Should I worry about gas aging at the gas station?

[Anthony]

The gas station nearest my house only sells ethanol-free gas. They offer 87, 89, and 93. I live in a fairly rural area, and this is a really old, really popular, 2-pump mom and pop grocery store/deli/gas station all-in-one with no competitors for miles situation in a really haggard looking building. It pretty much fits the bill of a backwoods Mississippi store. Shoeless toothless customers and all.

I use their 87 octane in my Tiburon all the time and it runs beautifully. There's a new modern gas station 15 minutes away now, and they have one single 87 octane ethanol-free pump out their 8+ pumps. Their gas is ok, but my car still runs better on the mom and pop gas, so I use it.

Being they're the only store for miles, everyone knows the ~90 year old owner, and most people would rather support local small businesses, the mom and pop store is always slam packed and it's not uncommon to have to wait in line to get gas. Most customers have old trucks, boats, and lawn mowers. I've actually never seen anyone there buy anything but 87. Which leads me to wonder...

How old must their 93 be? And since it's ethanol-free, does that even matter? I'd love to put ethanol-free 93 in my FR-S, but I'm kind of sketched out at the thought I could very well be the first person to ever use that gas.

I'm considering just asking them how often it's refilled. If it's not too bad, I could get my girlfriend to start using it too. She has a 2ZZ Corolla, so she has to use at least 91 as well. Maybe between the two of us, they'll start having to buy 93 more often, thus having fresher gas.

[Anthony]

I'm also going to buy a kit and test their 93 for ethanol either way. I recently found out that test kits are super cheap.

[Shagaliscious]

Try it out in the girls Corolla. If it doesn't run well, tough shit

[Anthony]

Hahaha you are drunk, sir. I love that car.

[Shagaliscious]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Hahaha you are drunk, sir. I love that car.

Is it the Corolla XRS?

[Anthony]

See, senior.

EDIT: Same engine as this car:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmscSzFurwg"]The World's Fastest Lotus? - /TUNED - YouTube[/ame]



...minus a few upgrades.

[Gary in NJ]

Ethanol-free does store a lot longer then fuel with ethanol. Further, in-ground fuel storage tanks do not have the wide temperature fluctuation that a car fuel tank can see (the in ground tank with see +/-2 change during a day while a car can see +/- 40). It is this wide temperature change that causes water to accumulate in fuel. In short, I think you are WAY over thinking this.

He's a idea, why don't you ask the station owner how often he gets a delivery. That will tell you how long the fuel has been in the ground.

[Anthony]

So... based on what you just said... fuel doesn't necessarily "go bad" overtime, it just gets more and more water in it?

[Shagaliscious]

Originally Posted by Anthony

See, senior.

EDIT: Same engine as this car:

...minus a few upgrades.

Oh, I know. I used to own a 92 Corolla. The XRS is a fun car.

[Eurasianman]

Originally Posted by Anthony

So... based on what you just said... fuel doesn't necessarily "go bad" overtime, it just gets more and more water in it?

Depending on how humid it gets outside, I believe so. Probably a piss poor example, but I bought some gas from an old, small gas station and put it in my push mower. The day I bought the fuel and put it in my push mower, everything worked great. Over the next 2 weeks, it was very humid and I finally decided to cut my yard (typically cut my grass once every two weeks). Anyways, the push mower would not start. Took it to a shop that works on mowers and they said they found a lot of water in the engine. The push mower and the gas tank for the push mower are left in my garage and as someone else mentioned, the temperature fluctuation affects the fuel. This summer, I put fuel treatment in the gas tank that I use for the push mower and have not had a single issue all summer.

Regardless, I am sure our car engines have either a better tolerance or the gas tank in the vehicle is better engineered to slow down the process of the fuel turning into more water, or both.

[Anthony]

Well I knew about humidity in cans and tanks, but I was under the impression that gas just "went bad" on its own overtime. Like as soon as it's refined, it begins to break down chemically, but very slowly.

[Gary in NJ]

Yes, fuel does go bad over time. Some faster then others. However, if you can keep air away from fuel it will last a lot longer. The problem with E-10 is ethanol is hydroscopic, so it happily absorbs moisture.

[Anthony]

Good to know. I'll test it when I get back to confirm that it really is ethanol-free and I'll ask the owner how often they refill it.

[Fluxx]

Straight gasoline will keep for months, at least 6 before you run into trouble. Ethanol will start going bad after about 3 months.