87 oct (100% ethanol free) or 87 w/10% ethanol?

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I typically prefer to use major brands of gas, i.e., Mobil, Shell or BP, but we have an FS (Farm Service) gas station in town that offers 87/89/92 octane. The 87 octane is 100% pure gas with no ethanol blended in, and the their other two grands have the ethanol.

My question is, would I get better gas mileage by using the FS 87 with no ethanol in it? And would it burn cleaner/better?

It's strange, but when I fill up at BP or Shell here in central Illinois and drive to my brothers in Fort Wayne Indian I get awful gas mileage, but when I fill up there for the trip home (Indiana doesn't have to blend ethanol in their gas) I get excellent mileage, and use noticeably less fuel simply by looking at the gauge. But I can't be sure if it's the ZERO ethanol or simply driving conditions and temps.
 
I have a very similar experience.

Despite all the naysayers who tell me how ethanol blends are nearly indistinguishable from regular fuel, my car gets way worse on corn liquor than you'd think.
 
You get more heat realeased from fuel not blended with ethanol than with ethanol so in theory you are getting more energy in the same volume of gas without ethanol that with it.

Your engine might do better without E-10 fuel than with as my 89 Cabriolet does.

My 2006 Santa Fe however sees no difference between E0 and E10 that is signifigant.

Now the EPA says that E-10 burns cleaner but I would think with modern technology and improved fuels of today E-10 isn't necessary to make them burn cleaner but yet we still have them because now they are trying to reduce dependence on foreign oil and the Corn industry has a vested interest and is lobbying.

It's all about politics IMO.
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And if you are getting horrible mileage I would check into your 02 sensor, Map sensor or MAF sensor not being up to snuff because it should be not that noticeable in cars of the last 10 years.
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I know, that's how it seems for me. My mechanic says that ethanol gunks up engines anyway...but with the major brands, their additives offset that anyway don't they?
 
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I typically prefer to use major brands of gas, i.e., Mobil, Shell or BP, but we have an FS (Farm Service) gas station in town that offers 87/89/92 octane. The 87 octane is 100% pure gas with no ethanol blended in, and the their other two grands have the ethanol.

My question is, would I get better gas mileage by using the FS 87 with no octane in it? And would it burn cleaner/better?

It's strange, but when I fill up at BP or Shell here in central Illinois and drive to my brothers in Fort Wayine Indian I get awful gas mileage, but when I fill up there for the trip home (Indiana doesn't have to blend ethanol in their gas) I get excellent mileage, and use noticeably less fuel simply by looking at the gauge. But I can't be sure if it's the ZERO ethanol or simply dirving conditions and temps.


I use only pure gasoline.It is almost 5 % more efficient than blended gasoline but then they charge 5-7 cents more for pure than ethanol-added gas.
 
Originally Posted By: Geo_Prizm
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I typically prefer to use major brands of gas, i.e., Mobil, Shell or BP, but we have an FS (Farm Service) gas station in town that offers 87/89/92 octane. The 87 octane is 100% pure gas with no ethanol blended in, and the their other two grands have the ethanol.

My question is, would I get better gas mileage by using the FS 87 with no octane in it? And would it burn cleaner/better?

It's strange, but when I fill up at BP or Shell here in central Illinois and drive to my brothers in Fort Wayine Indian I get awful gas mileage, but when I fill up there for the trip home (Indiana doesn't have to blend ethanol in their gas) I get excellent mileage, and use noticeably less fuel simply by looking at the gauge. But I can't be sure if it's the ZERO ethanol or simply dirving conditions and temps.


I use only pure gasoline.It is almost 5 % more efficient than blended gasoline but then they charge 5-7 cents more for pure than ethanol-added gas.


But, will this stuff burn cleaner? as in, keeping the injectors and fule lines clean?
 
Originally Posted By: Mark72
I know, that's how it seems for me. My mechanic says that ethanol gunks up engines anyway...but with the major brands, their additives offset that anyway don't they?


From all the engines I have torn apart with my dad that we know have run only E-10 fuels (as 99% of them up here are) I can tell you that E-10 doesn't gunk up injectors or anything in the fuel system or the cylinders/valves for that matter.

Ethanol is a natural cleaner so if anything it would be better than pure gasoline additives aside.

It is however very "Drying" and it helps to use an upper cylinder lubricant of sorts in the e-10 blend to keep things from "drying".
 
The gas I buy is a 'Top Tier' certified pure gasoline, it has all the detergents for keeping the injectors and the fuel lines clean. Are there any Road Ranger gas stations close to where you live Mark72?
 
Originally Posted By: Geo_Prizm
The gas I buy is a 'Top Tier' certified pure gasoline, it has all the detergents for keeping the injectors and the fuel lines clean. Are there any Road Ranger gas stations close to where you live Mark72?


Yes, we have a Road Ranger and it's a Marathon gas station. why?
 
My car gets distinctly better gas mileage on pure gas than it does on gas with 10% ethanol.

Both sides make arguments, but policies seem to only listen to one side. The people against ethanol seem to have some very valid points, but I haven't done enough research to verify everything myself. But from how my gas mileage improves I prefer pure gas over E-10 any day.

Also, I've heard people are having problems with fuel pumps b/c of E-10, ethanol absorbs moisture which usually helps to lubricate fuel pumps. I forget all the details, but google it and you should find info.
 
Just ask any cab driver about ethanol and you will discover new expletives real quick. There is no question: ethanol is bad for you.
 
Originally Posted By: Shuttler
Just ask any cab driver about ethanol and you will discover new expletives real quick. There is no question: ethanol is bad for you.
Elaborate?
 
Originally Posted By: Geo_Prizm
The gas I buy is a 'Top Tier' certified pure gasoline, it has all the detergents for keeping the injectors and the fuel lines clean. Are there any Road Ranger gas stations close to where you live Mark72?


Many so called Top Tier stations in our area sell 90/10.

Top Tier has nothing to do with the word Pure
 
There are a few benefits from using a GOOD (not AM/PM or 7/11) ethanol blend. Ethanol is a natural solvent and that helps clean your engine from all that [censored] gas you were using before. Aside from the polution it helps bring down the usage of oil. Cars that run on E85 save sooooo much oil. The gas mileage does hella suck compared to 100% gas but if we all ran E85 we wouldnt be talking about expensive gas prices and wouldnt care about how gas mileage as much. Naturally grown fuel is a great alturnative and I support it being blended in fuel.
 
The only way to know for sure the difference between the two kinds of fuel in your particular vehicle is to track mileage using both fuels, meaning using the old method of miles driven on each tank divided by gallons used. Guesstimating just by looking at your gas gauge wont work. Try to keep all other factors constant if possible.
 
Originally Posted By: yaris0128
Aside from the polution it helps bring down the usage of oil. Cars that run on E85 save sooooo much oil.


I've been on cross country road trips and always look forward to running gas with no ethanol outside of Massachusetts. I've always had a 2-3mpg increase without E and during my last 5000 mile trip I burned no oil. Dipstick was full when I left and full when I returned.
 
Originally Posted By: Mark72

Yes, we have a Road Ranger and it's a Marathon gas station. why?


Well, the Road Ranger in our area sells Top Tier certified pure gasoline.It is Road Ranger only, it is not Marathon or any other name.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8

Top Tier has nothing to do with the word Pure


True, but the gas I mentioned buying is both a Top Tear gas and 100% pure gas.

Mark72, here is the list of gas stations that sell pure gasoline in Illinois: http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=IL

There you can get the list for each and every state.
 
Originally Posted By: yaris0128
There are a few benefits from using a GOOD (not AM/PM or 7/11) ethanol blend. Ethanol is a natural solvent and that helps clean your engine from all that [censored] gas you were using before. Aside from the polution it helps bring down the usage of oil. Cars that run on E85 save sooooo much oil. The gas mileage does hella suck compared to 100% gas but if we all ran E85 we wouldnt be talking about expensive gas prices and wouldnt care about how gas mileage as much. Naturally grown fuel is a great alturnative and I support it being blended in fuel.


Ethanol? Such as higher food prices - food being a commodity - hurting the poor - worldwide. Take an Econ class. Corn is used to feed beef as well. And the ethanol production is subsidized causing more debt to paid back by taxpayers. And its production requires more water than ethanol produced and the additional corn requires more fertilizers dumped down the Mississippi when crops aren't rotated because corn depletes nitrogen from the soil - see 5 year stock charts for nitro fertilizer companies TNH and TRA.

http://bigcharts.marketwatch.com/quickch...q=2&time=12

Also, how does ethanol help save oil when it produces less MPG - resulting in more oil being used? And ethanol use has had no affect on lowering the price of oil - which is the underlying indicator for the price of gasoline (refined oil). Transporting ethanol, adding it, etc. to gas - extra cost on refiners passed onto you so they can continue in business.

E10 only available around here. I would avoid it if I could.
 
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