How much is ethanol-free worth?

[faramir9]

So, tomorrow I plan to visit a friend who lives a few miles from one of the rare ethanol-free gas stations in PA. To be precise, there is one pump of 91 octane non-ethanol gas at a Mobil station, though it says on that pump it's not an XOM product.

I normally run 87 in my beater Saturn---Top Tier when I can but I don't obsess about that. Now and then I fill it with Shell V-Power 93. I also dump in a bottle or two of Techron during each OCI of 4-5K miles.

With regular 87 E10 gasohol going for $2.11 here, how much would you pay for 91 octane ethanol-free?

 

[CHARLIEBRONSON21]

Down here it's about $1.30 more. Honestly I don't really use it for that reason. Ran it a couple times in the '93 and it seemed to idle smoother than normal but that's about it.

 

[Rand]

Depends on what I'm running it in.. Modern car probably worth about 5-10% to me or 10-25cents.

In OPE its worth it.

Even at 100% more or 4-5$ gal.

 

[hatt]

For a daily driver beater it's not worth very much extra. Maybe 5%.

 

[JHZR2]

If you figure you can get 5% higher fuel economy, then do the math and figure how much more it can cost to be worth it.

Id also factor in that it may not sell as well and so may be older product...

 

[faramir9]

Thanks all for the advice. I will check it out tomorrow and report back. (Weather permitting. Yep. After a "winter" with almost no winter weather---got to test the Nokians only once---and after 70 degrees yesterday, it could snow here on Sunday.)

 

[SZR48207]

Where I live, Oklahoma, is probably one of few states with 500+ 100% Gas stations. The typical "premium" for E0 here is 20 cents on top of the base price for E10 87. This is the typical pricing you'll find at any "high volume" station like 7/11 or OnCue.

There are some of those cruddy Valero or Shell stations that are independently run and they'll charge up to 50 cents extra for E0.

Anyway, if you can only get it for 1 tank, it's not worth it. If you could run it ALL the time, then yeah it would be worth it.

 

[turtlevette]

Originally Posted By: CHARLIEBRONSON21
Down here it's about $1.30 more.


Dumb tax.

 

[hatt]

Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: CHARLIEBRONSON21
Down here it's about $1.30 more.


Dumb tax.

It's worth it to keep people up at night worrying.

 

[Dupree]

maverick in utah has ethanol free 88 octane for $0.20 more per gallon over 85 octane. lol that's right we eat 85 octane for low grade mile high air doesn't need as much octane maverick has 85 low 87 mid 90 high and 88 ethanol free, my Subaru H6 (1st gen H6) requires premium, it likes running the ethanol free 88 better, gets better mileage and runs cooler on engine temps slightly so I run it, its only 5 cents more then premium, my classic car gets it too

 

[TmanP]

I'd pay as much as it cost for the couple of gallons a year I use in the mower, blower, trimmer, snow blower. But for my cars, not more than 20 cents or so extra.

 

[faramir9]

I passed for now. It was $2.99 for ethanol-free 91 octane. Mobil-branded gasohol was $2.23/$2.43/$2.63 for 87, 89 and 93 octane.

Here in the small city where I live, 45 miles from the "pure gas" station, I can get Turkey Hill 87 octane for $2.09 with my store card. Top-tier, (Exxon, Mobil, Valero) is about $2.17. So it just did not make sense to pay that much extra for Shirley Temple gas. Not this time, anyway....

 

[Oro_O]

I buy it when on a road trip and can find stations along the way. It really does make the car run better and boost mpg. I think we must have the worst ethanol around here because all the vehicles I drive (ours, parents, etc) run SOO much better with real gas or some additive. I am using MMO in my dd SUV now and that's helped quite a bit.

It's also car specific how much it benefits. Her dd Lexus, quite a bit (car I was referring to above). My dd older SUV, not so much.

Give it a try some time just for the heck of it and see.

 

[Duffyjr]

A while back I had to go a couple months without ethanol free gas when Nebraska said no more and my mpg in my Buick went south. Then Casey's started selling it again. While I never really figure mpg I know how many miles I get out of a tank when the light comes on. It dropped from averaging around 205 a tank to 160ish. That's over 3 mpg so if a fill up takes 14 gallons and it costs .24 cents more a gallon its easy math.

 

[cmhj]

I made the mistake of filling up on the Ohio Turnpike last fall. Mileage went from 32-34 to about 26 until I got some "decent" ethanol in Pa. I knew this would happen but screwed up and forgot as I was nearing the state line.

Not all states are required to post if you're buying E10, E15 or whatever. Sometimes it's a shot in the dark when you're out of town.

 

[Spector]

I run 100% gas but 87 octane. The break even point for me is about 20 cents per gallon, the increased MPG I get with the 100% gas comes to about 20cents a gallon. Would I still use it even if it cost more, probably.

 

[TNBurban]

I get 100% gas for use in my small engines at home. Pressure washer, chainsaw, mowers, weed eater, chipper.

As far as vehicles go, the 1991 volvo gets 100% gas once out of every 4-5 tanks, and all the other vehicles get the blend.

 

[TiredTrucker]

It is all about cost per mile. Any appreciable gains in mpg would be offset by higher price of ethanol free in most cases, so the cost per mile would not change much. Could even be higher. I base all fuel purchase decisions on a cost per mile basis, without any bias one way or the other. If I got 16 mpg at, say, $2 a gallon for E10, but E0 was costing me $2.30 and giving me 18 mpg, there is not enough savings to consider it valid. Less than 1/4 cent a mile savings with the increased mpg. Each vehicle is different and one just has to run the numbers for their situation.

 

[fdcg27]

E0 is the new snake oil.
People ascribe unlikely gains in fuel economy to it, as well as smoother running.
Reality is that E0 should provide an increase in fuel economy that's too small to calculate in actual use as compared to E10 and nothing else.
We've had E10 here for decades and our cars and OPEs have done just fine with it.
The presumed superiority of E0 is just another one of those urban (or internet) myths.
At current oil and ethanol prices, E0 should be cheaper than E10.

 

[dave1251]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
E0 is the new snake oil.
People ascribe unlikely gains in fuel economy to it, as well as smoother running.
Reality is that E0 should provide an increase in fuel economy that's too small to calculate in actual use as compared to E10 and nothing else.
We've had E10 here for decades and our cars and OPEs have done just fine with it.
The presumed superiority of E0 is just another one of those urban (or internet) myths.
At current oil and ethanol prices, E0 should be cheaper than E10.


Indeed.