Fuel Differences

Aquia185

Aquia185

New Member
Nov 5, 2006
311
Stafford, VA
Hey All... I'm new to boating so I apologize for the newbie type of question.

I hear talk about there being marine grade gas but I have no clue as to how that compares to regular gas. With my 185 Sport I will obviously have the option to pull my boat into a regular gas station and fillup there versus paying the much higher cost at a marina. Is this a bad idea? Thanks in advance...
 
Not a bad question at all Greg. I am not sure I have heard about about marine grade gas? We fill up each time we are on our way back from the lake at a regular gas station. I put 93 in just because if it sits for a couple of weeks I feel better about not losing octane. The only time I fill up on the water is when we are staying for a couple of days and I do not want to pull the boat out of the water. Maybe others will chime in on this Marine Grade gas you mention :smt017

Wesley
 
Eric what you do on your personal time is none of our business...ok you got me. :thumbsup:

Wesley
 
There is such a thing as marine gasoline although it is not what you think. Some marinas such as Jacobson's in Frankfort, Michigan sell fuel that is treated with Valvtech and other additives that are said to enhance performance of marine engines. Really, they are added more to protect valves and keep gasoline from becoming stale than to boost HP. The gasoline starts out as regular gasoline and the marina dumps the additives into its tank prior to the fillup, and it is now "marine" gasoline. After that the tanker goes across the street to fill up gas station tanks with regular gasoline. Some marinas do not do this and you are buying regular gas at the marine price. Some marinas buy 93 octane because customer bases are comprised of lots of go fast boats. If you have a regular boat such as mine with standard 8.1 crusaders, you should use regular gas. Crusader recommends you not add 93 octane and claims this can actually cause problems. If you live in Chicago, Milwaukee, the New York City area and other metro parts of the country with pollution problems you get E10 fuels. These can have 87 octane, 93 octane with or without Valvetech types of additives.
For a given market, most fuels come from one or two pipelines. The high octane fuels can come from the same pipe with only a dye marker to differentiate high test from regular,etc. So it really depends on where you live and where you buy your fuel. E10 can also be available in low pollution markets because the stations that sell it get tax credits that boost their bottom lines. In Michigan, we have the best of all worlds. No E10 unless you want to buy it plus your choice of plan old regular fuel or high test.
 
Many marinas also only seel mid-grade (89 octane around here), for some reason that I don't understand (I'm guessing they get it for the same price as regular, but get to charge a quarter a gllaon more for it).

Beyond the additives, I always figured that's what marine gas was - overpriced 89 octane.
 
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