fuel

[DANNY]

I was wondering whats the "shelf life" of racing fuel if its kept inside in a climate controlled enviorment?

[DANNY]

Anyone? Just wondering how long its good for?...

[sj valley dave]

I know I will take shots for this, but we have kept a drum in a shop, out of the sun and weather for a winter and ran it the following season and the plugs do not look any different....I'd use it for a couple of seasons if it was stored properly

[DANNY]

Thanks! Thats what i was looking for... Basically a confirmation on proper storage out of the sun ect and sealed! I have about 16 gal it looks as it did when we filled the drum which has been inside and only in the sun when i moved so not much more then an hour... There was more but i ran some off running the car through heat cycles testing the fan shroud ect...

Hey Dave, did you ever get the email I sent you?

[sj valley dave]

Danny, I did not get one from you...Re send or PM me if you want...

[dynoman14]

Just for fun I have a drum of C-12 that I have kept in my shop for the last 4 years. I dyno it a couple times a year and I have not seen any drop off at all. C-12 does not utiilize Oxygenates to make power and is old school long chain hydrocarbon stuff. Makes great power up to 13:1 and 700hp and 8500 in V-8 stuff.

I don't recommend this with most fuels as the alcohols used for Octane will dissociate and cause fuel break down.

What fuel are you storing?

[Mike Croley]

I was wondering whats the "shelf life" of racing fuel if its kept inside in a climate controlled enviorment?

If the race fuel has no alcohol in it , and is unopened and stored under ideal conditions , it has a shelf life of about a year and a half to 2 years . Once opened , it's about half that number . And if it's been opened and not stored correctly , much less .
But race fuel that's past it's prime can still be used , it just can't give the same performance that it did when it was fresh . What that means is , if your engine actually needs 108 octane and you're using old 110 , it will put you on the line for possible engine damage from detonation but you should be okay . If your engine requires every bit of the 110 , and you're using old 110 , you're likely going to have some expensive issues . Aside from the octane issue , old race fuel won't have the throttle response of fresh fuel .
Race fuel with any type of alcohol or oxygenates in it that's been opened or stored incorrectly has much shorter shelf life . The same is true for methanol .

[DANNY]

So a 50/50 mixture of the old and new would be best?

This is leaded Rocket Red 111 that I have...

[Mike Croley]

Depends on what condition the old fuel is in . It's always best to use 100% fresh race gas of course . But if you're trying to get rid of an older drum , i'd recommend doing it slowly so you won't have any big issues . To be safe , i'd mix 80% new gas with 20% old gas .