E-15 gas opinions?

If this has been covered elsewhere then I apologize. The sheetz near me just installed new pumps with an e-15 (15% ethanol gas) nozzle on them. They sell it for about 10¢ per gallon cheaper and advertise it as being safe for vehicles made after 2001. I'd like to hear some opinions on this stuff from people who know more about it than me. What kind of damage (if any) will happen over time using it? I haven't put any in my truck yet and don't know that I would but the savings would sure be nice so please throw some education on me tw members.

 

Also this is my first thread creation so please be gentle.

 

This is about as gentle as it comes...

 

I don't have that on my gas cap. Is that something that changed between '12 and '13 model years?

 

read the manual for your truck then if it is not in the cap, it will specify fuel

the cap message only exists because people been ignoring the manual and
possibly wrecking fuel system components...

to use more alcohol than e10 requires all new rubber parts for entire fuel system, tacoma don't got that alcohol-proof rubber orings and such

 

I'm not sure what toyota says but I know a few car companies won't warranty certain year vehicles if you use anything about e10. Also, no matter what I'm pretty sure there isn't a single small engine (lawn mower, weed eater, saw, etc) that will work with anything above e10. If you have other choices, DON'T pick e15, it's not worth the few pennies you'll save.

 

It may be 10 cents cheaper, but the higher the ethanol the lower the gas mileage and power. Also, i don't think the Tacoma should have anything higher than 10% ethanol.

 

the higher the ethanol the shittier the mileage seems anyway. i notice that if i go to a pump that says up to 10% ethanol vs pumps that do not use ethanol in their fuels my mileage is always a little better without that shit.

 

ethanol raises the octane and burns cleaner
but you have net energy loss per measured unit of gas

it's horsepower robbery on anything except high compression race motors

 

ethanol has less energy/volume than gasoline which is why mpg suffers (in CA, they switch to E10 for a few months every year and it kills everyone's mileage in the name of supposedly reducing emissions).

If the other pumps are straight gasoline and not E10, you'll take a bigger hit in mpg using the E15. You could top off a half-full tank of gas once or twice a year with the E10 to get any water out of your system (fuel-line antifreeze products like HEET that do this are just small bottles of pure ethanol/IPA), but if you're running E10 normally then there's no real need for that though.

 

Yeah it's pretty much all e10 in my area now. I kind of thought it wouldn't be worth it to jump to the 15 but just thought I'd ask around. Guess I could have just checked the owners manual but what fun is that?

 

reading the owners manual feels like looking at an old phone book for a number..!

 

Actually it was in the name of energy independance. There is a slight reduction in emissions, but not enough to warrant the mandate. In fact, most environmentalists argue that it is much worse for the environment . . .air, land, AND water (I tend to agree). The thing is, back in 2007, when the mandate was enacted, congress projected that fuel usage would climb at a certain rate. But because of factors like climbing gas prices and more fuel efficient vehicles, we're not using close to the amount of fuel that was projected. Now there isnt enough demand for the amount of ethanol being produced, so congress, through EPA, approved higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline (E15).

So basically it comes down to funding and growing the biofuels industry. Congress promised all this money to farmers and ethanol producers in the 2007 mandate in order to promote the biofuel industry. Now there's too much ethanol being produced for demand, so they want to raise the concentration in gasoline to help keep the industry alive. They have also lowered the projected fuel usage statistics so that the fed money going to farmers and ethanol companies will promote continued "confidence" and long term growth in the industry.

 

CA went to ethanol long before the feds mandate.

Starting in 1996, California mandated use of an additive called MTBE to reduce CO in emissions without reducing mpg the way ethanol does, but it turned out the MTBE was a dangerous carcinogen/mutagen when it contaminated the ground water around the refineries where it was being mixed into the gas. For a few years they went to a system where the law mandated both that all gas sold in the state (except at boat docks) had to contain MTBE, and also that the pumps had to have a sticker warning that the gas dispensed contained that chemical. Eventually in 2005 (years before the federal E10 mandate), they changed the law instantly from MTBE being mandatory to it being banned outright in the state, and instead mandated the use of ethanol to reduce CO emissions during winter months.

 

I would prefer E-0.

 

Me too. I was trout fishing in the mountains a couple weeks ago and came across a no-ethanol station. My truck really seemed to like it.

 

I'm a big ethanol fan. I would buy E15...but my truck is E85 compatible so no worries there. I like the extra power.

I would probably put E15 in an E10 vehicle, though.

 

How does E85=more power? From everything I've read/heard the higher the ethanol content the lower the power.

 

Ethanol has slightly less BTUs than gasoline, but an engine running on high ethanol content can be tuned for more power as compared to pure gasoline.Your vehicle will only gain power on E85 if the MFG has tuned it to. GM tunes the 5.3 to gain 25 horsepower and 33 lbs/ft of torque when run on E85 as compared to standard 93 octane.