Ethanol free gas hurts?!?!

I'm surprised how much ethanol free gas varies in price when compared to E10 regular unleaded. I was just on an 18 state road trip this summer and saw EF gas as low as $0.20 per gallon more and as high as $0.80 per gallon more expensive than E10. Most of those EF's were higher octane explaining a bit of the premium price.

I think everyone would prefer EF if they could get it, just not sure it's worth $0.80 per gallon more even if there are modest fuel economy gains.

 

Believe me or not, I really don't care. I track my mileage in a book.
My bet is that the 85 octane (10% etoh) is shit gas, probably has water, etc. 87 is a bit better, but no that much.
What is funny to me is that the non etoh suff is cheaper than the mid grade 87 for the most part and I get better mpg. It's only about 10-12 cents higher than the cheap shit. Basically 1$ more per fill up for an average of 60-80 more miles. Seems like a good deal to me.

 

You really shouldnt be running anything lower than 87 in your Tacoma. Thats probably where the higher than average boost is coming from is because the ecm is having to retard everything to make the 85 work.

 

LOL!!!!

Vehicles aren't designed to use ethanol unless they have a damn "Flex Fuel" logo on them. The addition of ethanol to our gasoline is done up and to the point at which they deem it won't "damage" our vehicles. It's a government subsidy cost saving attempt to help subsidize the price of gasoline here in the United States. The ECM/ECU in your vehicle, injectors, etc were designed for 87 octane gasoline (thus, that's why 87 octane is recommended in your owner's manual). The fact that they balance modern "gas" with ethanol and try to create a comparable 87 octane w/ethanol is for convenience cost sake.

 

Thats why my gas cap says "E0-E15" on it right?

 

I've never put 85 in the Tacoma, the 85 reference was for the impreza.

 

E0 = Zero Ethanol
E15 = 15% Ethanol

They're telling you that your truck can use ethanol free or up to a max of 15% ethanol.

 

Im aware. Thats what I was implying.

 

Generally, 85/86 octane is only found in places above 3000' elevation. Closer to sea level, 87 is the lowest octane available.

 

Hello, new to the Tacoma world. We passed a station with Ethanol Free the 2.29 price caught my attention lol
So I Google if it's usable in my truck and found no straight forward answers. Just my knowledge alone, I always thought that was for flex fuel engines? Anyways I stumbled upon this forum aaaand still so many back and forth answers.
Anyone care to give a direct answer? I see not only is it cheaper but also gives you a tad bit mpg yes I know not a lot but if its usable and safe for my 2013 Tacoma, price plus added mpg seems to be a win?

 

Non-Ethanol gas does not attract water from condensation like ethanol gas does. It’s great for long storage and small engines the have rubber parts in carbs. Actually ethanol is a great solvent to keep valves and injectors clean. Yes, it has less BTUs than gasoline but modern engines are designed for it. I have no issues using 10% ethanol gas in my truck. I do hate the politics of it though.

 

Your truck can use Ethanol free gas. Most gas today has up to 10% ethanol and at least 90% gas in it, and modern vehicles run just fine on it. In some parts of the country they sell 85% ethanol and only 15% gas. Only flex fuel vehicles are designed for that. The E85 gas is quite a bit cheaper, but by all accounts gets worse fuel mileage so it balances out. My F150 is rated for flex fuel, but I've never tried it. It isn't available locally. I've seen it in parts of Texas and other western states.

 

Thank you! That was helpful and something I understood lol. I went through the whole forum and was still confused.

 

Ethanol in general is bad stuff over time. As long as it doesn’t sit for long periods of time it’s ok. I used to take ethanol out of the gas for my yard equipment. Add water to the gas and drain it out. Ethanol attracts to water but the gas doesn’t. It did great but it was a pain doing it. Now I run 93E10 and add a stabilizer. What ever I don’t use in three months goes in our vehicles.

 

The problem with removing ethanol out of gas is that ethanol is one cheaper method of increasing octane levels. With no ethanol you need to add an octane booster. Now you’re spending a bit more for fuel.

 

Holy 5 year thread bump - no warning .

I love non-ethanol in my seasonal car and yard equipment- both sit for long periods of time. Never had a gas related issue.

Where ya finding it cheaper than the ethanol stuff?

 

I’ve been told ethanol adds 3 points to the octane. So 93 will be 90 octane. 5 gallons of 93 made 4 gallons when done. Going that route was cheaper than buying the cans. I wouldn’t do it to passenger vehicles.

 

I think that guy is getting mixed up with beliefs back in early 70's. the use of unleaded fuels in engines that require lead,and vise a versa.

 

Ethanol is bad for older cars, or small engines that sit for long periods without use. it does nothing to newer vehicles designed to run it. its not that they are designed specifically to run eth only, i is that they are designed to ALLOW you to run it safely. Non-eth does nothing to cars designed to run with ethanol. Ethanol requires more fuel per oxygen to burn, therefore it runs "richer", therefore seemingly hurting overall fuel mileage. non eth is around 14.7 to 1 stoich air fuel ratio. e10 is closer to 14.1. E85 is closer to around 10, therefore it runs MUCH richer, but burns much cooler, therefore, its not so much that it MAKES more power, it just allows you to TUNE for more power by running more boost/compression and increasing timing before you run into predetonation issues. same principal as higher octane gas. Fact is, whatever the guy told the OP, is absolutely FALSE. run whatever you want to run. I choose to run NON eth gas, but it is not always available anymore.