It’s a good thing that you are interested in what gas to use in your snowmobile. If you use a bad gas or a bad mix, your engine could get damaged and you will hear it and you can feel it’s agony. Just take a close look at the video below to see what I’m talking about.
There are many types of gas, depending on the octane rating number. Most people will pour anything in, but some snowmobiles are very sensitive to bad gas. I always advise getting gas only from popular gas stations. This advice is valid for both cars and snowmobiles.
I will give you a short answer and then develop the story:
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- Most new snowmobiles will be better with an 87 octane rating Gasoline
- Some new snowmobile may also use 92 octane rating, but most often, the engine technology makes the engine be affected (in a negative way) by higher combustion.
- Older snowmobiles, especially the sports ones which do require more performance will need a premium fuel with at least 92 octane rating
- Most new snowmobiles will be better with an 87 octane rating Gasoline
There are a lot of different opinions on this subject and many are controversial. I researched this subject quite a bit and based on many people’s experiences and results I will present the conclusions in this article.
As with other subjects like gas vs diesel cars, many people are very subjective. Usually, the people will recommend what fuel they put in, and while some are lucky and don’t run into problems with bad fuel, some of them had bad engine problems.
Some people say you should be pretty safe with any gas, but I say that you must know what type of snowmobile you have and read the owners manual.
My advice
My first advice is to look in your snowmobile owners manual and check if there is a section about the fuel. Most snowmobiles manuals have this section in which the manufacturer suggests using a type of gas. If you can not find it I recommend asking the community or the manufacturer, they usually have a website or a phone number where you can call and ask.
If you read the owners manual and there is stated to use “minimum of 87 gasoline”, then put 87 gasoline and you will be fine. You will also have some extra money in your pocket too. There are no advantages that the higher octane fuel will bring to your ride experience and you will also have to pay more for it. If the 87 gasoline is suggested in the owners manual it means the snowmobile manufacturer tested it and it works well for your engine.
There can be different values in the owners manual. Some owner manuals can suggest using a minimum of 91 octane number for your sled. Actually, I do know that Ski Doo 800HO owner manual suggest a minimum of 91. But, on Arctic Cat ZR600 & ZL580 models the manufacturer recommends using the 87 octane gasoline. So put 87 in your gas tank and ride safely.
Types of gas for snowmobiles
Usually, there are three types of gasoline you could put in your snowmobile and that brings the following question: which gas type to use? Well, it depends on your snowmobile engine type (2 strokes vs 4 strokes), your snowmobile technology (we can look at the year when it was produced) and the engine specs.
Manufacturers usually recommend the fuel grade, but with the new engines, there are computers and systems that minimize the damaging effect of the bad gas. Modern engines have computers with different sensors that can detect bad strokes and adjust the injection, air and fuel values in order to prevent them.
Adjusting the fuel/air ratio that goes into the engine in real time, most snowmobiles engines will be safe using different types of gas. Also, the ignition timing is adjusted based on these sensors in order to prevent engine knocks.
On newer snowmobiles, you can even put higher grade fuel and it will still run fine, but I don’t suggest it. I heard that some sleds were equipped with a switch that allowed a rider to set the ignition timing based on the fuel, while I didn’t see this in reality, it may be useful.
So, poor quality fuel doesn’t represent a big problem in newer engines. But if you want to prolong the engine life expectancy, I would read the rest of the article and apply the summer storage tips.
Don’t just choose high octane fuels because it won’t make you the fastest rider on the track. If your engine was calibrated for an 87 octane rating, the power will not (really) increase when using a 91 or 93 fuel.
What is octane doing?
Putting in fuel with a higher octane rating will not make your snowmobile run faster or better if it wasn’t designed for 
it. The octane rating is not telling you how much power your sled will develop or how fast the fuel burns.
The actual meaning of the octane level is to tell you what is the fuel’s detonation resistance. It is also known as knock control. This detonation must be kept under control, otherwise, your engine will get damaged. That’s why I don’t suggest using higher octane in your sled if the owners manual doesn’t suggest it. Especially in older snowmobiles where computers (Engine Control Units) aren’t that advanced.
Premium vs Normal
Running regular ethanol-free gas is probably the best way to go with a two-stroke engine. Be aware that ethanol is
the worst enemy for two-stroke engines.
The main difference between premium gas and regular gasoline is that premium gas has a higher octane level. If your snowmobile is designed to run with 87 octane gasoline you are better off with regular gasoline.
The octane level is simply the fuel’s detonation resistance. The modern snowmobiles include various computers and sensors to prevent the engine knock caused by incorrect timing.
What to choose?
Sticking to the manufacturer recommendation is the right thing to do. Snowmobiles with a premium fuel recommendation can run normally on lower-octane fuel, but you won’t realize the snowmobile’s full potential without the higher-octane fuel.
If your snowmobile’s engine knocks no matter what fuel you put in, there is a mechanical problem. Regular knocking can lead to serious damage to the engine. If you don’t go to a mechanic soon it can lead to a “too expensive to repair” problem and you may be forced to replace the engine. Any knocking or noises coming from the engine suggest it’s time for a visit to the mechanic.
Higher Octane Doesn’t Mean Better Performance
Higher octane doesn’t always give better performance. Performance depends on the engine’s technology, in addition to a number of other under-the-hood factors.
Using higher octane gasoline will not help clean your engine. The premium gas may have additives but it’s not advised to use it because of the higher octane level. (Unless your owners manual suggest using it).
Ethanol
Oxygenated Fuel
I have a friend who lost two pistons in both dirtbike and snowmobile. If you are not an avid fan of horsepower I would try to skip the ethanol if possible. Most pumps have gas with 10% ethanol and while some engine can resist them giving an extra boost of power and speed, some of the engines are sensitive.
Both the engine and fuel system could get affected by ethanol use. Some engines are stronger/more resistant than others. Always consult your owner manual to see what they recommend. If they do mention about ethanol free gasoline you should probably find a pump without ethanol in order to be safe.
The goods about ethanol
While ethanol reduces economy (among other arguments) it does actually increase HP. Most of the snowmobiles riders agree that it’s ok to use a 10% ethanol, but not for 2 strokes engines. Also, they suggest to burn it quickly otherwise it will begin to separate from the gas. If you want to use ethanol, I suggest burning that fuel in a week, maximum two.
And please: do not store your snowmobile with ethanol fuel in! Your snowmobile engine will get damaged and you will run into serious problems when trying to start in after a while.
If you don’t believe me, just take a glass or jar and blend ethanol with gas, or just put in gas from the pump station with 10% ethanol. You can observe that after a few days it will begin to separate. That’s exactly what happens in your gas tank.
How to prevent ethanol damage?
There are some studies that prove ethanol can be bad for engines. Open fuel systems tend to be more sensitive to ethanol usage.
Should you use additives?
I suggest adding additives to your gas tank if your snowmobile doesn’t move for a week or more. They prevent “water phase separation” problem that ethanol causes. The main use of additives is to compensate for the ethanol.
Stabil – the Blue one, Star*Tron don’t use alcohol in their composition, so they are the recommended ones.
There are also some additives that prevent corrosion, I haven’t tried them, but you can mix gasoline with an additive every 1000 miles or so. It wouldn’t hurt.
Take a look at this one on Amazon. It has almost 5 perfect stars and with so many reviews it must be good for something. The advantages they present:
- Rejuvenate & Stabilize Old Gasoline
- Cure Ethanol Problems
- Improve MPG
- Reduce Emissions
- Increase Horsepower
Additives are not a must, especially if you use high-quality fuel, but it won’t do any bad once in a while.
Snowmobile Gasoline: 87 vs 92
87 octane gasoline is often fine for your sled. As explained before, I would look for owners manual to see the recommended version and use that one. 91 is recommended on most newer 2 strokes engines.
Can I use the 92? Will it improve the performance?
Many people think that if they use 92 or 93 gasoline that will give them a boost in performance. I remember that Snow-Tech magazine published an article a few years ago saying that if your snowmobile was designed for 87 gasoline (you can check in the owners manual) it will develop more power using than using the 92 or higher octane gasoline. The reason is that the engine is calibrated to use the 87 one.
What’s premium about?
The premium gasoline may contain additives which may give you an impression that the sled is running better, but it will develop less HP. They suggested that the only reason to use premium gas is if you have a high compression engine that will detonate when using regular gasoline.
On the other hand, if your owners manual or specs suggest using 92 or higher please do so. Saving a couple bucks on the gas using regular 87 one can get you into much bigger problems.
I run regularly in my stock sleds and premium in my high compression overbore shaved head sleds. I would use regular gasoline in them too, but they did detonate or ‘knock’ when I tried it.
Performance
Usually, you will get the best performance using the gasoline with octane level suggested by the manufacturer. I suggest checking the owners manual and put that in your gas tank.
Price
The premium gasoline is more expensive, that’s why I don’t suggest using it if your snowmobile doesn’t require that type. But if your snowmobile does require 93 octane premium use that without questions.
The best type of gas? Non-ethanol? Regular?
Most people will choose non-ethanol gas if available. While ethanol/E-10 can give you a boost in power, it may shorten the life expectancy of some engines. Also, storing your snowmobile with ethanol gas in and without using additives will likely kill your sled.
I would only use gas from popular gas stations to be safe.
Is adding oil to your fuel good?
I thought about putting this info here, in this article, but definitely deserves a separate article explaining more about oil use and oil injection in snowmobiles.
Older snowmobiles didn’t come with oil injection. So many people add oil to the gas in order to help cylinders and pistons lubrication. There are cases when gasoline is washing the oil on your pistons which may cause a lot of smoke and pistons damage.
Most snowmobile riders suggest that a ratio between 30:1 to 55:1 is considered to be safe.
Snowmobile Storage Tips
When the vacation is over or summer is coming you may want to make sure that your snowmobile will run well when you need it again. That leads to some storage fuel tips.
You may get lucky, it may start right up. But there are people that ran into real problems starting their snowmobile after the summer is gone. Most of the problems are either battery or fuel ones. Bad gas stored in your snowmobile could really affect it.
Gasoline has also elements in his composition that evaporate or contaminates when sitting for too long. Your car or truck is not that sensitive to this as they have big engines and have a lot more technology to compensate bad fuel. But the fuel does break down when sitting too long.
The thing that I recommend is a summer storage routine. If you want to see how to clean your gas tank you can check my other article which explains this in a bottom section: How big is my gas tank?
Short story:
- The one way you could approach it is to drain all your fuel out of your tank, siphon it out and put it in a container, run it and make sure all of it it’s gone.
- The other solution is to put a fuel stabilizer in. You will find this solution quite controversial, as many people might disconsider it.
Check this video to see the lazy method of getting your snowmobile ready for storage:
Out of gas?
Consider getting a gas can for your snowmobile. This way, you will always be ready for the next ride. Read this article to see what are the best gas cans.