Gas additive

Power/Fuel
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1

I live in Michigan.

I am going for a long vacation to Italy (just one month!!) to enjoy “orecchiette”.

I am thinking to add additive to the gas of my two cars, like the additive to make the mower start easily.

Is it a good idea???

2

I am talking of a fuel stabilizer

3

It’s probably not necessary for just one month, but it won’t do any harm.

4 
I would not bother for just a month.  The stuff you get at the gas station may be over a month old.
5

A fuel stabilizer is totally unnecessary for any time period less than a year.

6

I’ve heard that more than 6 months idle time indicates using fuel stabilizer.

7

if you are worried pump in some preimum gas the higher octane will only help

8

Hogwash

9

if you are worried pump in some preimum gas the higher octane will only help

Hogwash

This is a totally unscientific observation.

I worked on lawnmowers and snowblowers for years and when I started, some of my coworkers said that premium fuel would last longer before it turned stale or to sludge. After cleaning out many carburetors where the fuel was left in the machine during the ‘off’ season and then asking customers what kind of fuels they used, my observations seemed to support jtsanders’ above assertion - premium fuels did go longer before turning stale or to sludge.

Again, totally unscientific.

10

Wow… who puts premium in their lawnmower?

11

Okay, you want science, then let’s talk science.

Octane rating refers to a fuels ability to resist flashing from heat, as in heat of compression. Higher octane will take a higher heat before it flashes, lower octane will flash at a lower heat. This heat that causes the flash is the result of compressing the air/fuel mixture, therefore the higher octane has the indirect result of being able to resist flashing in higher compression engines.

THAT is what octane rating is for.

Scientifically speaking, this does not mention in any way any ability to stabilizing the fuel over any period of time.

Now then, on to your scientific survey of your customers and their use of various fuels. You have some anecdotal evidence from some people that believe that “premium” (I’ll assume you mean that “premium” and “high octane” are the same thing) fuel will go longer without turning stale or sludging. Anecdotal evidence isn’t scientific in any way.

Bottom line: the OP suggests that higher octane will keep the fuel from going stale better than lower octane will. There just isn’t any reason to accept this statement as factual.

12

100% correct. In the old days, premium fuel frequently had more detergents in its additive package in addition to the higher octane rating. This is no longer true.