E15 gas...good idea or bad?

I drive a lot of highway miles and often fill up at Kwik Trip gas stations. They apparently have their own blend of 88 octane that is E15 and about 10 cents cheaper than 87 octane E10.

My gas cap specifically says no E15-E85. I will admit that I filled it up once with E15 because I was being a cheap ass when gas prices were going up and noticed nothing performance-wise.

Any idea what long term effects of running E15 might be? Just trying to save a few bucks on my travels.

 

saves 10c a gallon for possible significant harm to all fuel system components in a 30k$ truck.... dont let that shit touch your truck again, the fueling systems on these trucks are NOT designed for ANYTHING higher than E10 commonly found at stations (which usually range from around a 5-8% ethanol content, E10 is MAX 10%)


also... dont bitch about your gas prices.... Grand rapids is ~ 1$-1.10, yes OVER ONE WHOLE DOLLAR LESS per gallon than out here in ventura county california.

 

My experience, on 1GR-FE, 10% ethanol, 87 octane, no more no less, best. Don't know why, just is.

 

When I have some extra money I really want to try a few tanks of non-ethanol. it actually made a good bit of difference in my previous car so I'm curious to see what it does in the taco.

 

We have a pump out close to me that ethanol free, tried it couple times didn't notice much maybe .5 mpg difference to many variables to be sure..but it did run smoother not as noisy.

 

well I don't recall noticing any economy changes but it definitely made the car a bit more peppy!

 

That's awesome I didn't notice any peppiness my truck has some weight with taller tires an stock gears.

 

$0.10/gallon difference, on a 21 gallon tank. So even if you run the tank bone-dry you're only saving $2.10

Long term effects could include premature emissions system component failure, and/or fuel system component failure. They weren't designed/spec'd for long term exposure to those chemicals in these models.

FWIW, your owners manual backs up what your gas cap says:

 

Stick with the e10 or less. The more ethanol in the fuel, the more fuel flow that is required to maintain the same safe AFR. Many high performance vehicles use e85 ethanol for the 110octane rating, but you have to flow like 30% more fuel for the Air fuel ratio to be in the safe range. If the truck was designed to run on e10 or less, just use that, it's not worth the 10cents a gallon you're saving to risk having to make major repairs down the road

 

One thing to remember is how new is that gas. The E10 tanks get filled more often, so you should be getting newer gas.

 

A gas thread

 

I’ve ran non ethanol in my 08/4.0 for the last year and half at least. I noticed it ran smoother and my fuel mileage was a lot more consistent.

 

It should be illegal to even sell that crap

 

Crap?

 

Don't Know about Tacomas but the higher ethanol fuels definitely rot out lines And seem to cause more fuel system issues in motorcycles. After seeing this first hand I have an aversion to this corny bs.

 

I ran about 10 consecutive tank fulls of the high octane none ethanol when it first appeared here and have to say that I noticed......nothing, except a hugh price difference. I did not even notice a reduction in pinging and certainly no increase in power. Made my chain saw start easier though...

 

E-15. Ethanol is no good for most motors and fuel systems. Kills small engines. Negatives outweigh the positives. My guess is someone’s pockets are getting lined because law makers keep pushing for higher Ethanol content.

 

Higher ethanol content supports Iowa/corn belt farmers. Its a vote thing.

 

Ah. I would agree there. It’s just uncle sams way of being able to say hes doing something to be less dependent on fossil fuels with no real benefit

 

FWIW...I don't run ethanol anything in any of my gas burning things, old or new. Here in Iowa (yes I live in the corn state and don't like ethanol) there is a $.50/gallon surcharge for non-ethanol fuel. I pay it. At least it is truly non-ethanol; many states have at least some in all fuel. In the old stuff it is asking for fuel-related problems with varnish, seals, etc. In the new stuff, it has a mileage penalty even if the system is configured to tolerate some of it.

Just filled my truck today and did notice the no E15-E85 marking on the filler cap. While I don't know the exact reason, I suspect the concern is over fuel system seal longevity somewhere.

Don't want to get into some political thing about it, especially since I live in Iowa. Just too many experiences with fuel-related issues (at a minimum a drop in fuel mileage) to justify the cost savings.