Ok, I was at one of those pumps where there is one nozzle and 3 octane choices (87, 91, 93). There was a half peeled off "10% Ethanol" sticker under the 91 octane choice. I selected 93 and filled her up. As I drove off I noticed the same ethanol sticker on another pump that stated "10% Ethanol in All Blends".

I've been told to avoid ethanol in our cars.

So what's the verdict here? Good, bad, indifferent?

 

sounds like a myth to me, if it were true there would be tons of posts where people try to find gas stations w/out ethanol. The grand majority of stations do the 10% mix, it is a measure to cut foreign oil, raise octane, and lower emissions. 10% isnt really harmful to a gasoline based system; the only real difference you will see with pure gasoline is slightly higher mileage.

 

Ethanol can corrode some fuel systems, typically steel gas tanks. Most modern vehicles, including ours, are made of plastic. Ethanol is an alcohol derived from corn. Drivability should not be an issue and you'll have lower emissions. 10% is no worry.. 20% and you may start to have detonation issues.

 

Umm ok, then why do some people add 12% ethanol when running 93 (US) and boosting 20+psi? i was told that mixture helps PREVENT detonation..........

 

Ethanol will have a hotter flame front and a faster burn. In proper mixtures with proper timing, higher methanol content can be used. Alcohol/Methanol drag cars run upwards of 90% mixtures and make gobs of power. They also run obcene timing curves.

Xylene or Toluline mixtures of 10% with gasoline will lower the temp and slow the burn so you can retard timing to get full compression without pre-detonation.

 

I believe the Owner's Manual says to not EXCEED 10% Ethanol blends (dunno if that's by weight or volume though). Check it; I suspect you're fine. Interestingly it also states to not use lower than a 92 R+M/2 octane rating in the 951s, but everyone is running 91 since that's all that's available in most of CA. . .

 

I've been using 94 octane sunoco which has ethanol blends, to achave the 94 octane rating no problems so far you should be ok.

 

I've used only ethanol fuels in my car for the last 4 years. Ethanol helps bump up octane ratings which allows me to run more boost and make more power, but it reduces fuel economy. By law, fuel suppliers can not exceed 10% ethanol, except for E85 which is 85% ethanol, used for those ethanol powered cars.

 

This is a very common misconception about ethanol. It actually burns cooler than gasoline. It also burns slower (higher anti-knock index). The reason that the above conclusion is drawn so often is that ethanol is less dense than gasoline, so it will run leaner thus increasing the heat of combustion. I run exclusively with ethanol blended gasoline in my car because that's the density of gasoline that I have tuned for. If I put anything different in the car runs rich and around here, the only high octane gas is ethanol blended.

The biggest downside to running ethanol gasoline is reduced fuel economy because of the reduced density.

Justin

 

I also added a bottle of Techron so I'm running a bit of a cocktail of sorts I guess. Car is running fine. South Dakota has several ethanol plants and I run ethanol in my Odyssey without any problems. There is a big ad campaign around here supporting ethanol, FFVs and bio-diesel for farm and manufacuring equipment. It does suprise me ethanol use hasn't caught on as it's production is subsidized and recieves a $.01 tax exemption per gallon (although many local stations charge the same and pocket the .01).

Does anyone run a Xylene or Toluline and ethanol mix? Seems that it could possibly allow for better timing/more hp with lower operating temps.

 

Yes I have. And t was the rchest fuel I have used. II had to lower my fuel pressure .1 bar when Ii switched to VP 103 to get the same curve on the wideband.
15% xylene, 10% ethanol

 

In the current issue of Road & track Brock Yates writes about how E85 might be one of the answers to replace Dino oil gasoline one day. As mentioned above he says its 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, and it has an octane rating of 104! Turn up the boost!!

 

Ethanol is also more available(and required in some areas) in northern areas. Due to the density of it, in relation to fuel storage and at the retail end of the market, it actually helps the meters in gas pumps stay better tuned in the winter, helps prevent condensation above ground and is less likely to allow a .01 or .02 jump in your fuel hose when your first hit the gas on a very cold morning at the pump. My wife's family owns many C stores and I got certified on Gilbarco pumps because we have several stores around us and the main office is 2.5 hrs away with all the maintenance guys, so I help out on my days off if needed in a pinch. Behind the modern gas pumps these days are very little actual moving parts: Emerg SOV, meter, calibration valve; the rest of the environment is 5 to 8 large circuit boards communicating with all the stuff in the store and the submersible pump(s) in the tanks.

 

Funny my book says you can use 90 (R+M)/2 an in exeptional circumstances use 86.5 (R+M)/2.

 

Air fuel ratios are totally different with E85. We'll need HUGE injectors to turn up the boost.

If I remember right, E85 needs somewhere around 6:1 or 7:1 under boost.