You sound like me from 6 months ago haha. I was doing all of that research too because I wasn't comfortable just pulling the trigger on E30.
My gas mileage probably has dropped, but it hasn't been significant. From here in SD, I generally use about 1/2 a tank driving to LA on 91. With E30, I'm probably burning an extra quarter tank on the same one-way trip. What works for me now is to use E30 whenever I'm around town but then switch back to normal 91 for any longer drives. With the different map slots on the same tune, that's very easy to do.
From what I read, E30 doesn't put additional stress or wear on the fuel pump, filter or injectors. The ECU is pretty good at determining your fuel mixture, so as long as you're close to E30, you're safe. I've read that you don't need to make any changes to your fuel system until you start running E50 mixtures.
In regards to more power, from what I understand, the stock turbo can only handle around ~25lbs which is reachable using 91/93 tunes. E30 helps to keep temps lower and reduce/prevent knock, so the ECU can increase timing. E30 doesn't necessarily mean more boost.
On my AP, I'm always watching boost levels, charge air temps, oil and coolant temps, and then corrections on cylinders 3 and 4. With E30, I've never seen positive correction. With these monitors always on, I feel pretty good about running E30 safely. I've been running it pretty consistently now for about 4ish months.
No harm in knowing as much as possible
I don't think going bigger will have any adverse effects if you're going to stay with stage 1/2. It's just more than you need. You could get
coilovers and corner balance them but it's overkill if all you're doing is getting groceries. It won't hurt, but there's really no need.
I haven't heard of any long term negative effects, but I'm only about 4 months into my experience with the corn juice. Car starts and drives exactly the same, just feels stronger on E30.
![[ridinghorse]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_ridinghorse.gif "Riding Horse [ridinghorse]"){kind=icon}
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