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Old 10-14-2010, 10:52 PM   #175 (permalink)
Nerys
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Levittown PA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UFO View Post
I see by your data you are convinced, and it is very compelling. But to me it's utterly non-comprehensible. Ethanol is a fuel with 75% of the chemical energy of gasoline. A gallon of ethanol added to your tank should equal more miles, not less. I am not aware of any mechanism that can account for such an effect.
UFO your mistake is simple but hard to see sometimes.

let me explain. Assuming you got a gas car hypothesize with me.

Lets fill it with diesel. How far you going to get?

but wait Diesel has MORE energy how could it get you less miles than gasoline?

Diesel is an extreme case of what is happening to my and many others cars.

you get crap (ie zero) miles for a very simple reason.

YOUR CAR IS NOT CAPABLE OF BURNING DIESEL regardless of its energy content.

well OUR cars are NOT DESIGNED to burn ETHANOL (but can sort of)

the ethanol INTERFERES with the proper functioning of the engine.

its not about the energy content of the ethanol versus the gasoline. its about my car CAN NOT PROPERLY FUNCTION AS DESIGNED with the presence of ethanol in the fuel. It works just NOT WELL.

Just like your gas car can not function (at all) with diesel present in your fuel.

THAT is why I am many others (MOST Others but they simply do not know it) are seeing such issues.

Does that make more sense? I understand the energy content difference.

E10 has 4-5% less energy per gallon than gasoline SO cars "DESIGNED TO OPERATE ON E10" see about a 4-5% drop in FE as expected.

now put that E10 in a car INCAPABLE of "properly or fully" combusting the E10 fuel.

it also explains by the HC emissions of older cars SKYROCKETS when you put them on E10. Lots of improperly burned fuel going out the tail pipe.

my car passed emissions last year by the skin of its teeth. 2 parts per million shy of failing.

I had it retested when I put E0 in the car for a couple of tanks. orders of magnitude drop in HC emissions.

which means its probably hosing my CAT as well.