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  • Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

    We've been tracking our gas mileage as a matter of course for years. Since ethanol has been added our miles per gallon has dropped by nearly 12%. Is anyone else having the same experience? We drive a basic sedan, fwiw.

  • #2
    Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

    Don't just track your miles per gallon... track your miles per dollar, too.

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    • #3
      Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

      One answer I found says yes, your fuel mileage per gallon may decrease by 2% per gallon using E-10 fuel. The next generation of ethanol-fueled cars (the FFVs) just started rolling off the lines last year in larger numbers with some 2006 models able to burn an 85% ethanol-15% gasoline ratio of fuel.

      "...Q. Doesn’t the use of ethanol-blended fuel cause a decrease in fuel mileage?
      A: There are so many variables that relate to fuel mileage, such as the season, the weather, how the vehicle may be driven, etc., that it is hard for the average vehicle owner to accurately check fuel mileage. Every vehicle is somewhat different in driveability characteristics, as well. Some carbureted vehicles that run rich may experience an increase in fuel economy. The most current information derived from controlled environmental testing is that on fuel injected vehicles, fuel mileage may decrease by approximately 2%. A vehicle that averages 30 MPG on the highway would average 29.4 MPG using ethanol-blended fuel, a small price to pay for a cleaner environment."

      Konaguy who posts here regularly, had a blog entry which said his dad was getting about 5 mpg less using the ethanol blend fuel in Kona.

      Miulang
      Last edited by Miulang; May 11, 2006, 11:06 AM.
      "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

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      • #4
        Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

        I haven't noticed a drop mpg yet, but I have noticed my truck has less power
        going up hills now since the gasoline switched to 10% ethanol.
        Check out my blog on Kona issues :
        The Kona Blog

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        • #5
          Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

          Did anyone catch 60 minutes this past Sunday? Brazil is oil free. They raise enough sugar cane to make ethanol and they offer both gas and ethanol at stations but the country is running about 99% gas free. It's much cheaper too.

          Here in Phoenix we have a ethanol blend of 10% which I'm sure the gas companies would consider fine, but I see no reason why ethanol could not be used more. Even if the car had a little less gas miles per gallon, if it could get us away from oil companies it would be a good thing

          The piece said some cars run just great on it and some don't. Some need to do some kind of conversion.

          Are there any E-85 stations in Hawaii? Has anyone tried it? We only have one station in Tucson which is about 110 miles from Phoenix.

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          • #6
            Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

            Originally posted by coop5054
            Did anyone catch 60 minutes this past Sunday? Brazil is oil free. They raise enough sugar cane to make ethanol and they offer both gas and ethanol at stations but the country is running about 99% gas free. It's much cheaper too.
            I heard once that Brazilian fuel has so much ethanol in it that if you stand at a busy street corner in Rio at rush hour and breathe deeply, you can get drunk.

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            • #7
              Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

              Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro
              I heard once that Brazilian fuel has so much ethanol in it that if you stand at a busy street corner in Rio at rush hour and breathe deeply, you can get drunk.
              I think we need a field trip to verify this.
              “First we fought the preliminary round for the k***s and now we’re gonna fight the main event for the n*****s."
              http://hollywoodbitchslap.com/review...=416&printer=1

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              • #8
                Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                KGMB did a story about the reduced mileage from the E-10 gasoline.

                Miulang
                "Americans believe in three freedoms. Freedom of speech; freedom of religion; and the freedom to deny the other two to folks they don`t like.” --Mark Twain

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                  That KGMB story is confusing.

                  "The auto repair expert said Hawai'i's ethanol levels are too low—closer to six than ten percent. He says vehicles would get a better performance if the ethanol rate was higher."

                  So we need more ethanol in the gas to get better mileage or is that just better performance?

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                  • #10
                    Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                    I'm thinking that if top fuel dragsters run pure alcohol, they are running high-compression motors which require high-octane fuel for a longer combustion in each cylinder.

                    So if more alcohol means higher octane then I can see the fuel mileage increase with ethanol.

                    But if your car has low compression (or if it's an older car with poor compression with blow by) Ethanol will actually drop your car's performance and mileage.
                    Life is what you make of it...so please read the instructions carefully.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                      Originally posted by glossyp
                      We've been tracking our gas mileage as a matter of course for years. Since ethanol has been added our miles per gallon has dropped by nearly 12%. Is anyone else having the same experience? We drive a basic sedan, fwiw.
                      I'm experiencing a mileage drop in both my vehicles, but since I don't track it on paper, I wouldn't be able to tell you by exactly how much. In my primary vehicle, a 3-liter V6 sports car, I'd say it's about 20%-25%. In my other vehicle, a 3-liter V6 truck, I'd say it's more like 40%.

                      These are guesstimates, of course, but it's definitely higher than 12%.

                      Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro
                      Don't just track your miles per gallon... track your miles per dollar, too.
                      My miles per dollar is most definitely higher than it was before because not only has my consumption gone up, the price of fuel has gone up too.

                      Originally posted by Paul
                      So we need more ethanol in the gas to get better mileage or is that just better performance?
                      I assume they mean that by getting more performance out of the same amount of fuel, you don't need as much fuel and will therefore enjoy increased mileage. The problem is many people are experiencing DECREASED performance.


                      Is there anywhere on Oahu I can buy good old non-E10 gas for my car, even if I have to pay more for it?

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                      • #12
                        Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                        Originally posted by craigwatanabe
                        I'm thinking that if top fuel dragsters run pure alcohol, they are running high-compression motors which require high-octane fuel for a longer combustion in each cylinder.
                        Top fuelers use 15% methanol and 85% nitromethane.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                          QUOTE=glossyp We've been tracking our gas mileage as a matter of course for years. Since ethanol has been added our miles per gallon has dropped by nearly 12%. Is anyone else having the same experience? We drive a basic sedan, fwiw.

                          Near 100% alcohol (EtOH, ethanol)** is being blended with low grade, low octane gasoline as was MBTE***, an ether compound, to boost the octane level of gasoline fuels. Even the best gasoline engines in today's vehicles on the roads inefficiently convert gasoline to mechanical energy.

                          While today's worn out and inferior engines wrapped in ton(s) of metal set on wheels to move about individual human bodies over billion dollar interconnected links of roads cannot efficiently convert to mechanical energy even the highest rated octane fuel, such engines (together with their worn out pollution control features) individually pollute the atmosphere and ground more than does field full of tabacco smokers.

                          Virtually no vehicle engines in Hawaii were designed to burn a very low grade, low octane gasoline fuel that results when the EtOH-low octane gasoline blends become two-phase liquids as EtOH drops out of the low-grade octane.

                          What do some liquid fossil-fuel dealers' local distributers do when their multi-thousand tank is full of a multi-phase medium of crap, or will become such before it is combusted (however inefficiently) in one of millions lethal objects/weapons roaming trillion dollar pathways dedicated to milllions of individually driven pursuits of 'arrival'.

                          What stinks?

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                          • #14
                            Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                            my wife's '03 cr-v AWD has been impacted greatly by ethanol...where it used to be about 23/24 mpg city, it is now just barely doing 20mpg...

                            a few weeks back, we had to have the oxygen sensor replaced by the dealer and we thought that helped contribute to the mileage problem, but the mpg remains constant at about 20mpg (we almost have 39K on the odometer).

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                            • #15
                              Re: Decreased Mileage with Ethanol?

                              In tracking my car's fuel economy, there has been a decrease of about 6% since the ethanol blend has been mandated.

                              A more pressing concern for me is the noticable change in the engine operation. The smooth and somewhat silent running of the engine has been replaced by a rougher idle. I called the service department and was informed that there is no "fix" for this. The fuel system of my car (a '96) is not able to "adjust" to the new blend as a "newer" model would be.

                              Is this a "hint" to trade-in for a new car?

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