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10% ethanol vs. No ethanol added gasoline

mustang6878

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Joined
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City, State
Iowa
Year, Model & Trim Level
'10 Sport Trac Limited
Did a little experiment last month where I switched back and forth between 10% ethanol gasoline and No added ethanol ( straight) gasoline.

The difference at the pump here was about 20 cents per gallon with 10% ethanol running $2.79 / gal and No ethanol running $2.99 / gal.

My 2010 Trac has a fuel capacity of 22.5 gallons. I tried consistently to put in at least 18 gallons on every fill up.

With 10% I was getting around 10 -11 MPG ( city) just going around town, short trips, very little highway driving. When I got it out on the highway on a 300 mile trip ( my daughter in in Kansas City), I kept my foot out of it and got a solid 18 mpg at 70 MPH on the 4 lane highway and 75 MPH on the Interstate highways.

When I switched to no ethanol added ( straight) gasoline, my around town ( city ) MPG was up 2 MPG at 13 consistently and the 4.6 V8 really liked the good stuff on the highway / Interstate at a solid 21 MPG.

I think I was getting a little better mileage than this because I went to a taller 265 /65/ 18 tire late last year. I was driving 5 MPH slower knowing that my speedo was around 5 MPH off...

If you do the math, with a full 22.5 fuel load I was getting 236 miles in city and 405 miles highway on 10 % ethanol. Non ethanol was giving me a range of 292 city and 472 highway.

Even more math shows that 10% is costing me $62.78 for a full tank while non ethanol cost me $67.28

BUT....
Fuel cost per mile?

!0% is $62.78 divided by 236 or 26.6 cents per mile city and $62.78 divided by 405 or 15.5 cents highway

Straight gas is $67.28 divided by 292 for 23 cents per mile city and $67.28 divided by 472 or 14.2 cents highway.

Looks like my 2010 Sport Trac like the straight gas better.

Your thoughts? ( Other than I have wayyy too much time on my hands....)
 



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I did the same experiment on my b4000 mazda aka ranger saw so little difference that I use 10% but in my lawn and garden that sits not used all the time I use the real stuff. the real stuff around is 30-35 cents more per gallon
roscoe
 






Mustang
You didn't mention octane. What octane were you running with the 10% gas and what octane were you getting with the straight (blue handle) gas?
 






Good info, thanks for posting.

When they first put ethanol in fuel around here, I knew this would happen, it only makes sense. Adding 10% of a fuel that gets worse mileage than gasoline, of course the mpg potential is lower.

But it’s great that you documented it nice job
 






Non-ethanol 89-90 gasoline (It's labeled recreational or REC fuel) goes for 3.99 up here and only a relatively small handful of stations carry it. Usually it has it's own above ground tank but a couple places have it in the ground tanks (at the normal pumps). My rig purs on it. Put in the 87 ethanol and it sounds like a diesel and idles like crap. I've also noticed a roughly 40 mile difference per tank between to two. But, I usually just put the 87 in because the gas station next door doesn't carry non-ethanol and an extra $20 per tank is an extra $20 I could have in my pocket. :dunno:
 






Here is what I'm talking about..

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I, by necessity, run 91 octane (supercharged 4.6L), and straight 91 octane gasoline is impossible to find in my area. I have calculated the mileage difference while on long road trips. Invariably, I see a 10-12% better mpg with the non-ethanol gasoline. I calculate the old fashion way, real odometer mileage divided by pumped gallons.
 






Here in California, we don't get a choice. Everything is 10%.:(

50 cents difference between 87 and 89 is crazy tough :eek:

Here it only 10 cents difference between each grade 87 to 89 to 91, but our 87 starts of higher of course.


But we do have a few scattered places with 100 octane :cool2:
 






No, you are right.. that is crazy and is usually 20-30 cents difference. It's just at that station the prices are wack because its right next to the dam and many boaters and fisherman stop there. The price of pure gasoline doesn't fluctuate with the other ethanol-laced octanes. It's been $4 a gallon all year.

Speaking of 100, you reminded me of a station close by that sells it. I drove up there to see what the price was and the pump that had it now has this..

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They also still had the run down old pump with Leaded 110 TurboBlue. Any racer worth his window paint would never take his chances with that stuff. Could be 10 years old and contaminated with salt for all anyone knows, despite the state cert :shifty:. The kid behind the counter making minimum doesn't get paid enough to know anything about anything so don't bother asking him anything about it. :rolleyes:

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This is interesting:

High octane gas coming — but you'll pay more for it

Automakers and oil companies are quietly developing a new generation of fuels and engines to run more efficiently on them, generating more power from less gasoline to reduce emissions and boost fuel economy.

Development work on super-premium gasoline grades and engines to take advantage of them is going on behind the scenes while automakers and oil companies around the world ponder how to sell the public on the idea.

Ford global technology and engineering chief Raj Nair provided a rare glimpse into the automaker's plans for higher octane fuel recently during a speech at the Society of Automotive Engineers annual banquet in Detroit.

That night, Nair said “new fuel formulations” are a priority as the company works to reduce its environmental impact. Even that oblique reference to higher grades of gasoline drew applause.

When automakers and oil companies talk about “higher gasoline grades” and “new fuel formulations,” they usually mean higher octane ratings. Most gasoline in the U.S. today is between 87 and 94 octane.

The U.S. Department of Energy is working with automakers and oil companies on a project called Optima to cooperate on engine and fuel development and reduce petroleum consumption 30%, Lindsay Brooke reported in the Society of Automotive Engineers publication Automotive Engineering.

“The general position is that (premium) is what automakers are thinking for the future octane level,” Toyota senior principal engineer for energy and environmental research Marie Valentine said.

“We don’t need a new fuel — we just need improved gasoline,” David Brooks, General Motors director of global propulsion labs, recently told an engineering conference. He said 114 octane was ideal from an engineer’s point of view, but probably too expensive for customers to accept.


In addition to adding higher-octane fuels, the lowest current octane levels will probably be phased out over time.

“Increasing octane could be the lowest-cost way to raise fuel economy,” an executive who requested anonymity said. “It costs far less than developing a new transmission, for instance.”

In Europe, where higher-octane gasoline is common, running super-premium fuel with about 98 octane increased fuel economy 10% compared with gasoline at U.S.-premium levels of 92-94.
 






Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines | Department of Energy

The Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative aims to simultaneously transform both transportation fuels and vehicles in order to maximize performance and energy efficiency, minimize environmental impact, and accelerate widespread adoption of innovative combustion strategies.

This research and development (R&D) collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), nine national laboratories, and industry is a first-of-its-kind effort to combine biofuels and combustion R&D, building on decades of advances in both fuels and engines.

The Co-Optima initiative takes a three-pronged, integrated approach to identifying and developing:

  • Engines designed to run more efficiently on affordable, scalable, and sustainable fuels
  • Fuels designed to work in high-efficiency, low-emissions engines
  • Marketplace strategies that can shape the success of new fuels and vehicle technologies with industry and consumers.

Gasoline including ethanol engines aren't going anywhere, they are going to be more powerful! Imagine 2.0L turbo engines making 500hp from the factory on 114 "pump gas" and zero emissions.
 






I like the idea of real gas growing in popularity, and more stations carrying it. Here it's become a little more common, now maybe one in six have it. One near me is usually 30 cents higher per gallon, but that real pure gas doesn't vary in price to match the rest. So when the difference does drop to about 20 cents, I buy that as much as I can. The mileage/price difference isn't much really, but I much prefer to not use alcohol in gasoline. The black crud that can develop over long periods in the tank, is worth avoiding.

I see another cash-for-clunkers type program or scheme coming. That industry will want to get rid of the older cars, and make us buy more new cars. The newer the car is, the harder it is to work on, and it's much more expensive.
 






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