effects of ethanol gas on our cars

[luckymchl]

Quick question. Can anyone tell me the negative/positive effect of running E10 gas in our vehicles. I have an 01' 4.0. Sure there are no positives. My 97' Grand Prix GT does not like ethanol gas. MPG went down big time. Assuming its the same and more.

[buck91]

E10 is quite pervasive, pretty much impossible to avoid (at least in my area). Not the best for long term storage and some older carbed engines can suffer gasket/diaphragm/etc damage but shouldn't be an issue in anything FI. Did you mean E85?

[tigger]

^Agreed. Also, ethanol will absorb water. Google "phase separation".

Kind of an unavoidable evil in my area as well, especially if you're looking for 91+ ethanol-free.

[Paulaurora]

but ethanol helps a lot in a winter time.

[luckymchl]

Thank you much for the responses. Where I live, near Albany NY, we have Pit Stop gas stations and they have no ethanol 91. The thing is, it is $4.44 a gallon. How does it affect our MPG's?

[luckymchl]

Meant to say how does E10 affect our MPG and is it worth paying the extra.

[plato442]

Here's and interesting article: www.fuel-testers.com/MPG_gas_efficiency_E10_ethanol.html

There's a Sinclair station that offers ethenol free fuel, and intent to gas up there more often. However I can get it cheaper at the grocery store (.03-.40 cents off /gal) but it had ethanol

[luckymchl]

Great article. It amazes me how our Government tries to push fuel efficient cars onto us, yet provides fuel that decreases our MPG. Sure there are high mileage cars and will accept ethanol, but guess what, my car doesn't as well as a high percentage of drivers in the road. This is greed and corruption at it's best. I read an article a few years ago, which is why I started this thread, saying if we were to pay the extra for non-ethanol gas and retrieve our MPG's back, it would end up being either less expensive or break even. Most people don't think of the cost of repairs due to the ethanol. We live in a money based society where most people look for the lower cost, not realizing the long term cost. Venezuala's gas is like $.18 a gallon. Hope they will let ship my car there, lol.

[plato442]

Yeah that entire website is interesting! They force ethenol down the consumers throat and cheer for the Prius driving down the road, while they sneer at SUVs and V8s. Sorry, I like power. I'll keep my Aurora!!

[emarkay]

See pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html - I am a few blocks from one of these! (+91 Octane only)

[plato442]

Awesome! Found my spot! There's only two places in town and they're both Sinclair stations!

[skatterbrane]

corn farmers! I keep a Prius in the trunk of my 94 Roadmaster instead of a spare tire. -edited. Please do not use creative spelling to get around the language filters.

[human]

Yeah, everything around here has been gas-o-hol for the past couple of years. I had a '97 Cadillac Deville Concours (300hp Northstar under the hood) a few years back and it would get 16-17 mpg in town on the pure gasoline I usually got at BP, but when I'd fill up with cheaper gas-o-hol at Sheetz, it would drop to around 12 or 13 and there was a noticeable difference in performance. The difference in fuel economy was enough to more than cancel out the three or four cents a gallon difference in price on a tankful. In the final analysis, the more expensive BP gas was actually a bit more economical choice when factored out over miles driven. Sadly, the closest place I know to get non-ethanol fuel these days is about 45 minutes away at a little country store just outside of Martinsville, Va. It has it at a couple of pumps off to the side of the building, away from those out front that sell gas-o-hol. They charge about 40 cents a gallon more for it.

As for E10 damaging our cars' fuel system or engine, the odds are pretty remote. There's just not enough alcohol in it to hurt anything. Of course, most gasoline vehicles built in the last eight or ten years have been flex-fuel vehicles designed to burn E85 fuel, not that you can readily find that stuff anywhere very far outside of Kansas and Nebraska. I like the idea of ethanol being a domestically-sourced, renewable energy source but unlike biodiesel, which is a no-brainer for vehicles that can use it, ethanol involves too many trade-offs to make it a truly viable replacement for petroleum in our existing vehicle fleet.

One of the most asinine government moves regarding alternative fuel vehicles has to be the benighted N.C. General Assembly's decision to impose a $100 annual fee on owners of all-electric vehicles like the Tesla, which is supposed to offset the (just about highest in the nation) gasoline tax they aren't paying because their cars use no gas. In other words, North Carolina's mostly Republican politicians regard electric car drivers (believed to be mostly Democrats) as tax cheats.

[plato442]

Sept 27, 2014 11:37:02 GMT -6 human said:

As for E10 damaging our cars' fuel system or engine, the odds are pretty remote.

Is that from your professional testing or your personal opinion?

Give this a read: www.fuel-testers.com/manufacturer_fuel_recommendations_ethanol_e10.html

It DOES have an effect

[sall]

I found a couple local stations that carry it. One that I already knew of but the other is much closer. I will fill up with some here soon and see.

[awehlage]

I've been running ethanol free +91 since I received my Madtuner PCM. It runs me about $.30-$.40 more per gallon. Good news, its .5 miles from my house. Bad news, it's in the opposite direction for going anywhere....such an inconvenience (sarcasm).

I can also get +93 octane w/ 10% ethanol. Only did that once since the pump didn't shut off and gas was spewing everywhere. Now my black walls on the drivers rear tire look like brown walls.

[plato442]

Oct 5, 2014 7:56:52 GMT -6 awehlage said:

I've been running ethanol free +91 since I received my Madtuner PCM.

hows the performance/fuel economy difference now compared to before with stock PCM & poopoo petrol?