Bought Ethanol Free

[shinytop]

And will probably not do it again.  It was .50 more per gallon than with ethanol.  I will see if other stations have it  closer to regular but don't believe I will get a 20% boost in mileage so at least I will try it on this tank.

[SnowStorm]

Was that 87 octane?  We are fortunate to get E0 87 at about $0.20 extra.  I do it for longer engine life (so I understand), not just higher mileage.  E10 would be cheaper in terms of just MPG I'm sure.  But then we pay more for food. ;)

 

What we need is E100 where the 'E' stands for 'Electrons'. :)

[markd]

I've never tried ethanol, do your mpg's drop?

Edited May 11, 2015 by markd

[mlsstl]

Most of the gas sold in the US has 10% ethanol content. Ethanol has less energy than gas, so E10 gas generally gives 1 or 2 miles less per gallon than straight gasoline.

 

I'd be very surprised if you're not putting E10 in your car now. The stations that have E0 available are pretty few and far between in my experience/ The pump should have a sign on it somewhere that says whether their gas contains ethanol or not.

Edited May 11, 2015 by mlsstl

[markd]

I live in Indiana and you can buy ethanol but it isn't in all our gas.

[SPL Tech]

Most of the gas sold in the US has 10% ethanol content. Ethanol has less energy than gas, so E10 gas generally gives 1 or 2 miles less per gallon than straight gasoline.

 

I'd be very surprised if you're not putting E10 in your car now. The stations that have E0 available are pretty few and far between in my experience/ The pump should have a sign on it somewhere that says whether their gas contains ethanol or not.

Many stations dont even bother to put the sticker on the pump. The vast majority of gas sold in the USA is E10 regardless of octane grade and brand. Unless it specifically says E0, I would assume it's E10.

Edited May 12, 2015 by SPL Tech

[ptjones]

Many stations dont even bother to put the sticker on the pump. The vast majority of gas sold in the USA is E10 regardless of octane grade and brand. Unless it specifically says E0, I would assume it's E10.

Actually E10 regular can't have more than %10 ethanol, but can have less. Our cars aren't designed to use more than %15 ethanol.  I use Premium and get almost as good MPG's as ethanol free. I only use ethanol free when I think can break my record miles on a tank.  If you want to get a 600mi tank easially use ethanol free. :)

 

Paul

Edited September 3, 2015 by ptjones

[SnowStorm]

This site helps you find E0 gas and this one shows labeling laws by state.  A bunch of states don't require labels at all for the nasty stuff.

[markd]

OK, so if I'm already putting E10 in my car I'm going to try the E85 in next fill up. It's fifty cents a gallon cheaper and it might be cost advantageous to use it. I only fill up about once a month and I just did it Sunday.

[markd]

Oops

Edited May 12, 2015 by markd

[plus 3 golfer]

OK, so if I'm already putting E10 in my car I'm going to try the E85 in next fill up. It's fifty cents a gallon cheaper and it might be cost advantageous to use it. I only fill up about once a month and I just did it Sunday.

Really????? I suggest you do research on E85 and then decide whether you want to put it in your C-Max.

Edited May 12, 2015 by Plus 3 Golfer

[markd]

That's why I'm asking if it is a good idea.

[jdbob]

That's why I'm asking if it is a good idea.

 

You could read the user manual.

 

"Your hybrid vehicle can use E15 (15% ethanol, 85% gasoline) fuel, but you may notice slightly reduced fuel economy because ethanol contains less energy per gallon than gasoline. Your hybrid vehicle is not designed to use E85 (85% ethanol)."

[markd]

Thanks, as you can tell I know absolutely nothing about this.

[ls973800]

Glad you found out NOW instead of later NOT to add E85!  Unless a car is specifically marked "Flex Fuel" or "E85", you should not try running your engine with a blend containing only 15% or so of gasoline and 85% or so of alcohol.  

 

Heck, in my opinion the E10 is bad enough. 

[markd]

Yes, thank you. I'm shooting for 650 miles out of this tank!

[ptjones]

Yes, thank you. I'm shooting for 650 miles out of this tank!

Don't forget to post it in 600 mile Club thread. :)

 

Paul

[markd]

I won't!!!

[bemyax]

Finally found some E15 to try at a Murphy in Mason City, Iowa. I imagined the mileage would get slammed, based on the general commentary we see everywhere. Check my fuelly graph to see almost no apparent effect with this tank. The continuing variation from around 50 to around 48 looks to have come from the Driveguard tires along with more air conditioning and more highway. The crunch shown with the May 25 fill was a combination of EcoCruise at the speed limit, E0 regular, A/C, and the heavy tires at only 45psi. (Now running at 50psi with better comfort and handling.)

 

Around Waterloo, Iowa, I have available: E0 premium at select locations, E0 regular (blended at the terminal from E0 low-grade and E0 premium), E10 premium, and E10 regular (E0 low-grade with ethanol). E15 fuel can be found at a high-priced locally-owned station and a farmers' cooperative where I'm not a member. Some day I'd like to run consecutive tanks in a variety of conditions.

[Thomas Walker]

Actually E10 regular can't have more than %10 ethanol, but can have less. Our cars aren't designed to use more than %10 ethanol.  I use Premium and get almost as good MPG's as ethanol free. I only use ethanol free when I think can break my record miles on a tank.  If you want to get a 600mi tank easially use ethanol free. :)

 

Paul

Only use Premium if your car requires it, the car detects higher octane and retards the motor. Unburnt fuel is sent out the tailpipe and pollutes 5%-25% more than the correct grade. So save the $3.00 and get an extra gallon of Reg next time. 

[ptjones]

Only use Premium if your car requires it, the car detects higher octane and retards the motor. Unburnt fuel is sent out the tailpipe and pollutes 5%-25% more than the correct grade. So save the $3.00 and get an extra gallon of Reg next time. 

I don't know where you got your info, but ECM advances the timing until it detects knocking and then retards it until it stops. The more advanced your timing is the better your Fuel Economy is. :) I pretty much only use Premium(106Kmi) because of the improvement in FE compared with Regular, I didn't say it is totally cost efficient, but close enough for me(47.6mpg LifeTime). :shift:

 

Paul  

Edited September 23, 2015 by ptjones

[plus 3 golfer]

Only use Premium if your car requires it, the car detects higher octane and retards the motor. Unburnt fuel is sent out the tailpipe and pollutes 5%-25% more than the correct grade. So save the $3.00 and get an extra gallon of Reg next time. 

I think you haven't got out of the 60's mentality.  This is 2015.  ;)  

 

If a 60's car is timed for regular fuel, putting premium fuel in would likely result in fuel out the exhaust pipe because the timing would likely be too retarded for premium fuel.  Premium fuel requires more time to burn than regular fuel.  Hence, the timing must be advanced for premium fuel (early ignition of the fuel).  If the timing is set for regular fuel (the faster burning fuel), all the premium fuel may not be burned if the timing is left unchanged.

 

As Paul says the above is virtually not an issue today nor has it been for many decades.

[Redshift]

I don't know where you got your info, but ECM advances the timing until it detects knocking and then retards it until it stops. The more advanced your timing is the better your Fuel Economy is. :) I pretty much only use Premium(106Kmi) because of the improvement in FE compared with Regular, I didn't say it is totally cost efficient, but close enough for me(47.5mpg LifeTime). :shift:

 

Paul  

Unless your engine is programmed to use premium, it does nothing for you except cost more. It will not keep advancing the timing until it senses a knock. It only advances enough to take advantage of regular gas. Some car's timing will advance to take advantage of premium (like my 2007 Toyota FJ cruiser which had 2 hp and torque ratings for different octane ratings) but not a C-Max.

[ptjones]

Users of ScanGaugeII/ Torque can monitor Ignition Timing (IGN)to see if there is a difference with Octane.  Could also put in Octane Booster to see if there is a change. :)

 

Paul

[fbov]

Gents,

I did a little experiment to see if E0 had an effect. In my area, if you want E0, you get 91E0, so I really switched from 87E10 to 91E0.

 

The initial results were very clear. I changed fuel and mileage went up from 55 to 59 MPG. I even controlled for temperature... this data is for a consistent 15.3 mile commute, taken around 9AM and 6 PM each day. The average speed for this tank was up, so it appears to be a real improvement.

MPG vs Tank for 91E0 fill 25d.pdf

 

Time passes.

 

I have a panic stop one day (smelled brake pad), over very rough road surface, resulting in several pot hole-like impacts. The last time I hit a pothole this hard, the traction control blew out (known issue covered by TSB).

 

This time, my mileage dropped. Everything else seems fine.

- I'd filled up at a differenet station on 7/31, making that tank suspect

- 8/4 was a rainy day

- panic stop was 8/5

MPG vs Tank for 91E0 fill 120d.pdf

 

Average for 3 days before the rainy day was 59.9. Average for the 3 days after is 55. Improvement gone overnight, as it were.

 

(Note the several really low values all have root causes unrelated to the fuel - rain, used AC, took the expressway)

 

The good news is I hit a 64.5MPG the other day... but my son had driven the car so I started with very high SOC. Ford's bugged me twice about recall 15E03, which some folks have reported to affect mileage. We'll have to see what additional data tells us, but for sure, my fair weather test period is ending, so perhaps I will know more next year.

 

Oh, BTW, the energy content change was quite obvious switching to 91E0. For the same driving pattern, I had higher charge for no apparent reason... save there's more energy in the fuel, so the car's putting it in the battery. This is gone, too.

 

Have fun,

Frank