Ethonal in gas?

Unless you are running E-50 + you should not see any difference...if you are running E-50 + you will know you are putting it in your tank as most unmodified tanks wont hold any more than E25 for very long because they use fittings that ethanol acts as a catalyst for corrosion on.

Even running E85 differences can be made up for with your foot. IE they are hardly noticable.

Ethanol is good shit.

 
That question has a lot of different answers, hahaha.

Ethanol has fewer btu's per unit than gasoline, but a higher resistance to knock.

In a conventional gasoline engine, you'll consume the same amount of fuel regardless of concentration of ethanol, but make less power the higher the concentration at any given engine speed.

In an engine designed to utilize dual-fuels, the higher the concentration of ethanol, the more fuel you'll consume, but power will stay relatively the same. In a naturally aspirated dual-fuel engine, the ignition timing is advanced the higher the concentration of ethanol, and in a f/i dual fuel engine, boost is increased as ethanol concentration is increased.

 
Newer E-85 engines usually have knock sensors and when you run E-85 the engine runs more efficent because it automatically advances timing to just below knock. In that case you could actually gain some MPG.

What that means is, even though your fuel contains less energy, you are using that energy more efficently.

 
Oh, and to further complicate the original answer, a conventional engine will show no change in fuel economy with an ethanol mix while cruising, but you'll have to spend more time in lower gars accelerating, which is what may be causing you decreased fuel economy.

At a constant speed, at the peak of your torque curve, your car would get the same fuel economy with 0%, 10% or 20% ethanol.

 
I am no engineer or ethanol expert, but it does seem to me that my milage has gone down.

When I go out of town I fill up with the 10% ethanol and get ~385 miles a tank. I usually fill up at the same place when I go to Arkansas and I know it doesnt contain the same 10% mixture. I usually average ~430 miles a tank and have seen up to 470 miles max.

 
Do you guys think that the ethonal in gas is effecting your gas milage? I think it is, just wanting to get some other opinions.

I always get worse milage here in California when we're forced to use the winter formula (with higher % of ethanol) just before Holloween .

I lose nearly 2 MPG, and the performance sucks too.

 
Ethanol is a fraud. It takes more energy to grow corn than it gives you in return. Ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline, (so you lose MPG) When ethanol is mixed with gasoline it creates more evaporative emissions. Also with gasoline it releases more pollutants like PAN (Peroxyacetylnitrate) into the air, Also more nitrgen oxides. It takes atleast 10 liters of freshwater to make 1 liter of ethanol. The ethanol industry is a highly subsidized industry which uses your tax dollars to cover the high costs of production. So if you think your helping the environment with ethanol, your misguided. You are way better off to make sure your tires are properly inflated, than use ethanol.

 
Here are your options

1.) It's all in your head

2.) It's all in your driving habits

3.) It's all in your miscalculations

4.) You are geussing and not actually calculating

5.) Weather changes, engines run less efficent cold (however it is more efficent/better to drive with a cold engine than to let it idle to get warm)

6.) They are using lower quality gasoline when mixing the fuel and your engine is retarding timing to reduce knock.

 
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