I just noticed lately (in Austin, TX) that the gas stations start mixing 10% Ethanol on their fuel. My gas mileage went down (reduced) and my acceleration time 60-120mph time is also slower.

Why do we want this low quality fuel?

 

http://www.fuel-testers.com/index.html

Oppose the E15

 

The government wants to keep corn growers in business so we'll have to keep putting this junk into our engines. Every pump around here is E10. No way I'll be using E15.

 

I already hear the CELs crying.

 

The crap cost way more to make than gas, too. Between this and cash for clunkers our govt. is really screwing things up.

 

practically all gas in the south east is e10. my s2000 had no problems getting 300miles to the tank and running 13.9@100 with relatively no mods. My vr4 gets over 400 miles to tank.

Any concerns you have about power and gas mileage on e10 are in your head.

 

In order to reduce pollutants in high-smog areas, the EPA requires that extra oxygen be added to gasoline. This used to be done through MTBE, but that was shown to pose a cancer risk, it's soluble in water so was getting into the water table. Gasoline producers wanted lawsuit immunity for the health effects of MTBE, but didn't get it, at which point they switched to ethanol as the oxygenator.

Ethanol, like other alcohols, acts as a solvent for certain petrochemical products. That's why you can use rubbing alcohol to clean up oils like finger prints. At high enough concentrations, ethanol will essentially dissolve some fuel system components. (It has zero effect on metals, though.) Manufacturers have deemed 10% ethanol in gasoline to be safe for all fuel system components. Special bits are required to do E85 type concentrations.

Ethanol, by the way, is no more hygroscopic than MBTE was, as far as I know. Does anybody have anything specific on this aspect?

Now, as to why ethanol is showing up in areas that do not require oxygenated winter blends - I've never seen an explanation that I felt was backed up by non-biased facts. It very well could be the corn lobby, but I can't find any references to the EPA or any other government agency mandating ethanol outside of the specific pollution control areas. Maybe there's a deal between the gas companies and the ethanol producers? That seems weird to me. Maybe it's just cheaper for the gas companies to make a single blend of fuel for the entire nation? I dunno.

As far as gas mileage - ethanol has less energy per unit volume than gasoline, so yes you'll get less mpg than non-ethanol fuel. (Although for E10 it's really only a small difference.) But you actually get almost the exact same as with MTBE fuel. On the other hand, ethanol has a higher octane rating than gasoline and can be used to tune for higher power production. (A normal ECU isn't tuned for such, however.)

 

^^ Good info.

 

[QUOTE=deathsled,Oct 15 2009, 03:04 PM] practically all gas in the south east is e10.

 

You should put in some diesel.