Gas Stations that have BAD Fuel

[Phantom]

I do not think in KY that it is mandatory for pumps to have E10 (up to 10% ethanol) but I'm not sure it could also be a by county thing. The one by me is e10 on the cheapest grade gas and is the only station that I know that carries E85 (up to 85% ethanol).

My car has never noticed if there is ethanol in it but that was before I tried to get good mileage. I actually thought that my car got the best mpg on Thorton's gas and I know that they are an E10 gas (it says it on the pump).

Here in the next week or so I might try and run Krogers and Thortons gas see if it turns up anything then go back to the Marathon gas that I have been running.

[Jammer]

I swear every pump I see around here claims 10% Alcohol, I honestly thought it all was tied to some Federal mandate to get Americans off of oil- by slowly increasing the amount of alcohol in our "gas".

This may not be the correct forum, but while on the subject of alternative fuels I wonder how much bang per buck we can get out of those Algae farm fuels? I read that Algae needs just a pinch per plastic bag of fertilizer (chemicals no doubt) plus water, stapled to large white walls inside large green houses that managed to grow the pond-scum in a few days.... The way things are going I much rather have my fuel competing with frogs than I want the fuel to compete with the world's food supply... Thus Corn, Cane, sugar most of the alternatives compete with the food supply. It would be really cool if Algae-fuel would burn with more of a bank than moonshine (ahem) I mean corn-alcohol does.

I must concur that the small gas engines seem to be running the worse on this e10 stuff. Does raising the octave from 87 up higher really help any with small econo-box engines?

[Weather Spotter]

raising octane has not helped for me, but I have not done much testing.

[Phantom]

Raising the octane up from 87 can help IF the higher grade gas is of better quality Fuel Rating - Octane Comparison - Dyno Tests Graphs - Hot Rod Magazine .

[rbrowning]

A few years ago I was commuting 90 miles each way to work, all highway. With my Silverado getting 18MPG I was burning 10 gal/day and had to refill the tank every other day. I switched back and forth between Speedway and BP and kept records of every tank. After 7 tanks of each I averaged out my miles and gallons and found that I got 1.5 MPG better with the BP than the Speedway. I'm not sure why but there was enough data that weather should have been factored out.

When doing this type of comparison remember that you have to add up your total miles and total gallons then calculate MPG, don't just average the MPG of each tank, especially if you fill up at different intervals, ie half a tank one time and 1/4 the next. You can't average averages. It don't work.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I swear every pump I see around here claims 10% Alcohol, I honestly thought it all was tied to some Federal mandate to get Americans off of oil- by slowly increasing the amount of alcohol in our "gas".

I must concur that the small gas engines seem to be running the worse on this e10 stuff. Does raising the octave from 87 up higher really help any with small econo-box engines?

Minimum ethanol requirements are mostly mandated at the state level. Oregon and Washington mandate E10, and I noticed a sharp decrease in mpg once the changeover occurred.

Running a higher octane than what your engine was engineered for will not help anything. I always recommend running the minimum octane that your engine is rated for. For example, Acura recommends I run 92 PON, but the minimum required is 87 PON. I run 87 and surprisingly, do not notice a decrease in mileage. Since my timing is computer controlled, I do not have pinging or any other symptoms of running a low octane.

FYI- ethanol contains ~2/3 of the amount of energy as gasoline. This means an engine running 100% ethanol would get only 66% of the MPG that a gasoline engine would.

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

FYI- ethanol contains ~2/3 of the amount of energy as gasoline. This means an engine running 100% ethanol would get only 66% of the MPG that a gasoline engine would.

Please do not perpetuate that myth, as it is not as cut and dried as it appears. And, it's incorrect.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Please do not perpetuate that myth, as it is not as cut and dried as it appears. And, it's incorrect.

My comments on ethanol contain no myth, only facts. The fact is that ethanol contains 2/3 of the energy per volume as gasoline. The expenditure of energy is the only method of performing work (driving). The conclusion of less MPG follows from the true premise of the substantially lower energy content of ethanol.

Please do not spread any myth that is contrary to science and logic. Should you disagree with the facts I have presented, the burden lies on you to debunk them with evidence.

[Weather Spotter]

redpoint5, where is your source? The burden is on you to prove your numbers (ethanol is not guilty until proven otherwise).

[TheEnemy]

Actually red is correct pure ethanol has about 66% the energy of regular gas.

The problem with his statement is that we are running E-10, the difference in energy between E-10 and E-0 is only about 3.5%. So if your getting 50mpg, you should loose only 1.75mpg. Some cars like one of mine lost more because they don't seem to like E-10 for some reason or another.

One thing to keep in mind is if you are running E-100 you would have an octain of 122, in which you could run a much higher compression and possibly more than offset the lower energy per gallon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol#As_a_fuel