispenser(pump).
My tanker career from 2001-2009 educated me on additives.
We used unbranded Marathon-437ml per 1000 gallons,about half a quart.
Regular Marathon-500 ml/1000 gal.
Shell VPower something like 750-770 ml/1000 gal.

Additives became mandatory in 1996 to support the now common fuel injection engines.
The inspectors can sample the fuel to determine the brand of additives-Like DNA for gas!
So a Mobil station better not be selling BP gas.
Good Luck!

 

[Robin Veerman]

Running the engine out of gas doesn’t necessarily run the carburetor empty. Usually the float bowl still has a tablespoon or two of gas remaining. Most Honda carburetors have a convenient drain screw. That’s how I empty the carburetors of all my Honda small engines….

 

[big bubba]

Running the engine out of gas doesn’t necessarily run the carburetor empty. Usually the float bowl still has a tablespoon or two of gas remaining. Most Honda carburetors have a convenient drain screw. That’s how I empty the carburetors of all my Honda small engines….

good point. i have also run into problems with the fuel cutoff solenoid by running a carb dry, guess residual gummed up the solenoid. i just keep the tanks full w/treated non ethanol & start occasionally during off season. so was hoping Vpower would fit the bill, but don't think it will. like anything else worthwhile, it takes hustle, i'll find a source.
won't ever run ethanol in my small engines no matter how much empirical evidence points it's ok
thx to above posters on this.

 

[Bill Guenthner]

My regular ethanol free dealer is out of business. Some say Shell VPower premium is ethanol free. Is it? my feeling is that some of it is free, but not all according to location. need it for small engines & old school pickup. know there are specialty places around here, but in my area very high. Shell premium wold be convenient if so. thx in advance

I doubt it. Ethanol is used as an octane booster.

Ethanol boosts the octane number of fuel, which helps prevent pre-ignition knock. Incidentally, the octane rating system for fuels was originally developed by Penn State chemist Russell Marker in the 1920s. The octane rating (Anti-Knock Index, AKI) of normal unleaded gasoline in the United States is 87. The octane rating of pure ethanol is 100. What's interesting is that when ethanol is blended with gasoline, it performs as if its octane rating is 112, making ethanol a very effective octane booster when used in gasoline. High octane is one reason why NASCAR uses ethanol for their high-compression racing engines. Engines that are designed and optimized for ethanol fuel have the potential to run at higher efficiencies than engines designed for and using gasoline.

 

[number two]

Yeah,they take 84 octane regular and 10% ethanol to get 87 octane fuel.
90 octane plus 10% ethanol yields 93 octane premium.
That's why you see 90 octane "rec" fuel-no ethanol added.

E85 in northern climates is reduced to E70 in winter months-poor ignite-ability at cold temps.
And those in the high plains,like Wyoming,etc,over 3000 ft elevation can use "mountain regular",85 octane-runs just fine as the octane need is reduced at higher altitudes.

And it's all too much money!
Had 312 gallons of farm diesel delivered today for $1337-ouch!

 

[s219]

A lot of people assume premium fuels are ethanol-free, but there is no connection. They are independent factors. It will say on the pump what the ethanol content is, if any.

I had a neighbor that was adamant about running non-ethanol fuel in his boat, but all he was doing was buying 93 octane from a local station that had ethanol in it. For years. You should have seen his face when he figured it out.

We only have one supplier of ethanol free fuel in this area and they are about 20 miles away. All they offer is 89 octane. I always fill up a couple jerry cans when I go up that way.