Fuel to use --> Premium w/ ethenol or Regular (87) non-ethenol

[grizparker]

What is the best fuel to use out of your basic varieties?  Should I go to any ol' station and fill up on premium, which "may contain 10% ethenol" or should I stop at a non-ethenol station and get their regular 87 octane?  Not sure what my '69 440 would prefer...

[68X426]

Your 440 told me it would prefer a no-ethenol premium (91).

Just like it enjoyed in '69. 

Seriously, others will weigh in on factors like your driving habits, tuning of the motor, pinging, etc. All important to evaluate. For everyday driving, my opinion is 91 and no corn.

[grizparker]

Unfortunately, the closest 91 non-ethanol is 25 miles away...

What about 87 octane non-ethenol with some octane booster?  Last fill-up, I put some 104 Octane booster that I picked up from WalMart.

[c00nhunterjoe]

I run 93, pretty sure all I have around here is ethanal

[68X426]

I think that any motor can "survive" on ethenol at 10%, it's the low octane that hurts the motor, the performance, and the mileage. In your situation I would use 91 with corn, and skip the booster.

Even one tank of 87 will drive you insane with drivability problems, and booster is expensive, way more than the extra 20 cents or so per gallon for a tank of 91. 

[Ghoste]

Of course what the ethanol does to your fuel system over the long term is no cheap fix either but...

[1969chargerrtse]

I used cheap ole regular gas on all my muscle cars. I just tweaked the timing a hair to stop any pinging. That was for cars I just lightly cruised in. Not any racing. I never added any lead additive for the valves either. Just any cheap gas I could find. I drove 10's of thousands of miles for decades with no regret or damage to any of the high performance big blocks I owned.
I use regular in my 2002 high performance TA also. It says in the owners manual you can. As long as the engine doesn't ping your ok.  
I also don't do anything special for winter storage other than fire them up every other month.

[grizparker]

By "cheap ole regular gas" you mean the basic 87 "non-ethenol" kind?  Or do you go to the average station and fill up on cheap 87 with ethenol.

[1969chargerrtse]

By "cheap ole regular gas" you mean the basic 87 "non-ethenol" kind?  Or do you go to the average station and fill up on cheap 87 with ethenol.

Here in Ct I use cheap ole gas anywhere of which has ethanol. Never any issues at all in my Charger. I just turned the distrib a hair re tarted to stop pinging. Fired right up and ran well. Rebuilt engine with original type carter. Only modern thing I did was use Valvoline ZR1 20/50 racing oil for the zinc.
Ran the car for 5 years that way. Sold it with a smooth perfect running engine, and shared that info with the new owner.

[ACUDANUT]

around here in KC, all 87 has ethenol.

[grizparker]

around here in KC, all 87 has ethenol.

Guess you could get the 91...

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=MO

City                 Octane    Name                               Street Address
Kansas City       91          Longview Lake Marina          Longview Lake
Kansas City       91          Platte Woods Bp                 7538 Nw Prairie View Rd
Kansas City       91          State Line Bp Tire & Auto     10641 State Line

[Dino]

I think I'd have to drive about an hour to find a station that has no ethanol.  I fill up with 93 all the time.  Charger and T/A.

[1969chargerrtse]

Higher octane is just for performance. If the engine is not pinging and you're using the car as a crusimobile then premium gas at a premium price is just throwing away money. I can't afford that. 

[Dino]

Higher octane is just for performance. If the engine is not pinging and you're using the car as a crusimobile then premium gas at a premium price is just throwing away money. I can't afford that. 

True and as much as I love to cruise, not a day goes by where I don't make the tires squeel.  Passing 3-4 cars in one go is also a handy thing with this car.  The T/A is even worse, we really go through the gears on that puppy!  If all we did was cruise then we'd be running regular but the way we drive these things that may be the death of them.

[moparstuart]

around here in KC, all 87 has ethenol.

THe BP just east on  87th at 69 hwy right by the I-35 merge had  93 octane . The birdible love that stuff

  anyway the owned is an auto enthuiast and you see muscle cars , and exotics in there all the time