Quite. Ethanol is ethyl alcohol. Not to be confused with methanol (methyl alcohol) especially if you're drinking it!

 

Methanol was used in the 'original' gasohol in the late '70s. A single tankful could (and often did) destroy some carburetors, ate through fuel lines, and loosened every speck of varnish in the fuel system.


Ethyl alcohol or not, gas starts to sour at about 90 days (it sours just like milk, from bacteria), but it will still pack energy for years, albeit on a slowly decreasing curve.


And there are some additives that will react with the water in the fuel; if the fuel is sloshed around or mixed, the water will be in the form of small 'globs' throughout the fuel, rather than a pudde on the bottom of the tank. The globs are just along for the ride, and they are a small percentage of the fuel being burned 'at that moment', rather than the car trying to suck back the scotch and water mix at the bottom of the tank.


Do YOU need to add them? Hell no! The supplier does it.


Stabilizers, by the way, form a thin, oxygen-blocking layer on top of the fuel. Keep the air out, and it doesn't sour as quickly.

 

Another thing many don't realize is gas will store longer in a metal container than in plastic cans. The lighter molecules will evaporate and pass through the plastic over time. So when fueling something from a plastic can, if the fuel has been around for awhile, it may cause more difficult starting. Something to keep in mind for those of us with snowmobiles.

 

It doesn't make sense to keep gas in jerry cans from one season to the next. What doesn't get burned in the summer toys gets transferred to one of the cars or the winter toys.

 

Given the cost difference and the fact that I don't put a lot of miles on the vehicle. I go with the High Test - High Octane fuel. Happy Motoring! Oh, don't forget to correctly fit the nozzle into the gas intake--it goes on an angle.