Ethanol free gas for 2 weeks

I always run premium in my truck, ethanol or not (although most gas stations in Montana have ethanol free premium) the truck just runs better period. Starts easier, idles smoother, and like you noted, quiet. I still get that knock though from time to time, but most cases I got my music up so rarely notice it. Not to mention I have noticed a nice power increase (4cyl) and better mpg readings too, I average around 20-24 and I drive my truck pretty hard.

 

OP- instead of going from E free fuel to premium to save, just run regular fuel instead save even more...

For those interested, get the "Pure Gas" App to find stations nearby you who sell E-free fuel.

 

I am experimenting right now too. I only have 2200 miles on my 2012 truck, and came from a 2008 FJ Cruiser that called for premium. The Taco seemed to run rougher than the FJ right from the lot. Vibration at idle was the most noticeable. I had been running 87 in the Taco since I was psyched to get out of premium. This was part of the reason I traded in a 49kmi FJ. First I changed gas stations and kept running 87. No change. I bumped up to 93 for the next tank and by the end of the tank the motor is running noticeably smoother and quieter. I am part way through my next tank of 93 and if it is still running just as well, I will drop to 89 or 91 for the next few tanks. I see no difference in MPG yet, but I have had some idle time and towing time so it's hard to be sure.

My wife used to have a 2002 VW Passat V6 wagon that called for premium. When we questioned the VW shop owner he said we could run lower octane and the computer/motor would simply adjust for it. We might notice slightly lower performance, but it wouldn't hurt anything. Well, if you ran anything less than premium, her car would spit and sputter, shake at idle and get pathetic fuel economy.

Well--- this is one of those debates. I don't think we'll ever get everyone to agree, and without actual scientific testing on a Tacoma, I believe the debate will rage on!

 

The 1gr engine was designed to run high octain.
The computer can retard it's timing to run 87 but it doe's run best with 91+

Toyota doesn't mind all of it's trucks running in retard mode because it helps with sales.

Enough said

 

LMFAO. I'm just about to fill up again and looking at my trip odometer, it looks like the premium is going to net better MPG.

 

So, what would be yalls choice, ethanol or prem? I know there is a difference here, but the availability of ethanol free gas is an issue. I have a pure station less than couple of miles away. Price/gal is usually about .30 higher. Pretty much the same as the difference between prem. and regular. My 2009 DC TRD Sport (new to me) is getting 16 mpg. I drive it pretty easy, but i would like to squeeze some more out of it if i can.

Thanks....fyi i should be working on finals for school, but here i am, once again, on TW!

 

Go study. We will still be here after finals.

 

Here in SC we have pretty cheap gas compared to the rest of the nation as regular in my area is around 3.68 for 93. I have used e free gas and had better results all around. However I use the 93 with e just because of the fuel perks thing my grocery store does so I get like 30 cents off each gallon. On all my other engines though ie boat, mower, pretty much everything aside my truck I use only e free. I did hear that the boat motor makers had a lawsuit against the fuel companies because the ethonol was destoying the motors but I haven't confirmed this. Honestly I don't really see a benefit to ethonol in gas at all other than making everything worse.

 

I hate you...

 

Just filled up with premium ethanol free. I'm gonna try this for a few weeks and compare my mpg

My avg. For the last month is at 17.7 and for the past 3 months 17.1

 

I was getting terrible mileage with my 05 4x4 at about 13.5-14 mpg by running 10% ethanol gas and I was wondering for a long time why I was getting such bad mileage even though I was driving like a grandpa.

I have been filling up with ethanol free gas for the past three tanks and my mileage has gone up to 16-16.5 mpg doing the same type of driving. The bad thing is that it is hard to find the ethanol free gas.

I see some of you guys are getting 17+ MPG I would love to do that.

 

That's still terrible mileage.

4x4 hurts, V6 hurts, but I assume you are also running oversized tires? That hurts in two ways. The larger tires are heavier and present more rolling resistance. That hurts.
They also introduce a speedometer error. Going from a 245/70-16 to a 285/70-17 is a change in tire circumference of 11%.
That means that you are going 11% farther than your odometer indicates.
That also means that a calculated 16mpg is really almost 18mpg.

 

Subbed. If I can find some e free gas in my area I"ll give it a shot. I run 93 and get a very consistent 20.5 mpg. in my 11 4x4 6cyl stock.

 

I found an e free Marathon station (90 octane) in my neighborhood too. The signs say its for rec vehicles and boats, etc, but I tried it last week. Havent noticed anything, or a mileage difference, but I'll try it a few more times to see for sure.
Here its about 30 cents more than 93 octane e10 though!
Everyone knows ethanol is less efficient, and the e85 stuff will get you far fewer miles to the tank, so the price difference isnt worth it.
Tuners love the corn stuff because it does have more potential when you can force lots more air

 

http://pure-gas.org/extensions/map.html

 

Running eth free gas I have never gotten below 20mpg, granted most roads where I live are rural and I rarely drive above 65. Last week I drove from Jackson to Pinedale Wy hauling a drift boat, gear, and my buddy to go fishing. Got 22.6mpg. Sucks that even out here the eth free gas is becoming hard to find. Puregas.org can save you bucks on a roadtrip, for me its worth going up to ten miles out of the way to get pure gas. This is with an 06 4x4 access cab TRD offroad+leer topper.

On the way to Moab last year with a slight tailwind, stocked with camping gear and my girlfriend, I got my record of 24.2MPG

 

Ive been running an additive to combat bad milage from E gas its called XFT and my wife is on her 3rd tank with the additive and her Avg had gone up about 2 MPG on her CRV and Im on my 2nd tank which is when it is sopossed to kick in. (First tank cleans) I'll post later after my 3rd or 4th tank to show my results. As for E free gas there is a station kinda close by but for regular gas here being &4.65 a gallon IDK about shelling out almost $5 a gallon to do a test.

 

I can't make myself read anything past this post. I'm in awe of Chris 4X4 spelling everything correctly....

 

Yes, I am a skeptic.
What little I was able to find on the web did nothing to make me feel better.

For one, what is it, where is it available, and how much does it cost?

More importantly, how is it marketed? Do they use terms like "cracking" and "catalyst"? If so, it's snake oil.
2mpg better? Okay... so 20mpg vs 22mpg.
At $4.25/gallon that's $42.50 for 200 miles vs 220 miles.
Or conversely, $42.50 for 200 miles vs $38.64 for 200 miles.

That's a savings of $3.86 for every 200 miles... okay, so you can potentially save $7.72 per tank if you run your Taco 400 miles on a tank.

If the stuff costs more than $7.72 per treatment, you're paying more for something that can potentially damage your fuel system.

If you get better than 20mpg without using it, then your savings are even less, thus, it costs you even more.

Just because a large commercial mining company uses it does not mean it is safe to use on a regular highway vehicle.


I've lived through "Gas shortages" since the first Arab oil embargo in 1974.
I remember getting up at 5am to drive down to the gas line and sit in the car while dad walked back home to get ready for work... then he'd walk back and I'd walk home at 6.
If he was lucky, the station still had gas by the time he got to the pump at 7 and he might actually get to work on time.
Gas rationing... even/odd plates got gas on even/odd days.
Going on vacation? Tough shit. You couldn't buy gas on the wrong day... not that you could buy gas on the right day after 9am anyways. Vacations just didn't happen.

Ya... When it comes to gadgets and chemicals that claim to improve fuel economy, I'm not going to say that I've seen it all, but I've seen most of it in the last 40 years, and everything I've seen has been

 

You know, I gotta wonder how much trouble people have with E-10 gas is related to the problems other than the ethanol content.

Ethanol is hygroscopic - it absorbs water (at least until there is a phase change and then weird things happen). So, if the place you get gas at has a faulty tank, they may be getting more moisture in their tanks leading to poor fuel performance. With pure gas, the water would separate and sink to the bottom. With E-gas it gets absorbed.

Also, due to the ethanol component tending to evaporate more quickly than the heavier aromatics in gasoline, if the tank at the station is oldish, octane will diminish. There are a bunch of factors in this - tank size, etc. - but it is a fact that storing E-gas is more complicated than storing gasoline alone.

I've experienced the Tacoma Hard Start - but only when I get gas from the lesser used station a few blocks away. I regularly fill up at the neighborhood store, and they get a new truck nearly twice every day. No hard starts or weirdness as long as I fuel there and only there.

I think the moral of the story is that E-gas is fine as long as it's fresh. Otherwise, it may be suboptimal - you can burn it, but won't get top performance.