90 octane ethanol-free fuel vs Shell 93 Nitro+ V-Power crickets
 

My '16 BRZ limited has the engine chipping as of 3600 miles. I had always filled it up with Shell 93 octane fuel. Particularly in the AM in my commute they get louder on 93. I fill up at the same 1 of 3 gas stations every week.


I filled up on 90 octane ethanol free fuel yesterday at a Mallard station. So far the crickets are nearly non existent on that gas. I am unsure of the performance between them or MPG.


I'm not really noticing difference at all. Is there supposed to be a performance change in between the fuels?

There will be a drop in performance since the ECU will pull timing to prevent knock. It will however be gradual not instant so you may never even notice the drop.


Not sure how big an issue running 90 would be but the minimum requirement according to the manual is 91.

Run 91+


It doesn't matter what gas you run, you will ge the crickets. People claim that ethonal free gas solves it, but from experience it does not. I had the pump relaced under warranty. I planned and only used ethonal free fuel for 4-5 tanks prior to the replacement. Pump was quiet for the first 2-3 weeks and then they came back worse than ever. Now car is on e85 and no change.

I filled up with 90 octane 3 times on my LA > TX > LA 4000-mile trip in April. No difference in mileage that I can conclusively determine, and the car ran fine with minimal difference in drivability.

-alex

If the engine pulled the timing a bit, to compensate for the lower octane, it might be less likely to feel on a long haul, freeway driving trip like that ....:)


humfrz

It was the only ethenol free gas octane grade. I'll be switching back thanks for the tip.

I can for sure say it did make them much much quieter. But, I'll be going back to 93

I didn't notice any less performance. But, I'll be going back to 93

I will be going back to 93 octane as soon as this tank is empty. I have noticed it is much quieter. This is not a long term thing, I just wanted to try to see if it would quiet the crickets. Which it did.

But BD are you going back to 93?

It's possible that they are but the response was quite vague...

just add some cotance booster into the ethanol free 90, done. :D

This is not true at all. I've got over 80,000 miles on my car and have never heard a cricket. I almost always get gas at the same station (Sunoco 93 oct). The pump says "may contain up to 10 percent ethanol". I don't think it contains any.

Note to self, don't post when you're half asleep knocked up on Benadryl lol

We have a guy locally who's car has been 100% silent since day one. Doesn't matter what fuel he puts in the car. Car is on its second motor as well.