Wondering if anyone uses ethanol/gasahol in their sleds? Did it make any diffference?

My ZR kind of runs like shat on Mohawk and Husky gas. I dunno, I guess if you run it for a while on it the engine will get used to it.

not recommended according to my manual. explicitly "voids" the warranty. i'm no mechanic, but was told that it burns a little more hot/dry than regular fuel. just stick to 87 regular unless your manual says otherwise

I always run premium in a 2 stroke. Just gives you that buffer if you get a bad load of fuel in bumfuck nowhere...

How do u guys feel about running octane boost when using a lower grade fuel???

Octane boost is a waste of money,
It does not boost octane levels- it boosts it by points. IE- boost container says it will boost it 7 points. So you would think it boosts it from say 87 to 94 octane. WRONG. it boosts it in points- IE 87 goes from 87 to 87.7 < Thus a points system rather than a level system. Save your money.

I've read quite a few places that a 2 stroke engine (possibly 4 stroke as well, but I don't know) will make the most HP and run the most efficiently when using the lowest octane possible without det or backfire. I ran premium for a while but definitely didn't notice any gains, if anything there seemed to be losses. My manual specifies 87 I believe, and it runs just fine with that. Up here, I would imagine the same would go just about anywhere, there is a much faster turnaround on regular than there is on premium at the gas station, so the "premium" sits around in the tanks longer and loses octane and gets stale. I've never run ethanol-blend through the machine, although with the efi, there is a plug to pull on the cdi when using any oxygenated fuel, which changes the timing I believe (retarding?).

The reason for losing power on the higher octane fuel when running an engine not set up for it is that octane is a measure of the fuel's resistance to, basically, burning; higher octane is a higher burning point. so an engine with higher compression and more timing might detonate with lower octane fuel, but will not with higher octane because the higher octane fuel can withstand the higher cylinder pressures without autoigniting. an engine set up for lower octane fuel running high octane fuel will not make as much power because the fuel is burning slower, resulting in lower cylinder pressures.

oxygenated fuels have a higher octane rating, but also need to be run at a different ratio for proper burn than gasoline; i think gasoline's stoichometric ratio is 13:1 (not positive, but it's somewhere around there) so oxygenated fuels (depending on which one you're running) would be maybe around 12:1 or so. pulling that plug may change both timing and mixture, but it probably advances the timing to take advantage of that higher octane and the higher resulting cylinder pressures you can run. to take proper advantage of oxygenated fuels you pretty much need to raise your compression ratio, rejet, and probably get a different ignition curve, although with the higher compression you may not need to do much with your timing at all.

this is how i understand the issues related to ethanol/methanol etc., hope it sheds some light (and is mostly right!)

tony, you working this weekend? shawn and i were talking about maybe going for a rip, give me a call.

I always wondered about Octane Boosting, Good to know Thanks!

Not working, so yeah, I'm going out for sure. Glynn was saying that he might be trying out that new genesis, or just grabbing one of his other machines, depending on how much dicking around on setup he wanted to do.

Saturday around noon good? Cyndi's got a Mary Kay spa-thing in the morning.

I've run Husky ethanol blended fuel in my 2000 MXZ's since they were new. Actually raced them for a couple of years on it. One sled has 10,000 km on it & the other now has 14,000km. Both still running strong. The octane is higher than regular gas for the same price- 90 I believe. I've never iced up because the ethanol is a natural gas line antifreeze. Because of habit I continue to check my carbs each fall, but they are squeaky clean, and I don't use stabilizer in the spring. Was looking at an 07 SDI & asked my dealer about burning ethanol. He actually phoned someone at BRP & they actually recommended using a 10% ethanol blend. Go figure! They told him some older sleds initially have trouble because of water in the sleds gas tank. Apparently ethanol does not like water. They also said that if the sleds tank was dirty it could also cause problems because the ethanol acts as a detergent & cleans the tank & lines & it could plug the filter. Anyway, that's been my experience.
Anyone see the 08 spy pictures. 35 lbs lighter-800R engine bugs worked out- Maybe SDI-Do I hear spring booking?

sounds good, afternoon riding allows for sleeping in...

i guess as far as running blends go, 10% would probably not make enough of a difference to notice much power loss or cause problems, especially cause most sleds come jetted a little rich. i stay away from it out of habit cause my honda ran like shat on it when it got hot outside....interesting that they'd recommend it though considering some say it will void your warranty, again probably only if you're running E-85 or something a little more extreme like that. i say gas that makes you go is good gas.

WATCH YOUR NEEDLE AND SEATS!!!

One year my dad went ethanol crazy, he was putting ethanol gas in everything!!! Then a few months later, all the needle and seats needed to be replaced, or cleaned.

Boat... had to be cleaned, was just cleaned a few months prior.
Snowblower... had to be replaced
Dirtbike... had to be replaced, and was new to begin with.
Lawnmower... had to be cleaned

Also your fuel mileage decreases using ethanol blended gas.

I use regular gas in my sled with a drop of lime!

Polaris manual states using 87 octane non-oxygenated or 89 octane oxygenated minimum requirement fuels.

Your right about the points system you just have to be careful what brand you buy. Most of them only boost the octane by 1 at the most (10 points) but there are a few that boost it more. I picked up some NOS SUV formula to carry when I'm not sure if I can get premium. It states it will increase the ocatne level by 5 (50 points). They also have a racing formula that boosts it by 70 points but it says it's not street legal. You can get it at Canadian Tire.

Hey froesen
You're right, a 10% blend on sleds that come jetted rich from the factory would cause no problem and would probably be about equivalent to dropping down not even 1 jet size. As far as a power loss, I notice the opposite. I seem to have a little more power- due to the octane? not sure. You had me wondering about the warranty, so I checked my operators manual.
"""Use regular unleaded gasoline, available from most service stations or gasohol containing less then 10% of ethanol or methanol. The fuel used must have an octane number of 87 or higher"""
This is from my 2000 sled though, maybe the newer sleds state something different?
One thing I do stay away from when riding is premium fuel. Usually have to fill up in a pretty remote spot that doesn't move a lot of fuel. The premium has usually been sitting in the tank for a long time. Nothing worse than stale dirty fuel for your carbs.
I wonder if BRP is recommending use because of the emissions benefit also? I think I heard a 30% emissions drop with a 10% ethanol blended fuel.

Does that mean at least 87 regular gas & at least 89 ethanol blend? I think Huskys blended fuel is a 90 octane.

i ran mohawk fuel all the timein my ZR neverhad a problem with it in there only time i had problems when i ran normal mid grade.....

We have Mohawk here and their minimum is 89 octane with their blend of ethanol.90 would be alright if your particular manufacturer's owner's manual states ethanol is safe to use in your machine.I found that some oxygenated fuels would eat away at the seals of the needle and seats if left for prolonged time inside the carb as Ethanol seemed to be very aggressive.You also have to be jetted properly and watch your plugs to see what's going on in your engine.I used to run it every 3rd or 4th top up.Kind of a buyer beware thing.