I've tried both in all my Hondas. Everyone of them run better on ethanol free. So that's what I stick with as much as possible.
Completely anecdotal.
I have tried 87, 91 octane E10 and 91 octane E0 in my Talon. E10/87 runs the best and coolest of them all so that is what I stick with. And of course, this is also completely anecdotal too. BUT, here are some testing and facts that back this up...
I have a PV3 with a wideband and the logs from hard runs at the dunes show that...
91/E0 runs a little too rich and cause a slight power loss for me at my altitude.
91/E0 tends to run a little hotter.
91/E10 AFR is good and runs just fine but there is no perceivable difference in the way it runs.
87/E10 AFR is about right for my liking.
Using non-oxygenated fuels (like E0) will cause the Talon to run slight richer than intended and may cause a slight loss of power. Ethanol also runs cooler so E10 tends to run cooler.
Here are some reasons...
The Talon is designed/tuned to run on E10/86. E10 fuel is "oxygenated" meaning it has more oxygen content. Because the Talon is "open loop" (except for idle) and uses fuel tables for A/F mixture (NOT the O2 sensor like most modern cars). It only uses the O2 for idle and does not utilize a knock sensor. The Talon's EFI and Spark are not very sophisticated at all, nothing like a modern car, more like a glorified carburetor. Hate to say it but the Talon's engine controls are pretty archaic. With those basic controls come limited engine management.
There is also some very misleading info that makes some believe that E10 has 30% less power. But the fact is that Ethanol has 30% less power that gasoline but at a 10% mixture E10 has a 3% less energy coefficient. IF the Talon used a full fuel feedback, E0 would produce more power but because it uses static fuel and timing maps tuned to E10/86. The Talon can't adjust for the difference in E0/91 so you don't get any more power and in some cases (like my altitude) end up losing a little power.
If you get a PV3 and make your own maps based on E0/91 at your altitude, you "might" be able to squeeze 3 or 4 HP out of the machine but you really need a dyno to get close then street tune it from there. Pretty expensive for a few HP.
Because the timing maps are static, anything over 86 octane in a stock (non-turbo) Talon is a waste of money. The stock engine/tune cannot make use of the slower burning higher octane fuel and may even cause a slight power loss because higher octane fuel burns slower and causes the combustion explosion to last longer but be less volatile to avoid knocking. Unless the engine and tune can utilize the slower burn, it costs money to run anything over 86 octane and can sometimes lead to less power.
You will see me say one thing over and over because I cannot stress this enough. Use only Top Tier fuel in your vehicles. You will pay a couple cents per gallon more but you will save on repairs and additional additives are not necessary. Top Tier fuels have additional additives in them to combat fuel/ethanol separation and fight corrosion, other fuels may not.
