Will re-formulated gas ruin my rebuild plans?
 

Starting within the next year only re-formulated gas will be sold in the area that I live in.

What does this mean for my plans of doing an engine rebuild in the future? Will only having reformulated gas limit what kind engine I can build and use?

I have heard that re-formulated gas yields worse than normal fuel economy, what other kind of drawbacks can I expect from using it in my car? I dont want to start on a engine that needs twin ignition in order to be able to run on conventional gas, if the re-formulated gas that I will be forced to use in the near future doesnt perform the same way.

Any help is appreciated

What octane is it?

-Wayne

I dont know yet what the octane rating is going to be. Our regular gas is available up to 93 currently, I dont know if they plan to change that with the re-formulated stuff. Is there anything else to be concerned about other than the octane rating of the gas?

Shuie:

Generally speaking, reformulated gasolines have been in the 91 octane range due to the extra oxygenates added and since MTBE is being phased out by the EPA, I would not expect anything more.

Three main issues about reformulated fuels:

1) Reduced fuel economy (less BTU's per gallon)

2) Reduced octane. Many factors here that affect how this will affect your car; compression ratio, camshaft profiles, and bore size are but a few.

3) Early failures of elastomers in the fuel system. Viton is the only compound that is impervious to the various compounds used in today's unleaded fuels. The use of reformulated varieties will require more frequent replacement of fuel lines and O-rings than what is currently done.

Cars with Engine Management (Motronic and such) can be tuned for these fuels, but a carbureted or MFI'ed car will need some mixture changes.

Thanks guys