ethanol free gas vs ethanol mix gas??? for tacoma

Welp. After 3 tanks of regular 87 octane ethanol, I've debunked my theory. There are a few variables to consider. 1: more highway driving & less city driving. 2: cooler weather. 3: fresh oil change.

My ethanol free averages were right on par with my e-10 ranges. Mind you, I monitor tire psi, feather the throttle and obey posted speed limits.

E-10 87 Octane mpg:
19.7
18.6
19.4

In spite of these results, I will continue to cycle through 1-2 ethanol-free tanks a month for the sake of smooth idle.

 

Well you will get better mpg but I'm not sure by what percentage.
Ethanol sucks, I had a Ducati 848 and it had a plastic tank and it started to
leak within a year. The tank was replaced for free because Ducati was sued over
this issue. Ethanol and plastic do not mix.

 

Well, if the government subsidized corn squeezins is a bit cheaper to buy/make than gasoline, then replacing 10% with ethanol should reduce the price to manufacture no?

 

Whenever possible, I alternate fills between Top Tier Ethanol and Ethanol-free, especially during winter months. I don't clock that many miles per week/month, so the extra premium cost doesn't affect me that much. Also, I never let the tank drop below 75%; I fill weekly whether I need it or not.

 

I'd run it out; especially the ethanol tanks.
Ethanol-mix only has a 'shelf life' of 90 days, under even ideal conditions.

 

Yes

 

If I could get EF I'd probably do it. Even at higher cost. But in my state, which regulates the sh!t out of everything I don't even have the choice.

With that said, in cars made today, other then a little decrease in mpg, it probably won't hurt your truck.

Now, my 2 stroke lawn equipment gets 100 LL AV gas. That is 100 octane low lead pure gas. I've been using it for almost 10 years now and never worry about leaving gas in anything over the winter. Starts in the spring as easy as the last day I used it in the fall. It costs about $8 a gallon here but I only use 2-3 gallons a year between my lawn equipment and chain saws. I haven't had one fuel related issues since I switched so it's worth every extra cent. Plus it smells like the gas we knew as kids.

 

Just saw 88 octane e15 for the first time at a local sheetz gas station. Forgot to see what the price diffrence was. I wish I had an ethanol free gas place close. I hate feeding my pricier saws ethanol (gotten really good at chasing down fuel line leaks using it tho)

 

Find a small airport near you and go 100LL AV, you won't look back.

 

FYI

A very simplistic primer of sorts.

Stratification. It happens.

It also happens with ethanol-free gasoline too. Poor quality or old gasoline is poor quality or old.

...among other unwanted side effects if there is stratification.

It's all about the economics.

If given the choice, refiners would prefer to eliminate the use of EtOH in favor of another oxygenate. Generally speaking, refining isn't hugely profitable. The RIN credits keep increasing in cost, which eats away at margins. It was quite a bit easier and more profitable to produce MTBE as MTBE units could be coupled with Alky units, but MTBE is hydrophilic, carcinogenic at extremely low concentrations (ppb), and doesn't degrade easily/quickly. See a further explanation below... vvv

I'm not aware of any terminals anywhere adding EtOH on their own. It's part of the gasoline blending process at the refinery. What is added to each tanker truck at the terminal loading rack is the gasoline additive package for that truck's particular customer.

When needed, refiners add EtOH during the gasoline blending process (a gasoline blender is an actual job usually located at the OMCC of a refinery) where several other distillate cuts are blended together to meet the desired gasoline specification. Each distillate blend component is analyzed prior to use to ensure product specification. Furthermore, during the blending process and before being sold to the marketer, full analysis is performed on the gasoline by the laboratory to ensure everything is correct, including oxygenate (EtOH) content. At that point, the CoA /CoQ is issued. The blend "recipe" is highly scrutinized and controlled, and is based upon the physical properties of the individual blend components and the required gasoline specification.

Unlike refiners like Exxon, Shell, Chevron, etc. Valero did not develop their gasoline additive package in-house. They buy it from a 3rd-party vendor.

For better or worse EtOH Lobby is a juggernaut, but it was originally created to ensure the dying farms of America had an opportunity to survive. When MTBE was phased out, those farms that grew corn hit the jackpot, and others quickly joined the party. That was then. Nowadays... well like I said, the Ethanol Lobby has congressmen and women in their pockets and refiners by the balls.

Work, not so much. More or less of certain components. Its all about economics.

I'm willing to bet serious money that the reason "ethanol-free" gasoline costs more is because whoever is selling it is increasing the price on their own to capitalize on people who want to buy EtOH-free gasoline.

What the hell was Ducati using to make those gas tanks? PVC? Polyurethane?

EtOH is compatible with plenty of polymers. This sounds more like a basic design flaw with Ducati.

There are Top Tier gasoline additive packages, but there is no such thing as "Top Tier Ethanol".

 

Uh...huh?

Pricier fuel is substituted with a percentage of lower cost ethanol.

That's like saying watered down liquor should cost more because they added water. That's dumb. Really dumb.

 

What would be interesting is if someone decided use the same fuel consistently and track/compare their mpg during the winter and summer months.

Winter blend gasoline fuel has a higher concentration of butane and isobutane than summer blends, which is extremely cheap and plentiful, to raise the RVP of gasoline. C4/iC4 is also less efficient, so gas mileage suffers when using winter blend.

Like I said, it would be intriguing to see a real-world comparison between the two blends.

 

At best you'll get more MPG out of it, but it's not going to help anything since all the lines and plastics are designed to handle the ethanol. But that MPG difference is something you'll have to calculate ur self to see if the .25 cents more gives u atleast a neutral return

 

Never thought of that thank you. I've ran 110 leaded race fuel before in a big turbo vw and the smell and fumes were pretty strong. The low lead may be the key.

 

No, it just increases the profit for the companies. Cheaper materials and you use more of it to go the same miles.

 

I'm not trying to get into politics and conspiracy theories, but gas usually has oxygenate additives. Ethanol replaced MTBE which replaced lead. MTBE was contaminating a lot of ground water. The stuff is soluble so it spreads readily contaminating a lot of water easily.

 

It isn't either politics or conspiracy theories. It's fact and history.

 

Probably be coal fired trucks coming next year , built in the USA , it will be unpresidented

 

The use of ethanol is our gas is what is fucking dumb, whatever analogy you want to use or twist.

 

That analogy works when using liquor with different proofs.
He just fails to realize non ethanol requires more refining to obtain octane, versus ethanol-blend.