15% stuff blue nozzle ?

Dont think Hyundai has approved it, it will come down to how the ox logic takes to it, and you may notice a slight "blah" feel about driving it

I drive a domestic beater, 88 leaves me kinda flat on power

 

"Do not use gasohol containing more than 15% ethanol..."

Page 11 (Section 1-6) of the owners manual that can be found here - https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/servicemanuals/hyundai/2020-sonata.pdf

This states that you can, so I suggest doing it if you would like. It is important to note that ethanol contains less energy than pure gasoline, so using gas with an extra 5% ethanol (compared to the usual E10) will reduce your efficiency by approximately 2%. This implies that the E15 fuel must be at least 2% cheaper than the standard E10 gas for it to be worth it. Additionally you'll also empty your gas tank 2% faster meaning you'll need to stop for gas a smidge more often.

 

I have only seen 88 outside of New England, typically out west. It is the same as E15, which most cars since 2001 have been designed to handle. The Sonata owners manual states that these blends are acceptable, just don't use any fuel with a larger than 15% ethanol content, it is one of the very first things in the manual.

 

I have only seen 88 outside of New England, typically out west. It is the same as E85, which most cars since 2001 have been designed to handle. The Sonata owners manual states that these blends are acceptable, just don't use any fuel with a larger than 15% ethanol content, it is one of the very first things in the manual.

E85 is wayyy different than E15 (the 88 octane stuff that the OP is asking about). Absolutely don't put E85 in your sonata.The difference is that E15/88 octane fuel is 15% ethanol, not much different than the normal 10% ethanol gasoline we all use. Well E85 is 85% ethanol. The sonata is absolutely not approved for that. And that will void your warranty.

 

I don't think I've seen 88 here, at least not yet.
I keep hearing talk of 15% but I haven't come across it in NJ.

 

My understanding is it's usually certain parts of the fuel system that aren't compatible with E85 like rubber hoses, O rings, seals etc.
So I'd bet you may need to have some things replaced, but I doubt an entire engine. My previous car didn't allow E85 and the only reason was a small length of hose. Everything else was 100% compatible if you replaced that small length of hose, something like 6" long you could then safely run E85 in it and many did.
No clue if different programming is necessary.

Fuel injectors and fuel pump(s) wouldn't be out of the question though and they aren't cheap to have done at a dealer or shop.
So yeah, 15% or less and no E85 unless the vehicle specifically says it's ok.

Programming of the ECU is a bit different for E85 because more fuel is required to be injected into the engine. I'm pretty sure Hyundai didn't program this in.

 

I never know what im getting at the pump as far as paying for premuim ethanol free gas for the snow blower.? what i mean is i pull in a gas station where they have 87-89-"92 Premuim" but theres one hose for all 3 to use from so... depending on who used what octane gas last im getting

whatever is in the hose from the last person wich could be anything? adds up to about 2 1/2 liters or more of fuel from the last person before i actually get what i clicked on before it starts flowing out of the pump that im paying for into my jerry can

 

So fill your car and then fill the can

Though my snowblower gets 10% 87 and doesn't care

 

The 88 has started to show up in downstate Illinois.

 

It would seem to me that people are mixing the terms of fuel octane (typically between 85 and 94) and Ethanol Fuel (commonly known as E85).

Octane: Octane rating is the measure of a fuel's ability to resist "knocking" or "pinging" during combustion, caused by the air/fuel mixture detonating prematurely in the engine. In the U.S., unleaded gasoline typically has octane ratings of 87 (regular), 88–90 (midgrade), and 91–94 (premium). Gasoline with an octane rating of 85 is available in some high-elevation areas of the U.S. (quotes from Selecting the Right Octane Fuel (fueleconomy.gov) )

E85: E85 gas (also known as flex fuel) is a high-level combination of ethanol and gasoline that consists of 51 percent to 83 percent ethanol blended with gasoline. (quoted from What Is E85 Gas? Everything You Need to Know (caranddriver.com) Another E85 reference is E85 - Wikipedia

Based on your question, I think you are referring to 88 octane Unleaded fuel, not E85. E85 should only be used in Flex-Fuel capable vehicles. I don't have a Sonata, and I don't know which engines are in them. Understand what engine you have and whether or not it is Flex Fuel capable or not. And always refer to your owner's manual in the Gas/Fuel section. My guess is that Unleaded 88 octane fuel is likely acceptable (but of course, follow the manual). One area of confusion for some, is that normal Unleaded fuel typically has up to 10% Ethanol - E85 may only have 85% ethanol and 15% gas). And as odd as it may sound, Ethanol has a higher octane (approx 109 octane) rating than gasoline. Refer back to these references, I hope they help clarify.

 

U88=E15

Unleaded 88. Look for the Yellow 88 Button! | MNFuels

Unleaded 88, also known as E15, consists of 15% ethanol, and is approved for use in all model year 2001 and newer vehicles. Learn more about biofuels!

www.mnfuels.com

 

"88" typically sports a blue background for the "88" selection, where 87 - 89 - 9x are yellow background with black number

 

I bet my Gen Coupe turbo with a tune would love it. Tuned for 91E10 now.

My FIs are running at 80-85% duty cycle now though in the summer.

 

I have seen 88 octane that has no ethanol, pure gasoline, but not in Iowa!

If you are asking, I assume you are looking at E15. If your car is capable of it, it should say Flex fuel either on the gas cap or on the inside of the fuel door/bay area. Most manufacturers also put a different color of gas cap on - GM's are yellow.

Engines that are flex fuel usually have a special sensor that detects the amount of ethanol in the fuel, it's not just programming. I had an '08 Impala and have an '09 Silverado that are flex fuel - E15 (88) barely changes mpg; E85 my truck runs fine with only a 1.5 mpg loss (E85 is $1 cheaper on average per gallon here) - but a good rule of thumb is, ethanol gets 70% less fuel economy so take that in to consideration on price. Also, E85 does not have enough "heat" to start in winter temps unless reblended for winter (51% or so).

If you don't have a flex fuel don't do it. The 08 Sonata ran incredibly bad on E15 (only got 1/4 tank just in case, added non ethanol in to fix) and while most sources say our 17 Impala should be able to handle E15 but not E85, it won't. We tried a short test run, felt like it was running out of fuel and backfiring.

 

I have seen 88 octane that has no ethanol, pure gasoline, but not in Iowa!

If you are asking, I assume you are looking at E15. If your car is capable of it, it should say Flex fuel either on the gas cap or on the inside of the fuel door/bay area. Most manufacturers also put a different color of gas cap on - GM's are yellow.

Engines that are flex fuel usually have a special sensor that detects the amount of ethanol in the fuel, it's not just programming. I had an '08 Impala and have an '09 Silverado that are flex fuel - E15 (88) barely changes mpg; E85 my truck runs fine with only a 1.5 mpg loss (E85 is $1 cheaper on average per gallon here) - but a good rule of thumb is, ethanol gets 70% less fuel economy so take that in to consideration on price. Also, E85 does not have enough "heat" to start in winter temps unless reblended for winter (51% or so).

If you don't have a flex fuel don't do it. The 08 Sonata ran incredibly bad on E15 (only got 1/4 tank just in case, added non ethanol in to fix) and while most sources say our 17 Impala should be able to handle E15 but not E85, it won't. We tried a short test run, felt like it was running out of fuel and backfiring.

So,
Your owners manuals of the 2008 Sonata and 2017 Impala says they can run E15, but you're saying they both ran terrible on it? Like it was running out of fuel, and backfiring? Two totally different brand cars from 10 years apart.

That seems peculiar doesn't it?

 

around my area gas is still 10% ethanol not an issue as long as the fuel in the vehicle gets routenaly used up. where it can be an issue is on small engines like snowblowers, lawn mowers because small engines sit for a length of time until being used

 

Do you have a Sheetz moving in? They all carry 88.

 

@cj133 no, the Sonata does not say it will (or won't) run E15. The 17 Imp is ambiguous in that it mentions using it in the manual but does not specify whether it's ffv or not and our pumps at Casey's and Kwik Star say "for 2005 or newer". Older GM's will not run over 10% ethanol unlike Fords of the era. The Imp will run but not well on e15, mileage suffers; so I asked our dealer's service people (one of the rare good ones) and he says like the Silverado and the '08 Impala if it's flex fuel it'll have a yellow cap that also states on it flex fuel. They can run e15 but non ffv vehicles will usually read the excess oxygen as the engine running rich and lean the engine accordingly - sometimes making the engine mimic running out of fuel. While ethanol in Iowa is cheaper why deal with that? The Sonata runs fine on E10, and just turned over 200k without a hiccup, and the Imp just turned over 100k while getting 25/34 mpg. Not worried about them.
The Silverado in the family fleet is a damned Active Fuel Management engine, gets 11/14 at best at the moment or 10/12 on E85, so it pays to use E85 at $1/gallon less. The Imp and the Sonata have lost greater than 25% fuel efficiency on E15, not worth saving a dime a gallon even if they ran smooth.