"Regular" unleaded (without ethonal) no longer available here. :(

Here in NSW Australia they've just phased out regular unleaded (without ethanol), so now the choice is premium (without ethanol) or E10.

The regular unleaded that I previously used was just the 87 octane stuff (actually it's called "91 RON" here, but same thing as "87 AKI" in the US see : [ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating"]Octane rating - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]).

Now I'm trying to figure out if I should just use the E10 or whether to switch to the preimum 91 octane stuff (actualy 95 RON = 91 AKI). The premium stuff cost approx 11% more so it's probably a waste of money, but I've never been much of a fan of ethanol blends. Which one to choose ???

 

Yeah I did try a few tanks of E10 once a long time back and it seemed to get fewer MPG. Since then I've just used regular unleaded. The E10 used to be 2% cheaper but it actually cost more when you factored in the fewer MPG.

Now there is no other choice for regular (as E10 is the regular unleaded now). What about the octane rating. I read somewhere here that the higher octane fuel is not good for the prius. Is premium 91 (95 RON) ok to use?

 

Ok, good to know I'm not alone in suffering with this grrr E10 suff.

 

Since I first posted this I've found out that I can still get petrol without ethanol (for now). Several of the larger companies have gone to selling only E10 already, but there's still some independent operators selling it without ethanol.

I was given some misinformation at one petrol station about when the "mandate" was to start. Unfortunately though it has been mandated (by our state government) that by July next year that all regular grade petrol (gas) has to contain 10% ethanol.