[Joel Koontz]

Just curious.

It seems that the primary difference is that the Winter Blend will evaporate faster, which makes me think the Summer Blend would store better.

On a related topic, will Premium store longer than regular? I have heard that it will, but don't know if it is true.

How long can todays gas be stored in sealed container?

[Steve C.]

Summer or winter blend for storage?

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forum..._blend_for_sto

[jerry455]

I was told by some of our calibration engineers that premium fuel will last longer than regular. Evidently that is why a Chevrolet Volt uses premium fuel for the gasoline engine as it could potentially not run for an extended period of time if the owner charged the battery a lot and never used the engine.

[TCSGTO]

Before I sold my AMX I filled it with winter gas and a bottle of sta-bil and didn’t drive it for 2 years. I thought for sure it would have some fuel system issues but when I got it out of storage it fired right up and drove away without any problems.

[Stuart]

Just wanted to mention that I mistakenly edited Steve C's post above, when I meant to quote him instead. I'm new to having moderator abilities, and inadvertently clicked on the wrong response button. My apologies to Steve, and to others who may have been confused about why his post was edited.

I meant to write this in a separate post: Seems like the responses in that thread were pretty evenly divided on opinion...I think I'd be more concerned with using a gas stabilizer (Sta-bil or whatever your personal preference may be.) It's a good idea to regularly use up the gas and replace it with fresh gas as time goes on, rather than just putting some in a can and storing it long term.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by jerry455

I was told by some of our calibration engineers that premium fuel will last longer than regular. Evidently that is why a Chevrolet Volt uses premium fuel for the gasoline engine as it could potentially not run for an extended period of time if the owner charged the battery a lot and never used the engine.

The Chevrolet Volt and other plug-in hybrids which in theory would only use the the gasoline engine occasionally, have premium fuel as recommended. I have never been able to find out specifically if this is due to better storage life or the 12.5:1 compression ratio. (Volt). It's a high efficiency engine so the high compression helps in this area. In theory, the lower vapor pressure of premium and a summer blend would tend to evaporate less as mentioned. I would recommend using a fuel stabilizer , then you don't have to worry about it. If the engine has a carburetor, for storage, non-alcohol blended fuel will minimize the solids that form in the bowl and passages.

[Joel Koontz]

Thanks for the replies!

I try to "pinch pennies" a lot(probably more than I should) and one of the ways I do that is by getting the best fuel price that I can. I live in a fairly rural area and the gas stations near me do not have a lot of competition so their prices are higher than the stations in the larger(,but still not large) city of Altoona PA that is 30-35 miles away.

Altoona has a Sam's Club and for some reason, their Premium is a LOT less that virtually all other stations in the area. Sam's regular is usually a few cents less, but the Premium price is always at least $0.25 cheaper per gallon. Almost all stations around me charge $0.60 gallon more for Premium over regular, at Sam's it is always only $0.30 to $0.35 more.

I run Premium in the Pontiac and in mowers, tractors, trimmers, blowers etc. Pontiac because it NEEDS it and the other stuff because I think(suspect) it lasts longer and may be helpful to minimize problems with vapor lock and may keep the the carbs cleaner, etc..

It is far enough away that I don't make the drive every week and when I go to get gas I usually take my pickup and fill 8-10 five gallon cans. It is almost as much work to fill 2-4 cans as it is to fill 8-10, and I don't have to go as often. I usually stop at Sam's while I am there.

Some times I go through 40-50 gallons in a couple weeks(Pontiac use is sporadic) and sometimes it takes several weeks or longer.

There is only a small window of time where I have the option to buy Summer or Winter blend, but it is also the time of the year that I am starting to be less likely to burn the fuel rapidly.

[jerry455]

I found out through a website, www.pure-gas.org , that there is a Circle K near me that sells 90 octane non ethanol. I have been using that in all of my yard equipment lately. The local small engine repair people highly recommend using non ethanol fuel as most of them were never made to be run on E 10 fuel.