My experience with Ethanol free gas

[Rochev]

I saw ethanol-free gas for the first time when I went on a trip to Bar Harbor recently. The closest gas station that offers it is 30 minutes away from anywhere I go, but I think it's worth it.

Before I started using it, I always averaged
25-26 mpg and getting about 370 miles a tank during summer.

Now after my second tank of ethanol free gas, in mostly rural driving with the AC always running, I'm getting 27.8 mpg and got 420 miles before the gas light even came on. The butt-dyno says there's a slight increase in torque, but that's not always accurate.

Anyway, is ethanol free a wise choice for a GDI engine? It definitely seems to drive better and is much better efficiency wise, but I'm not sure what difference there is inside the motor.

 

[ctechbob]

It's usually not worth the added expense, but if it floats your boat, go for it. There are some advantages to fuel system longevity, but that's debatable since most vehicles are designed with E10-E15 in mind. If it was close to on-par with E10 91 cost-wise, I would use it all the time, but around here it is usually about $.20 more expensive than E10 93, so not really worth it.

 

[tyman]

Around here it’s about .50/gal more then E10. Not really worth it.

 

[tyman]

It's usually not worth the added expense, but if it floats your boat, go for it. There are some advantages to fuel system longevity, but that's debatable since most vehicles are designed with E10-E15 in mind. If it was close to on-par with E10 91 cost-wise, I would use it all the time, but around here it is usually about $.20 more expensive than E10 93, so not really worth it.

Yup.

 

[ctechbob]

I will top up whatever vehicle I'm usually driving at the time with the E0 90 when I fill up the lawnmower gas containers, however. Just....well,.....just because? I don't have a solid valid reason for doing it, I just do.

 

[Rochev]

Yikes, I didn't realize it was so much more expensive. It probably equals out though with the increase in miles per tank. The station that has it is a full service and they only list the regular price. I think it was only a few dollars more anyway.

 

[earlyre]

back when the casey's near me had E0 91, it cost 65¢ more than E10 87, and I averaged +5 mpg's over E10 87.
was that 5mpg worth the added cost?
to me it was.
(i usually fill up around a 1/2 tank, which is 6.5 gal in this car. so an extra $4.22, to go an extra 32.5mi)

 

[Legal Eagles]

I prefer to run ethanol free in my small engines... in case anyone is unfamiliar, this site is great for finding "pure gas"...

Pure-gas.org - ethanol-free gasoline in the U.S. and Canada

Pure-gas.org is the definitive web site listing stations that sell pure gasoline in the U.S. and Canada.

www.pure-gas.org

It even has @Rochev 's Steamboat Landing Station in picturesque Bar Harbor, Maine!

 

[92saturnsl2]

It's not worth the extra money in my experience. The two vehicles I use for road trips get about 20-22mpg on the highway, and I'll see up to 23, at most 24mpg if using ethanol free fuel. I'll use it on a road trip occasionally when I see it, just for grins. I've never been able to discern any difference in engine performance.

It's usually around the cost of premium (for E0 87 octane) everywhere I've found it. So a 5-10% increase in fuel economy for a 20+% increase in cost, the math just doesn't work.

 

[pghvolvo]

As others say not worth the extra cost. My Volvo using E0 would get between 29.5 and 29.75 mpg. When I use E10 the mileage drops to 28.2 mpg.

 

[B1974]

Here in my part of Canada Shell and Canadian Tire have 91 octane with no ethanol. I fill up a jerry can (first few liters go in my truck) to use in my 1979 CB750L and lawn mower and it's all my tuned Mustang GT gets.

Luckily both brands have stations less then 5 min from my house.

 

[thastinger]

Well yeah, you'll get better mileage without Ethanol in your fuel as you have to burn more than twice the amount of ethanol/methanol to get the same BTUs as gasoline provides. The upside is that ethanol/methanol have higher knock resistance (octane rating) than gasoline when ran at stoichiometric ratios.

 

[ctechbob]

The E0 90 around here is simply the base for the E10 93 without the ethanol, that's at the local Valero. I think QuickTrip up the road has E0 87, not sure what that hails from.

 

[DemoFly]

E10 contains less energy than E0 so you inject slightly more of it.

Our toyota echo ran E10 for 340k miles and never had a fuel related issue.

Gas can gets E10, OPE gets E10.

Never a problem.

 

[1 SX]

I run E0 in all my small engines, and also in the Hyundais. The Sonata will pull over 34MPG on highway, while having slightly more power, so for me it equals out. Stewarts has the E0 in my area, (87,89 E10 91 E0) at the pump, and its no more then the other gas stations premium E10.

From Stewarts Website: https://www.stewartsshops.com/91-premium-non-ethanol-gasoline/

Benefits of Using Our Non-Ethanol Gas:

• Higher energy content. More energy = More power
• Improved gas mileage (around 4%)
• No dependence on ethanol crops
• Significantly much less harm to engines
• Does not corrode the engine
• Increases expected life on smaller engines
• Less costly to produce
• Uses fewer fossil fuels

 

[Justinp91]

It doesn't seem to matter whether I run E15 or 91 E0 in my GDI Focus. Gas mileage doesn't change, don't notice any performance differences. My Ecoboost Expedition feels a little sluggish with E15, it gets better gas mileage with 91. I put regular 87 in it and use 91 when towing or put octane booster in. Some engines don't care and some do. It seems to be making a difference in yours.

 

[joekingcorvette]

My Honda Civic does better with no alcohol gas however with the added cost it pencils out the same therefore I run 10 percent ethanol. I only buy no alcohol gas for my boat and small engines.

 

[odie]

Is the STEWART's gas as good as a Top Tier non E like that of VALERO 91 ? Detergents are very important for a G.D.I. engine . This is stated in the owner manual .

 

[Duffyjr]

My old 99 LeSabre always got a couple more miles to the gallon with E0 so when I bought my 08 Lucerne I kept using E0 but when the price spread became greater than the couple more miles I was getting I switched to E10, that's when I figure out with the Lucerne it didn't make any difference, the mpg didn't change going from one to the other.

 

[Rat407]

Some around here it is almost $1 more than regular.