Here in good ole NY we have to run the ole ethanol crap with exception of a few stations that are 40+ miles from here. I have a close friend who is willing to go with me to his hanger and fill up a 55 gallon drum of plane gas so i can get around the ethanol and being leaded gas i will not have to buy additive either. How many on here are running the leaded plane gas, was it worth the extra money per gallon and how much tuning to the carb/ignition system needed to be done to run with the higher octane? My friend was telling me he buys 102 octane leaded at the airport which is what i will be getting too and of course much higher than the 91 octane i have been running. How is the power difference?
The general consensus is that running AVGas is not harmful in a car without a catalytic converter. Avgas is fairly similar to automotive gasoline except that it has a pretty high amount of lead (much more than what our cars saw before the mid 70's) and it has a lower volatility (rate at which gasoline turns to vapor). The lower volatility is because a fair amount of small aircraft use gravity feed fuel systems and vapor lock would result in a very bad day. Avgas also lasts much longer than automotive gasoline meaning you could store a 55 gallon drum and not worry about it varnishing as quickly. Its probably about $6 per gallon or more. Don't get caught running it in your car, there are no road taxes on Avgas so Uncle Sam would be pretty upset if you were caught driving around with a tank full. So in short the only downside I can think of is you might lead foul plugs, which could be combated by running hotter plugs, and if you are running points it might take a few more pumps of the pedal on a cold start to ignite the avgas mix. Can't speak from experience since I have never done it but those are the facts. I am sure most board members would agree in saying there are no major concerns
I was not aware of the tax problem, but as far as i am concerned NY collects enough taxes on me anyway. My car already has been converted to Mallory electronic ignition and has a new 600cfm Edlebrock carb, cannot remember what plugs it has in it right now but i want to say NGK's, will have to check. Sounds like i will be making a trip to the airport here in a couple weeks once my funds allow it. After paint i will start driving it again, now looking forward to better gas if it is not an issue. Thanks for the response.
