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I have an app called pure gas and have been wondering is it beneficial to use non ethanol gas in my spark? The nearest one near me is 30 minutes away in wisconsin and all the other gas stations only sell non ethanol in 91 octane. My spark currently has been getting 39mpg with temps around 30°F-40-°F. I have my tank near empty ready for the non-ethanol fill up. 

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  • 1 month later...
On 1/22/2017 at 7:05 AM, Retired old Gearhead said:

Ethanol will help keep your engine clean...Without getting into the details, my mechanic says that engines running 10% ethanol are much cleaner when they open the engine top end to work on things like head replacements, etc.

I've heard different. I've been using 91 octane non ethanol for a month already and I've noticed the car runs smoother, injectors don't tick as loud, car accelerates a bit better and my gas mileage went from 39 mpg to 43 mpg.

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On 3/8/2017 at 6:35 PM, Dakota J Skidds said:

I've heard different. I've been using 91 octane non ethanol for a month already and I've noticed the car runs smoother, injectors don't tick as loud, car accelerates a bit better and my gas mileage went from 39 mpg to 43 mpg.

The "ticking" you hear is from the valve train tappets/cam contact with the valve stem assembly. Fuel has no bearing on that..oil type (synthetic/conventional) and viscosity, volume and thickness eg: 5/20 10/30 etc, does.. A cold engine when first starting to run will be louder with lower performance than an engine at operating temp...I'll spare you the details on that but fuel that is higher octane (eg:91) will require a higher flash point (temp) than lower octane like 89..Higher Octane is not more combustible..in fact it is less combustible at lower temps..you can research that and why there are different Octane grades for different engines. The "higher the octane the more energy" myth is well known...so your improved performance probably has more to do with ambient temps or using synthetic oil. Lots of info on the internet..Wiki etc and you will get a better understanding on the complexities of different grades of fuel. That being said..I stick with my 89 octane and 10% Ethanol for best performance, mileage and a cleaner engine...well, you get my drift here...

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  • 1 year later...
On 3/11/2017 at 1:21 PM, Retired old Gearhead said:

The "ticking" you hear is from the valve train tappets/cam contact with the valve stem assembly. Fuel has no bearing on that..oil type (synthetic/conventional) and viscosity, volume and thickness eg: 5/20 10/30 etc, does.. A cold engine when first starting to run will be louder with lower performance than an engine at operating temp...I'll spare you the details on that but fuel that is higher octane (eg:91) will require a higher flash point (temp) than lower octane like 89..Higher Octane is not more combustible..in fact it is less combustible at lower temps..you can research that and why there are different Octane grades for different engines. The "higher the octane the more energy" myth is well known...so your improved performance probably has more to do with ambient temps or using synthetic oil. Lots of info on the internet..Wiki etc and you will get a better understanding on the complexities of different grades of fuel. That being said..I stick with my 89 octane and 10% Ethanol for best performance, mileage and a cleaner engine...well, you get my drift here...

 

I'm not on here much but I love when you post.  You always have facts and experience to back up a claim vs a placebo effect.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have been using e15 and e30 and I average 39mpg. I haven't had any issues yet and I have about 40k miles on the car. I anticipate better mileage if I increase compression and octane. The higher octane and price are my favorite aspects of ethanol blends. 

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13 hours ago, LittleBlue! said:

I have been using e15 and e30 and I average 39mpg. I haven't had any issues yet and I have about 40k miles on the car. I anticipate better mileage if I increase compression and octane. The higher octane and price are my favorite aspects of ethanol blends. 

Ethanol blends...around 10%...will keep your engine clean but increasing octane will make no performance difference. Increasing the compression is not an inexpensive project on an already 10:5/1 engine with already very small valve to piston TDC clearance, reprogram, sensor issues with VVT, etc...well, you get my drift here.

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The increased octane will allow me to increase compression which I plan to do by adding a turbo. I purchased the 2016 chevy cruz turbo, today, actually. There are a lot of studies that show higher octane and compression lead to better performance. It will be a challenge and I may end up needing a different turbo, but I'm excited. I plan on documenting the journey and will post on this site.

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Spark have turbo here but with Diesel engine, not for gas. I am not sure if that can help you some way.

Just to add, GM have shut their shop for domestic sell so getting direct from GM may be difficult.

 

P.S. Spark was sold as Chevrolet Beat in India.

Edited by ChevyBeat
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We will see how it goes. I'm not concerned about the compression, I will be running high octane. I may have to run lower psi but one step at a time. If 94 octane (e30) is not enough to resist knock at the higher compression, I will run e85. At that point, I  will have to do more fiddling as you mentioned.

 

My car has been running great on e30 now so the additional octane should help the spark cope with the increase in compression.

 

 So far most of the parts I need seem to be adaptable from the cruz and potentially sonic. It's also a wide range of years 2011 to 2016 so I'm hoping there will be more used parts. I'm 120$ into my pockets thus far.

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Depending on what state you're in, ( location will determine availability) I would recommend trying a tank of e15. It is 10 cents cheaper a gallon where I fill up and I get the same mileage after the computer adjusts. 

Edited by LittleBlue!
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On 5/19/2018 at 9:12 PM, Bobby MSME said:

I am using the standard gas from gas stations which says 10% ethanol mix.

My 16 month old 2017 Spark LS with CVT is running very quiet, and while idling, it is hard to hear the engine.  

Yup, me too...I don't think he can use E85 without major engine issues...I'm fairly sure the manual states NOT to use E85.

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