Gas Mileage - Ethanol

2023 Access Cab 3.5 AT 4x4 with factory hard tonneau cover.
265/70R17 Duratracs

I’ll have to pay attention to the fuel pump noise, to see if I notice a difference. Thanks for the info.

 

I do the same with my 4x4 because fuel with ethanol causes my high pressure fuel pump to chirp egregiously loud. Terrible gas mileage though, 4x4 quad cab long bed is heavy and it kills the MPG. I rarely break 18mpg. Ah well. At least the engine tune and ethanol free fuel gives it an increase in horsepower and torque. Before the tune the truck was a dog. No change in MPG to report with the tune. The extra power is great though.[/QUOTE]

I don’t have engine tune. But I have Rough Country Cold Air Intake, and Borla Cat Back exhaust, in my 6spd manual Tacoma. Acceleration is more responsive. Drive like beast!

 

Not sure you can trust digital display of mileage to be exact. Best to calculate manually at fill up over a few months to get more realistic averages. I generally use Ethanol and have been getting 18-19 mpg on average.

 

I don’t care about MPG as much as $PG. Ethanol free gas cost more per mile. I don’t mind ethanol when you burn through a tank every week or so. Ethanol is actually a good solvent that helps keep the fuel system clean. What’s bad is that it attracts water when it sits a long time. That’s why my small engine gas cans have ethanol free in them.

 

I'll try $20 of ethanol-free & then $20 of premium. Will post back if there is any discernible difference.

 

Non ethanol made like 0.5 mpg difference for me at most. You probably got lucky with wind and or deployed an extra light foot after leaving the station with the non ethanol fillup.

I did have a loaner 2023 TRD OR auto for a couple weeks and part of that involved a road trip where the wind was against me going and with me coming back. That was about 16 mpg there and 22 mpg back, both trips on average 70 mph. My manual can’t even come close to 22 mpg, best I have seen was 19.5 one time, the rest is about 18 max and more like 15 average. The average of the auto was right at 15.5 so in town with the way I drive, one of those wouldn’t really be better. But to answer the question, no I don’t think this is all ethanol related, as the difference between the two in terms of energy potential is pretty minor.

 

I get close to that most of the time. Ya just gotta slow down. Local speed limits are 55 or 60 here close tot he house. When driving 62, I get 22.5…….with ethanol free gas

 

Over the last seven months we've been house hunting in Maryland and just recently closed on a new place and are now in the process of moving from New Hampshire, as such, my Tacoma has made that 500(ish) mile trip a number of times. Given the trip requires traversing the metro areas of Boston, Hartford, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, traffic congestion is a virtual certainty, and yet, my worst tank average was 21.2 mpg and my best was 23.6 with well over 400 miles on a single tank, that is until my trip last Thursday/Friday where I got 15.4; all trips were burning E10. The difference? This latest trip had not only the cab and bed fully loaded with stuff, but I was pulling a 6x12 U-Haul enclosed tandem axle trailer loaded to the gills as well; I'm pretty sure I was at or over the max weight limit, and given that, I was thrilled to get over 250 miles per tank.

 

Well if you've been running ShitzSheetz gas there's your poor mileage. Typically I've gotten the worst mileage out of their gas. I will not use Sheetz gas if at all possible. We have Rutter's in my area and they have top tier fuel. I get the best mileage from there.

 

Not to get off topic, but that is a Corsair in your avatar, Dale? Hope I'm right...

Thank you for you service & all you guys who served for the greater good!

Baa Baa Black Sheep, FTW Semper Fi!

 

All gasoline’s are not the same different additives so mpg can be affected. I use shell it has ethanol in it I average 18-23 mpg depending on outside temperatures and where I’m driving…ie highway…in traffic …hills and how fast I drive .

 

I only run Shell or Mobil, works good for me. Might try Wawa next.

Here's a liittle story you guys might find humorous. I was picking my best friend up from the airport.

I saw him walking down the "bridge" & I go, 'WaWa", he replied with 'WaWa'.

We are both tall, so I knew it was him. We were WahWahing all over the airport.

People just stared at us like we were crazy, lol.

Thanks for the memories, Mr. Hendrix!

 

Yup, in this case the plane is an example of the FG-1A produced by Goodyear; I took the picture back in about 1999 at an airshow in Maine.

 

Got you, buddy. Again, I say Thank You

 

You realize that the additives you talk about are a little more than a cup full added to an 80,000 gallon tanker. It really doesn't make a difference.

 

That is damn good mileage for a 4x4.

The high pressure fuel pump chirp issue was limited to the 16’s and 17’s I believe. I’m working with Toyota corporate to get it replaced. I’ll make a recording of it when I get a chance in the next few days and upload it so people can hear it. Out of all the pumps I’ve heard chirp I think mine is an extreme case.

Just drained all the non-ethanol so I can fill it with ethanol and take it to do the dealer so they can have a listen.

 

Slow down to 62 and you will see these higher mileage numbers

 

Too slow.

 

As someone who actually sold these additives to refineries, you are correct.
At the refinery rack level, additives are added to tanker gasoline depending on the branding and what retailer they may be headed to. Note, just because the gas station pump says the gasoline is some brand, does not mean that gasoline actually came from that same brand of refinery, even if you can see the refinery across the street(!). The market is highly diversified in most localities. However, any additive packages are supposed to be consistent for the brand.

Most of these additives, whatever the retailer may call them, are all very similar chemical compounds.
Only marketing changes the name and perception of what they do.
What they do is keep injectors, fuel and engine systems cleaner by protecting metal parts against corrosion and fouling while making specified improvements in lubricity. Lead, in the old days, provided necessary lubricity, but is certainly unhealthy for the environment and catalyst exhaust systems in modern vehicles used on the road. The additives are not designed for any increases in efficiency or observable miles per gallon in operation -- no matter what the marketing people might say on the pump.

I will add one other thing, on topic. Refiners hate handling ethanol. As someone else noted, it picks up moisture, and that same moisture can foul transfer lines and tanks.

 

Where is the ethanol added? and when it says up to 10%, how is that actually determined?