Gas stations now have 10% ethanol in gas in my area...

danman132x · Post by **danman132x** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:41 pm

I've been seeing all the gas stations in my area (panhandle, FL) now have signs that the fuel "may contain up to 10% ethanol" and others that say "contains 10% ethanol." This is recent here, but I've seen it a year ago in south florida. Will having the ten percent ethanol lower gas milage any, or any power decrease?

Post by **racer12306** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:43 pm

Minimal if any change in economy.

If anything there could be more power, but its really not enough to notice.

Post by **Diablo0** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:44 pm

It will reduce mileage but not a huge amount being only 10%, maybe not enough to notice. Power shouldn't be affected.

Post by **racer12306** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:46 pm

I don't think it would be that dramatic. E85 is only supposed to drop like 30%, if its linear then that drops it way down

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:24 pm

I've heard that it lowers mileage, but like Jason says, it shouldn't be that noticeable. Then again, your car could hate it and burst into flames.

ewetho · Post by **ewetho** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:30 pm

If you track your milage closely you will see it. You actually lower the BTU content of the gasoline by 5%. If they just did it you will probably see a drop of about 2 MPG. My neck of the woods has been on E10 for a long time and is encroaching into the the non-emissions counties too.

You will never need HEET anymore it comes preloaded from the pump.

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:34 pm

welcome to the rest of the world. it sucks doesnt it?

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:50 pm

Maybe I should stock up on gas like people are stocking up on ammo?

own3d5974 · Post by **own3d5974** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:34 pm

just wait until you get the 20% in the summer

ewetho · Post by **ewetho** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:20 pm

own3d5974 wrote:just wait until you get the 20% in the summer

????????
WHAT!!!

My car is not rated for that CRAP!!! Only E85 things could run that.

danman132x · Post by **danman132x** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:04 am

own3d5974 wrote:just wait until you get the 20% in the summer

lets hope not. My car loves to drink pure 93 octane gas (89 when it goes up in price)

OB · Post by OB » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:09 am

Never heard of that out here in CA

Knock on wood

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:13 am

Ethanol is good.

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:41 pm

racer12306 wrote:Ethanol is good.

false. only to a degree......

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 1:48 pm

Please explain why you think that ethanol is bad.

Not trying to start anything, just wanting to hear opinions.

dbesade · Post by **dbesade** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:51 pm

racer12306 wrote:Please explain why you think that ethanol is bad.

Not trying to start anything, just wanting to hear opinions.

Ethanol has a lower BTU Number than regular gasoline. Therefore it takes more Ethanol to produce the same power as Gas. I would prefer to pay for 100% gas, not 10% Ethanol.

It sucks and I did notice 2 to 3 MPG Less on the 10% Shit.

-Dave

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:58 pm

Good point. It is a minimal change though

Plus its better than MTBE, environmentally.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:28 pm

racer12306 wrote:Please explain why you think that ethanol is bad.

Not trying to start anything, just wanting to hear opinions.

Ethanol isn't good or bad per say.

Basic cliffs:

Ethanol Good:
~Burns cleaner
~Higher octane
~Renewable*

Ethanol Bad:
~Lower Thermal Release
~Stoich is lower, meaning more is required to maintain proper burn
~It currently takes MORE energy to produce ethanol then you get out of it
~Most of the ethanol these days comes from corn, displacing productive farmland used for food to farm land for fuel

Some of the pro's and cons cancel each other out, but there's still a lot of debate on the subject. Once they start making it out of switch grass it'll be better. They may even skip that and just go straight to bacteria fuels.

lilnicko11 · Post by **lilnicko11** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:50 pm

i guess fixitmattman pretty much covered some of the basics. also when ethanol was first thought to be the savior of all our gas problems they didn't notice that ethanol ends up actually being more expensive in the end due to all the fees involved in production and developing the system. I guess my opinion was more economic based than performance based. ethanol has varying opinions performance wise so i wont state a case there i guess.

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 6:44 pm

any opinion of ethanol, performance wise, that says it is bad is wrong.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:59 pm

I've been running 10% ethanol pretty much since I bought my Neon and I pull mid 30's fuel mileage in the summer and approximately 30mpg winter.

Post by **racer12306** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:27 pm

10% has been pretty common around here and I get mid to upper 30s on trips.

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:41 pm

Yeah its nothing to worry about. Frank can you point me to the thread where your sig quote came from?

Post by **occasional demons** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:45 pm

viewtopic.php?t=36317

He edited the post however. O the shame.

bone-yard-racing · Post by **bone-yard-racing** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:01 am

That is about the funniest thing Ive ever read on here

boxcarfan · Post by **boxcarfan** » Sun Feb 01, 2009 10:29 pm

i work at lexus and i HATE THIS! because of ethanol we now have to change the high pressure rails and cross over pipes on ALL our cars with direct injection!!!! the water content in the fuel corrodes away at the inside of the cast aluminum fuel rails. we have a recall on them because of this!!! bull shit! we have to replace the rails and pipes with steel ones.

DoubtedNeon · Post by **DoubtedNeon** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 10:18 pm

This is a debate much like abortion. it will never come to a peiceful end. but i agree its entertaining to say the least

Post by **racer12306** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:21 am

boxcarfan wrote:i work at lexus and i HATE THIS! because of ethanol we now have to change the high pressure rails and cross over pipes on ALL our cars with direct injection!!!! the water content in the fuel corrodes away at the inside of the cast aluminum fuel rails. we have a recall on them because of this!!! bull shit! we have to replace the rails and pipes with steel ones.

no, you have to change them because the engineers were too stupid to use the right metal the first time. E10 is not a new thing

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 10:59 am

racer12306 wrote:
boxcarfan wrote:i work at lexus and i HATE THIS! because of ethanol we now have to change the high pressure rails and cross over pipes on ALL our cars with direct injection!!!! the water content in the fuel corrodes away at the inside of the cast aluminum fuel rails. we have a recall on them because of this!!! bull shit! we have to replace the rails and pipes with steel ones.
no, you have to change them because the engineers were too stupid to use the right metal the first time. E10 is not a new thing

I can't believe a high end manufacturer would make such a blunder. But hey, they looked pretty on the outside!
If they had annodized them, they prolly would have held up. Would it have increased cost? In hind sight, no.

fixitmattman · Post by **fixitmattman** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 4:14 pm

Haha, even the big three know about ethanol. Lexus fail.