10-02-2014, 10:22 PM
I think that the ethanol content can make a big difference from station to station and may have more of an effect than the differences between what one station and another call 87 octane. Higher ethanol content results in more water absorption and the potential for phase separation.
I was buying Canadian Shell Bronze (87 Octane) to avoid ethanol, but, as it turns out, only Shell V-Power 91 has no ethanol in Canada (and there is no point using 91 octane in this bike since higher octane than it requires is more likely to cause plug fouling and decel popping).
In Canada some stations have as much as 15% ethanol, so I've been trying to keep it down to 10%.
I was buying Canadian Shell Bronze (87 Octane) to avoid ethanol, but, as it turns out, only Shell V-Power 91 has no ethanol in Canada (and there is no point using 91 octane in this bike since higher octane than it requires is more likely to cause plug fouling and decel popping).
In Canada some stations have as much as 15% ethanol, so I've been trying to keep it down to 10%.