Billh2

One station around here sells gas it advertises as "Ethanol Free." I am on my 2nd tank and I have to say, the car runs better with it. So much so that I think it's worth the extra .20 per gallon. I guess the lack of ethanol allows the computer to use the available ignition timing?

Anyone tried this?

raytseng

Wha? You are right, that is a complete guess and doesn't make sense.

Ethanol contains less energy then gas, but isn't prone to predetonation so the timing will be the same, the explosion just will be less powerful. So it will just take more fuel to get the same amount of work.

The difference is academically reported to be about 2-3% in MPG by reliable sources(EPA for example). So do the math to see if it makes sense for you.

However, at the same time, you should note if that station does good business and has good turnover. Having "fresh" fuel meeting top tier standard and detergent additives, even if it is E10 ,maybe better than old 100% gasoline that might be have some water residue or a crappy pump or without additives.

I suggest just get the highly available e10 fuel. This specialty ethanol-free gas is more like if you have a special purpose a boat/ATV/classic car whose fuel system will react poorly to ethano.

Jewcano

iTrader: (4)

From what I've heard is that Ethanol hurts gas mileage. Sure it runs cleaner, but its less efficient.

Billh2

Don't know if I agree with that or not as I have not any research. I have some experience with 1960's HiPerforamce engines and I can tell you most of them have problems with pre-ignition using ethanol gas, even the premium grades without using octane boosters.

My 430 runs better on ethanol free gas than it did buying gas from where I usually get it, which is Costco. They are the highest volume gas seller in this area. It's all academic anyway. Costco's gas used to be ethanol free, now it's not. Ethanol free gas will go the way of the Custom Supreme that Chevron used to sell. (Custom Supreme was 105 octane, the best friend a 427 Ford or Chevrolet owner had. Disappeared in the mid 1970's )

raytseng

Ethanol has a higher resistance to pre-ignition, so is potentially better for high compression.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol...-based_engines

That is why many race cars like dragsters are alcohol (methanol) powered rather then gasoline.

However, the refineries mix the fuel to get the same octane rating so despite this potential, it should turn out to the same octane rating that is on the label.

It's as if you took black+white to get grey, or you took some less black and off-white to come out to the same grey..

If you were getting pre-ignition that is more likely a result of the station's exact mix not resulting in the right octane or something about the additives that didn't work with your car.
Using Costco gas as a representative for fuel is like comparing an apple not to an orange but a discount orange. Costco just takes whatever leftover fuel they can get at the lowest price and dump that mix into their tanks.

If you get E10 fuel from a toptier station that by itself might have some noticeable differences compared to E10 from costco. (I notice it in my car).

So the differences you got in your engine could be more attributable to the additives and station more than the gas having E10. Heck, if you go across state lines and get California versus Nevada formulation your car might react differently just due to additive differences.

All that being said, if you have a classic car, as mentioned, I do not doubt that your car can be picky and you should just go out and find specific fuel for it and it may react differently to different fuels.

Our 2GS is a normal modern car though, and should not have any large reaction from strictly E10.

lexybaby77

great discussion guys. thanks for the info.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

With ethanol, it requires "more" to burn. Meaning you will get less MPG than usual. I would prefer no ethanol, but in CA, most gas station has 10% ethanol.

Billh2

Costco is by far not the worst, at least around here. We had to completely stop using Arco gas as the water content seemed to be quite high. (that and the fact that they charge .45 extra to use a debit card). The big problem with ethanol is alcohol absorbs water which is bad news.

Way more race car use gasoline than use alcohol. Alcohol class dragsters and funny cars are an off shoot of Top Fuel and Funny Car. The reason T/F and T/C use alcohol is Nitro Methane becomes explosive when mixed with gasoline.

The fact of the matter is we are stuck with ethanol. I have used brand name, Chevron and Texaco gas in my car and never noticed any difference. When I tried Ethanol free, my car ran a lot better

Billh2

I have been using ethanol free gas for about 4 months. I thought the car ran better with it but I always felt that that was subjective. Since it costs 5 cents a gallon more, I didn't have any real way to measure the difference. We took little vacation last week. Filled up at home, non-ethanol gas, drove 266 miles, got 24 MPG. Filled up with what was available, which was 10% ethanol. Drove another 200 or so miles, filled up again and drove home, another 266 miles. Exact same route, same speed. The mileage home was 22, the only difference was the ethanol added gas.

Using non-ethanol gas increases fuel economy by 2 MPG. The car still feels like it has a lot more power with the ethanol free gas.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Thats cool ur state doesnt require gas stations to have enthanol blend by 15% like Californians do. They just recently bumped it to 15%. Enthanol is a cheaper alternative for the state so they can save some money. Sooner or later corn will be gone lol.

Rock-a-Lex

iTrader: (4)

Exactly, now they are effecting the crop market. All for the states to save money (eventhough it will COST them in the long run). All while it is WORSE for our cars and gas mileage! It was a terrible decision IMHO.

cschroder

ethanol is a scam propagated on us by "corn belt states". stupid government.

mileage is 10% better with 100%gas vs 10% blend. Also ethanol eats rubber parts and attracts water. That is why ethanol is not recommended for use in watercraft.

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Thats true. Ethanol eats rubber.

Imagine how many acres of corn they have to sacrafice for our full tank of gas