Anyone else notice a HUGE loss in MPG, It's NOT your imagination

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

looks like they're using experimental fuels in the gas now and/or scamming with with E85 in the pumps...

looks like they're scamming us with HIGHER Ethanol in the gas?

Getting upto -38% to -33% loss in MPG lately..

my dads car was getting only 20mpg in his 4 banger (rated for 26 - 27 mpg · Highway: 34 MPG) no matter how hard i hyper mile it i can't get passed 26 even if I time it to hit every green light i should be at lest get 30-32


on the Sonic it's getting 6-12MPG even though it's rated 25/34 hyw/28 combined mpg

the SUV has also been running fairly positive fuel trims 10-12 range


I all ready replace the throttle body, mass air flow , air filter, map/baro


I tried adding an artificial restriction to the intake and it went negative fuel trims...

a lot of reports of other people losing mpg as well as well as the smell of the fuel being less gas like

[redpoint5]

While my memory may be faulty, I seem to recall MPG dropping 10% when E10 was introduced in my 1996 Subaru Legacy. I did no controlled tests though, so I would expect the actual decrease in MPG to be less.

There's no point in fuels with higher ethanol concentrations unless they have defined what problem is being solved, and how that solves it IN ADDITION TO engines being specifically tuned to operate with that ratio of ethanol.

Just because an engine can run on higher concentrations of ethanol doesn't mean it's a good idea.

[freebeard]

looks like they're scamming us with HIGHER Ethanol in the gas?

This is easily testable. Gasoline and ethanol have differing specific gravities. Compare clear premium, rubbing alchohol and a sample. Use a titration tube for accuracy.

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by freebeard

This is easily testable. Gasoline and ethanol have differing specific gravities. Compare clear premium, rubbing alchohol and a sample. Use a titration tube for accuracy.

they must be mixing in some other fuel beside the gas and ethanol

the "gas" does not smell of gasoline

[oil pan 4]

Gasoline smells like gasoline here. Just filled up the hybrid earlier today. Still getting 39mpg which is normal for driving around town.

[redpoint5]

The most recent car purchase I've made is a 2012 Prius plug-in bought in 2015. I sold that. Now the most recent purchase I still own is a 2006 Acura TSX bought in 2010. I don't own a vehicle from the last decade; closer to 2.

It's conceivable that I may never buy another petrol burning passenger vehicle. If I do, it's very likely to be my last.

[bwilson4web]

Depending on where you live and the gasoline source, there can be a measurable effect on MPG. For example, additive mixes: https://www.eia.gov/tools/glossary/i...g%20components

Gasoline blending components:

Naphthas which will be used for blending or compounding into finished aviation or motor gasoline (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, andxylene). Excludes oxygenates (alcohols, ethers), butane, and pentanes plus.

Bob Wilson

[oil pan 4]

Still the same here.
I suspect winter cold mixed with a little mass hysteria.

[freebeard]

Anyone else notice a HUGE loss in MPG, It's NOT your imagination

Maybe it's just confirmation bias, but the last time I drove I saw that the gas gauge was on 1/2 when I had tried to fill the tank a week earlier.

I had asked for a fill and thrown down $25, but it clicked off so I threw down another $50 but they just gave me change for it and refused to top the tank. I'd picked that station so I could get a reading on the bottom of the gauge (it read full when I pulled away), not going back there.

So that's a big maybe?

[Piotrsko]

Don't know how your super responds, but ours was sensitive to some tank configuration oddity. From the neck to 1/2 tank was like 150 miles, below half tank was 80 miles to empty on the gauge. the lower float stuck every so often.