Real Gasoline, not Ethanol

I have years of careful records using 10% ethanol blends for our 3 cars. I have 7+ months of careful records for our 3 cars, after switching to 100% ethanol-free gasoline. Like you, my records include our colder Washington state winter.

 

The corn/ Agra lobby is strong. Adm that developed it in Decatur,Illinois is a major player and e10 is here to stay good or bad, wanted or not. Drive along the interstate in corn country and look at the gasahol plants.

 

The 9.8% difference being higher than anticipated is probably attributable to a couple factors:

1) The ethanol numbers were collected October thru November. Though the weather isn't too bad here until about January, there was probably a few frosty mornings that necessitated ten minutes or so of warm-up.
2) We've had construction going on since summer of last year on the only route to the city. The cut-and-fill construction phases last year were far more disruptive than the current phase, so that could well figure into the numbers, too.

That's why I'd like to do a more deliberate test on this road trip. But I'll have to try to use up close to 300 miles worth of gas before we head out Friday--or maybe just start tracking it from part-way through.

 

Originally Posted by litesong
I don't get your 9.8% increase in mpg using 100% ethanol-free gasoline, but 2 of our 3 cars, set their all time highest mpg within 3 weeks of switching to 100% gasoline. Also, those cars are getting 7-8% & 8+% better mpg. Our 3rd car gets 6% better mpg using 100% pure gasoline.
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ralleia wrote:

The 9.8% difference being higher than anticipated is probably attributable to a couple factors:
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litesong wrote:
Let your data run its own direction. Don't worry about the results. Anticipate nothing. My own data has increased during the last 2 or 3 months. Maybe we'll bump in the middle. Maybe we'll diverge.

But ain't we having fun!

 

We certainly are!

And conducting these little experiments helps achieve a more complete understanding of how to get the best use of our tools and resources.

It warms the cockles of my geeky heart.

 

Just to follow up, my attempt to do an experiment on 100% gas versus E10 for my trip to Tennessee and back was a total bust.

As soon as I got out of my local area the gas stations didn't explicitly label their gas.

In Nebraska, I know that if I am buying the 89 octane, then I am getting E-10. The 87 is 100% gas.

Out of Nebraska there was just a nebulous "may contain up to 10% ethanol" on all the pumps. Even when I went inside to question the humans, no one could tell me explicitly what was coming out of the pumps. I gave up in disgust after the fourth nebulous fill-up.

Back to the drawing board once I recover from the road trip.

 

That is why you need pure-gas.org. Repeating one of my posts on this thread:
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Go to pure-gas.org to find the addresses of the minority of 5100+ (now 5200+) stations(10 in every 350) & details, still selling 100% ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. & Canada. There is also a great zoomable map showing the stations. The greatest density of stations is in the Southeast U.S., with a smaller concentration west of the Great Lakes.

Ethanol engines has much higher compression ratios than gasoline engines, to take advantage of the high octane rating of ethanol. Ethanol in a for-gasoline designed engine doesn't get its full efficiency(duh!).

......... 2 of our 3 cars, set their all time highest mpg within 3 weeks of switching to 100% gasoline. Also, those cars are getting 7-8% & 8+% better mpg. Our 3rd car gets 6% better mpg using 100% pure gasoline.

Also, all 3 car engines run smoother(1 engine manually shifts much better than with ethanol), quieter, & less downshifting is needed ascending hills.

Yes, leave the ethanol for ethanol engines. Better yet, leave the ethanol in the crops so poor people can eat, instead of seeing their food fed to engines.

 

Sorry, I've been away for a while.

Yes, the E10 that's available at every gas station where I live is $1.00+ per gallon cheaper than the one gas station that sells non-ethanol gas. Currently about the cheapest I can find here is $3.79/gal., and most stations are around $3.85/gal. and up to about $3.93/gal. in my local area. The non-ethanol E0 gas is currently listed at $4.75/gal.

I can't say whether the pricing on 85 is crazy or not, but it is about $0.30-40 more expensive than the same gas in some other states where I have family.

You're correct that 87 octane is the standard for regular gas in the U.S., but here in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains at 1 mile high, it's 85 octane. 87 octane here is the mid-grade, and 91 is the high octane premium gas. You have to go to lower altitudes to get the more typical 87, 89, 93 octane varieties.

 

Wow, then I'd be using E10 for sure under those circumstances. Non ethanol fuel is better, but yeah, there's no way you're gonna make up for the 25 to 30 percent price difference.

Around here E10 is only 1.5 to 2 percent cheaper, so it's a no brainer to use the ethanol free option. On the rare occasion when I see E10 for about 8% or more cheaper then I'll fill with it, but mostly there's only minimal price difference here.

 

Noted.

However a grueling road trip of 1,800 miles with a child and a grumpy husband isn't the place to add complexity by having to drive extra miles to find stations that serve up pure gas.

The only reason that I'd proposed the idea in the first place is because I thought that the stations in other states were the same as the stations around Omaha, where both pure gas and E-10 are available at every pump! If I'd known that pumps outside my local area were such a muddled mess I'd never have even suggested this experiment. :wacko:

 

I totally agree with you that life can really throw curve balls. Me.... I just got into a problem looking for 100% pure gasoline outside my area. Along a route I was going to travel, I had researched Wenatchee, Wa. which supposedly had 5 stations selling 100% pure gasoline. Anyhow, I wrote down all 5 addresses. Only by the 3rd address did I finally find 100% pure gasoline. Funny, but I checked pure-gas.org & already someone had cancelled those two stations that didn't have 100% gasoline any longer.

 

Update on ethanol-free gasoline. pure-gas.org now lists 7580 sources for 100% ethanol-free gasoline. For the first time, the EPA will lower total ethanol blended into the nation's gasoline stocks. The EPA gives political reasons, but it is obvious that high octane ethanol(114?) needs very high compression ratio ethanol engines(nearly as high as diesel) to get the energy out of ethanol. Lower compression ratio gasoline engines can't do that.

Since my last posting, I have purchased a Hyundai Elantra, bad-mouthed for poor mpg by leadfooters, who couldn't stand the Elantra's low 131 lbs-ft of torque. My Elantra, using 100% gasoline is averaging 39+mpg. I believe, like my other cars, that Elantra is gaining 8% or more mpg because of 100% gasoline. A surprisingly high percentage of drivers state they are gaining 10% better mpg using 100% gasoline. One fellow insists he has 115,000 miles of gasoline records, stating 100% gasoline gives him 10% better mpg. For those individual engines, ethanol must be giving them nearly no extra energy or power!

 

After reading this thread I went to the local ethanol-free station and filled up with 87 octane to see what would happen. Mileage increased slightly (went from 45.5 to 46.0 mpg) but the biggest difference was that the quiet ICE engine seems to be performing even quieter. Perhaps the latter is my imagination (?) however, for an extra 20 cents per gallon, going to stick with the non-ethanol for awhile.... unless there's any reason not to.

 

What was your MPG when you used Ethanol, and what is your MPG using "real gas" (non-Ethanol)?. Recently, I had a "tune-up" where they replaced my air filter, and put in new plugs in my 2007 Prius. In town I was getting 34MPG, and long distance I was getting about 50MPG. Now that I've had the "tune up" my town driving is 29MPG and long distance about 44MPG. Really helps having a tune up. I am contemplating using "real gas", but I need to gain 20mpg or more. So how many mpg did you gain?

 

We do not as yet get E10 fuel in the UK, but we do get E5. One of our largest motoring magazines ran there own tests with E10 in three different cars "including a Prius" and got results much the same yours. See the link below.
Ethanol in fuel.

John (Britprius)

 

I have found that many Casey's gas stations have E0 gas. If the regular gas price is HIGHER them the mid grade gas then the regular will be E0, the midgrade is E10. Many Midwest gas stations follow this trend.
At any rate if you go to
Http://pure-gas.org

you will find out where to get E0 in the US and Canada.

 

cool site, thanks! i noticed, all the 0 ethanol is high octane? only checked ma.

 

Update for 100% gasoline availability:
Presently, pure-gas.org lists 8744 sources for E0. At the rate of increasing sources, 10,000+ should be listed by 2016, maybe within the year..... if the EPA butts out!

 

...E0 can be any grade. But I am surprised you have any E0 availability at all with MA being 100% RFG. We have no E0 around here even at marinas to my knowledge. Pure-gas.org site is down so I can't check MA at the moment.

 

i've never seen any personally.