Ethanol Free getting 30mpg

[Tosh]

I'm sure there is science behind it, but it does not feel more environmentally friendly to get a 30% hit on my mpg for ethanol fuel.

You hit the nail on the head. It is NOT more environmentally friendly. It is economically advantageous for corn producers.

I use a 50/50 blend of standard 92 octane (E15 now) and 92 octane ethanol-free. I like how the engine runs, and I've been getting about 25.5 MPG vs the 22.5 from the winter months.

I really don't give a rat's tail about the cost difference. I want the performance.

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[Gros Ventre]

Can you show that MPG over say 5000 miles or more... It is not a real MPG...

 

[JJ_Tex]

Can you show that MPG over say 5000 miles or more... It is not a real MPG...

I wish I could get ethanol free near me, but I tracked 1,600 miles through Wyoming and Montana a few weeks ago and ended up getting 28.5 on average. Some of my shorter trips where I was gentle were 30+ mpg, and of course it was lower on the highway at speeds of 75+.

 

[Gros Ventre]

I live in western Wyoming and travel much of the state. Ethanol free is available almost everywhere. What I've found is that my trucks don't care. I've never been able to discern a difference between 10% ethanol & 0% ethanol... Mathmatically the 10% ethanol has about 95% of the energy content as straight gasoline. On the flip side the octane goes up a tad with ethanol... Now if you're stuck with a higher than 10% ethanol, I got it, you may well see a hit in mileage... I've long been bothered by 85% ethanol (E-85) since it has only a bit more than half the energy of straight gasoline and thus, as I see things, ought to be half the price of straight gasoline... For the record, I see about 26.x MPG at Wyoming's non-Interstate speeds. On the Interstates I see about 21 MPG (eg @80 MPH). Note: this is without headwinds.

 

[takalow]

going to E0 will have ~10% improvement in fuel economy regardless of other factors when compared to E10.

About 20 of us at work did an experiment with various vehicles a few years ago. E10 was 10% less gas mileage than E0 but was also 10% cheaper on average.

 

[amschind]

You hit the nail on the head. It is NOT more environmentally friendly. It is economically advantageous for corn producers.

I use a 50/50 blend of standard 92 octane (E15 now) and 92 octane ethanol-free. I like how the engine runs, and I've been getting about 25.5 MPG vs the 22.5 from the winter months.

I really don't give a rat's tail about the cost difference. I want the performance.

For pure performance, E85 is your best commonly available fuel. You will have to add some bolt on mods like an exhaust, bigger intercooler and turbo blankets and maybe a CAI as well as an ethanol specific tune, but you won't beat the power numbers from ethanol unless you use race gasoline. The issue is that ethanol's octane rating is so much higher than any commonly available gasoline that a tune which can utilize that will make insane power numbers.

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