Gas & Ethanol

[lastdaze04]

I need some input. My favorite station started selling their 93 octane with 10% ethanol. Will this still be good to run in my engine? What are the pro's and con's. I have a Trilogy supercharger on mine and I don't want to blow my motor. It seems to run just fine, but I have not gotten on it much if at all, and I don't hear any pinging. What are your thoughts????

[Aren Jay]

This is a good question I believe Canada will be doing this across the country.

The ethonal should make the octane level rise, you may need to adjust your tune.

Keep asking as I don't really know.

[kamikaze2899]

We've had E10 fuel in Hawaii for a little while now. When I first got my MM we were still on straight fuel, and I got about 16-18 mpg depending on how heavy my foot was. Now I average 11-14 mpg. The ethanol tends to eat some types of o-rings, plastics, and such, but so far I've been lucky. It also tends to absorb water a lot easier, so if your car sits a lot, you will want to drain the tank entirely, or make sure to put in a good quality fuel stabilizer. I've also heard of some fuel line/tank corrosion issues but have never seen it.

My MM is N/A and a daily driver for work. I average about 300 miles per week, and 30-40 gallons. I've noticed that the engine doesn't make as much power, and of course the fuel economy is crap.

Did a search online and found that you need to burn 10% MORE fuel to make the same power, it takes more $$ to make, and emissions actually increase. The only + to this stuff is that it's a somewhat renewable resource.

If you have a boat with an outboard engine DO NOT USE!! Lots and lots of problems on the marine side with this stuff.

My personal opinion is that this ethanol stuff is total crap, and you should do your homework before runnig this in your car. Especially with the forced induction.

Aloha

[cyclopsram]

I, too would not run ethanol in any performance motor, for the reasons stated above.. Lower heat generation per gallon and the risk of damage to components and overall cost increases. Gotta drill in Alaska some more, and in Gulf of Mexico and off the East coast, and turn those tar sands into liquid and make all our electricity with coal and natural gas...

[FreddieH]

I live in Delaware and all gas in this state is E10. I have been using it since I got my car new and I have had no problems whatsoever. I do not have a supercharger and cannot speak on that. When I am out of state I use their formulation and have not noticed any difference.

[Dragcity]

I am no chemist, but the addition of Ethonol is not as good as most think.

I know we (here in Buffalo) pay more for gasoline than anyplace in America. My car runs worse every week, seemingly. I have pulled timing three times this winter, and just last week had to richen the mix by 20%, just to clear pinging.

I know they say Ethonal raises octane rating, but is 10 to 20% less efficient than Petrol ???? I don't get this, but can tell you, as the % Ethonal increases, three things consistantly happen. 1) Decreased power, 2) Lower fuel economy, 3) More pinging...

10%, in reality, is not a whole lot. We have run that here in Western NY for several years now. I think we are at 30% right now, in our "Winter Blend". So glad I am paying the most, for the crappiest gas.

In summary, be careful and listen well. You may have to pull a little timing or increase fuel mix a bit.

[ckadiddle]

I noticed a while back at one of the stations I use frequently the pumps suddenly were festooned with stickers proclaiming "Less than 10% ethanol". Wasn't sure what it meant. I wasn't really wanting anything in my gasoline but gasoline, OK? Seems to run fine with no issues so far. Haven't had to change tune or anything. Still runs as good as it ever had.

[Bluerauder]

I live in Delaware and all gas in this state is E10. I have been using it since I got my car new and I have had no problems whatsoever.
Pretty much the same thing here in Virginia. I really don't know when the 10% ethanol mix started to show up -- but I didn't notice the darn little stickers on the side of the pump until about 18-24 months ago. It just kinda showed up without any announcement. Don't think that 10% Ethanol mix equates to a 10% decrease in MPG -- probably closer to 5-6% but a decrease nonetheless. E85 is worse (for those cars that can use it) and cuts MPGs by 10-15% easy.

I haven't noticed any real difference in performance running Sunoco 93 with the 10% ethanol mix.

[Stranger in the Black Sedan]

In some areas like the East coast, everything is E10 and you don't have a choice. It has been like that over here for a long time. Yes you will lose mpg and power with E10, but it's just the way it is. Have fun finding a station out here that is not E10, there aren't any. The car will "run" fine but if you dyno'd before and after I'm sure you are losing a few HP.

If you have a car that is specifically tuned for alky that is one thing (I think you need roughly 200% of the jet area on a carbed car, alky vs. gas). But when you put E10 in a car optimized from the factory for gasoline, there is a compromise.

[lastdaze04]

Thanks for the input guys, and keep it coming so everybody can get educated. especially since everybody will be getting ethanol sooner or later. I guess I will have to talk to 'Lidio' and see if he needs to reflash my computer for a richer mixture.
Thanks
Rick