Ethanol-free gas??

[funkymonkey1111]

I've read recently the harm that higher ethanol blends are doing to engines, such that even AAA has come out against the sale of some of these blends.

My inquiry is this--is it worth trying to use ethanol free gas in your car? There's a petroleum company called Pynergy Petroleum that apparently sells it on Santa Fe--but supposedly will not let you pump it into a road vehicle. You'd have to use gas cans and fill your car from them. To those in the know, would this make a difference long term in the life of the engine?

[Goodburbon]

engine life, I'm unsure, Should increase mpg though.

[Dave]

Most modern cars that are 2000 or newer can handle the 10% blends ok since they were designed with those blends in mind. The problem lies that it seems like by the time car companies catch up and design their vehicles to handle the increased ethanol someone decides to up the percentages again. A blend of about 5% does help your engine run cleaner, helping with deposits and emissions, but over 10% begins to have adverse effects on fuel system compnents. It wears out plastic and rubber and isn't that great for some metal alloys either.

Ethanol blends are actually lower MPG. E85 blends in a car made to handle it will give about 10-12% less fuel economy than a 10% blend from the pump next to it.

[speedysst]

The salesman at Pyrenergy also explained that a lot of the blended ethanol gas is actually at a higher percentage than 10%. Something to do with the underground tanks. Im trying to use non blended gas in my motorcycle but the nearest pure gas station is 49 miles away. As far as E85, it is about 30 cents cheaper per gallon and there are companies using biomass instead of corn to make ethanol. Yet no one is pursuing butanol which has twice the energy content of ethanol and can be blended with gas at higher percentages without any conversion. Its made using the same raw materials as ethanol but uses a different process to break it down.

[electronman1729]

There is a conoco station in englewood that sells pure gas but it is 91. I think it is called Brads Conoco

[funkymonkey1111]

There is a conoco station in englewood that sells pure gas but it is 91. I think it is called Brads Conoco

is there any issue about filling a car, or do you need to put it in cans?

[Dryfli]

I was working in Nebraska and high grade fuel (87&91) were cheaper than the basic, no gov. kick back

[00tec]

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=CO

[tmleadr03]

Ethanol blend was one of the first tests we did at the BMW dealer, along with octane rating, to vehicles coming in with rough running issues. Over 10% or wrong octane, no warranty.

[electronman1729]

is there any issue about filling a car, or do you need to put it in cans?

From what i read online its a regular conoco and you can just pull up and pump it. I also believe that the airport in longmont has 100 octane gas but im not sure about getting to the truck to pump it

[Busta Prima]

I went on this same quest a year or two ago and it was nearly impossible to find. The online directory I had found was completely wrong. All I wanted to do was buy ethenol free gas for my lawn mowers and weed whackers, never mind for a car. About the only place is the airport but now you're paying $4 to $6 a gallon and the octane is WAY too high. In fact it's ALL octane, no hexane and going over the rating is just as bad as going under. People mistakenly believe (as with most things) that "more is better" and that you'll get more power but that's not true.

As for the damage of ethenol, the main issue is that it absorbs water from anywhere, including right out of the air. That helps it ruin the engine, especially the smaller ones that get little use. I'm finding this is a huge issue for boat owners (because I'll be one soon) that fill their boats with autogas and don't use it all up right away.

The whole ethenol program is a giant waste. The little bit of savings gets blown out by the cost of making it and the cleaner exhaust is offset by burning more fuel to get where you're going. Add to that the additional costs of maintenance and it REALLY sucks. This is your government at work (both sides).

[Stinky]

I have a friend that works in the fuel delivery business. He claims about a 10% drop in mpg by going to ethanol.

[hollohas]

I have a friend that works in the fuel delivery business. He claims about a 10% drop in mpg by going to ethanol.

It is WAY more. I have a flex fuel/E85 truck and my milage drops by almost 25% when I have run E85. When E85 is only 10% cheaper then gas it actually costs significantly more to run ethanol.

[sniper7]

E85 is terrible. Unless it is 75% the price of regular gas it is not financially worth it. Then you have to fill up more often, get less mpg (I factored that into the cost) and it is worse on your engine since you are burning more fuel to get the same distance. I tested this in my 2008 gmc Sierra, 2010 silver ado and a 2011 suburban. My 2012 silverado will never see that crap...unless it is about 1/2 the price.

[jerrymrc]

It is WAY more. I have a flex fuel/E85 truck and my milage drops by almost 25% when I have run E85. When E85 is only 10% cheaper then gas it actually costs significantly more to run ethanol.

Is that all? All the later .gov vehicles run on it on post. My 2010 Dakota gets about 8 city and 11-12 on the interstate. It takes almost a full tank to go from Ft Carson to downtown Denver and back.[Bang] And my Dodge Caravan will NOT start on E85 if it gets below 10 or so.

[Throat Erosion]

I pretty sure that there used to be a filling station right across the street from the old JeffCo ice rink that they turned into a indoor soccer field, over by Arvada city hall, I believe it was on 58th in between wadsworth and kipling, off Garrison St. it was a conoco, they used to have these signs out front advertising that they dont have the normal 10% ethanol added in their fuel. I memory serves me, they are usually 10-15 cents more than the average price, but i think it is worth it. I've since moved and dont even know if its there anymore, but i used to get it all the time, and I felt that the cost was more than worth it.

[xiondavis]

I used brads conoco over in Lakewood for my big old banana yellow Lincoln. Just a bit more expensive for ethanol free but it made a huge difference in my 1970 high compression 460. They can't sell ethanol free in the winter so you will have trouble finding it now.

[dwalker460]

E10, which is what we get as pump gas, is pretty much a meaningless amount of ethanol added to the fuel, and unless your car is carbureted or worn out, its not going to notice the difference, even in milage. Drivers tend to blame bad milage on ethanol or other stuff instead of stupid crap like spark plugs, oil changes, coils/wires/ injector cleanliness,fuel filters, tire pressures, etc. that actually effect it.
E-85 is a little different. OEM E-85 cars suck ass and were only done because the .gov subsidized the crap out of them, and the OEM's had no reason to care about it. "Normallly" an engine should use about 1/3rd more E85 than "pump gas" under load and about the same under cruise. Since the OEMS didnt care, they pretty much waste the crap out of fuel. I have managed to get reasonable (20-ish) mpg out of a purpose built and tuned ethanol car, but that is not the norm.
E10 is also not usually the cause of fuel issues, but water or contamination is.