Ethanol-free gas

I could not hold my composure while reading this
especially when i got to "IWO," which I'm assuming means "in workman's opinion"

 

Mr. Workman my first Toyota truck was a 22R yep a 83 I'm now driving a 2011 4L 6 spd. In Maine (and most of New England) you cannot buy ethanol free fuel. I burn 87 with 10% ethanol and consistently get 20 MPG and I all ways get at least 400 miles to the tank. The best I ever did with ethanol free gas in any Toyota 4X4 truck I ever owned was 23 MPG and that was a 22RE 5 spd. So I guess I have a few more years of Toyota ownership to draw from. Auto computers cannot "learn" they can adapt but not learn. There is a limited amount of adaptation they can do it cannot go above or below what is programed into their furry little brain if it could it would never pass emission standards. It also has no ideal what kind of gas is in the tank it can retard the timing if a ping is detected but the ethanol reduces cylinder temp this reduces pinging (and NOx emissions) so it is unlikely that the timing will be retarded by using ethanol fuels.

 

This is my first post so please take it easy on me. I would like to humbly ask Workman why he uses 91 octane rather than the 87 that Toyota recommends. I got my 2012 V6 4WD 6spd. access cab in February. It is my first truck and I am loving it. Especially today as it is currently snowing heavily in Des Moines. Thanks.

 

James,

I'm in Des Moines too. The 4.0 engine actually gets a little more power with the 91 octane. It's all I run. Maybe I'll run 87 with no Ethanol for a while this Summer and see if the cost per mile changes any.

 

Others have claimed an MPG gain on the 91 - I'm trying to set a baseline on 87 (currently about 19 - mostly freeway), before changing to 91.

 

I thought the ethanol mandate was from the EPA.

 

Thanks Steve. I understand now. I'm debating whether to use 87 or 91 but I've definitely decided to go ethanol-free going forward. Thanks again.

 

I was using 89 Octane Eth-free from the beginning of ownership last October, and getting 18-19mpg for ~65-70% city driving. Only one supplier around town has it. But, it's currently $4.28/gal around here, so I recently switched to 87 Octane Eth-blend ($3.38/gal). The impact on performance was absolutely noticeable, and my fuel economy dropped to 16 mpg after several tanks. I decided to bump up to 93 Octane Eth-blend ($3.70/gal) with this last tank, so we'll see what happens after while. I already feel a difference in performance.

 

How do you know you're getting ethanol-free gasoline at the pump?

 

It will be clearly marked.

 

Huh. Interesting. I've never seen that, or maybe I should say I've never noticed.

 

Around here, the Eth-free pumps are in a completely separate location from the rest of the pumps. The Eth-blend pumps will be labeled something like "Contains 1-10% Ethanol".

http://www.examiner.com/article/growth-energy-petitions-the-epa-regarding-ethanol-fuel

 

Okay, we don't have anything like that where I live. All the pumps have some notice that states that the gasoline may contain up to 10% ethanol.

Cool, thanks.

-edit-

I just performed a search on pure-gas.org and there isn't a single ethanol-free gas pump in or around the Houston area lol. Makes sense I suppose.

 

That's because there's virtually nowhere around here that sells ethanol-free gas (I say virtually because there might be some hole-in-the-wall somewhere that does that I don't know about, but honestly I don't know of anywhere).

On a side note: anyone know what's up with this?


Saw that in Kansas, didn't see any indication that some of the options might be ethanol-free. Bizarre...

Wish Texas would follow Florida's lead in getting rid of the Ethanol. Lowers gas mileage, raises food prices. A brilliant idea sponsored by your friendly neighborhood corn lobbyist.

 

depends on the price difference between fuels, if more than 10/15 cents per gallon, the extra MPG you get is offset by the additional cost per gallon...

basically, there is no free lunch when it comes to energy....

 

Been around for 40 years - 2 in-ground tanks, one 87, the other 91 (in this case). Selecting 87 comes from the 87 tank, 91 from the 91 tank. Selecting 88 89 or 90 gives you a mix of the 2 tanks in varying %.

 

Yeah, I've look on pure-gas.org and the nearest ethanol-free gas pump is in CS or Beaumont I think. Either way, there aren't any in the Houston area.

I do a fair amount of traveling, but I still don't think I've ever noticed an EtOH free pump. Probably because I wasn't paying attention at that point.

 

Never seen one down here. Seems unnecessarily complex - can't imagine anyone being able to notice a 1 octane point difference, and even here with our three different grades don't know anyone who bothers with "middle grade" - most people seem to either buy the cheap stuff or the premium.

Either way, interesting to know the how (if not the why). Thanks!

 

That's correct they can vote all they want it's nothing more then a protest vote.

 

And just as many say it makes no difference.