Well, my local Shell now has the 10% Ethanol sticker on the pump. Who now does not have this crap in it??

 

Been pretty much all over Texas for the last year and no issues at all with my Vettes or Truck

 

There are very few stations here that don't. I haven't had to put any in the Vette yet!

 

ALL pump gas has ethanol in it. It's been that way for a VERY long time. It's usually 15%, not 10%. I'm not sure where you're seeing 10%. Either way, you WANT ethanol in your gas mix. It helps by cleaning the fuel system and slightly raises the octane level.

 

I may have miss this. What's so bad about that? Up here in New England, and every other place I've been too, this stuff has always been around. I use it without any issues.

 

The sticker on the pump says 10% ethanol

 

Interesting. I've never seen a pump with less than 15%. What was it before the 10%?

 

Good reading about ethanol:

http://www2.highlandstoday.com/conte...oblem-ethanol/

 

^^^ WOW! That's old info.

First off, there's not enough ethanol to retain water in the tank. Your car would have to sit in a rain forest for 10 years for it retain enough water to harm your motor. E85 (85% ethanol) needs to sit for a while before it can retain enough water too, and we're talking more than 5.5 times the amount of alcohol with E85.

Secondly, since the early 80s, car manufactures have built the fuel system to handle ethanol. It's not like they just started using ethanol without telling the manufacturers. This was well known that it was going to be in use for years before the plan was executed. And since the early 90's they'd had plans to make the blend 20% ethanol. So manufacturers have been building cars to handle that much ethanol.

The biggest issue for older cars that aren't ready for ethanol is that they need some components to be changed in the fuel delivery system. The nylon parts in the fuel pumps and the nylon hoses all need to be replaced. Thin plastics and nylon parts are eaten away by alcohol. But that's not an issue in modern cars because they don't use nylon.

Now only the E85 blends run the risk of water, and they have 2 different blends. A summer blend (85% ethanol) and a winter blend (75% ethanol) because in cold weather, cars that run on E85 have issues starting when the motor is cold.

We've been running 15% ethanol here in California for well over 15 years with absolutely no issues at all. It burns cleaner, the fuel system runs cleaner (because alcohol cleans the fuel system... what do you think is in fuel cleaners?), and it raises the octane level. Did you know that E85 is 105 Octane?

The above link would be scary if you drive a car built in the 70's, but cars built in the 80's and up have no issues with using a 10,15, or even 20% blend of ethanol. I have a 1990 300zx that has NEVER has issues with ethanol.

If ethanol blends were legitimately bad for cars, I think SOMEONE in California would be filing a complaint. I personally think the link you posted is to a scare tactic by someone who was opposed to ethanol hurting their pockets.

No need to worry about ethanol in our Vetts. C5s were built in the late 90's, long after manufacturers started building to the 20% ethanol standards. If and when they make that blend change, the C5's will handle it just fine.

EDIT: Forgot to mention about mileage...
For one, with the E85 blend, most people notice a 1-2 MPG drop in economy. But their cars also aren't tuned for E85. When properly tuned for E85, the cars retain their mileage. Flex-fuel cars used to get really bad economy, but today's flex-fuel cars get just as good economy as gas cars.

Now that's just E85. With 10-15% blends of ethanol, you're not going to see a difference in mileage at all. The cars are ALL tuned from the factory for these blends. If the blend were to change dramatically, then you may see a difference, but for the most part, it's that 10-15% that's saving you money because you'd need to clean your fuel system more often if it wasn't for the blend.

 

Most of the stations around here post a sign of some kind



etoh cut the hp down a bit, 5% less is a good estimate.

E85 is different, just a minor re tune and your fine

 

Idaho has pretty much all 10% ethanol fuel. On a recent road trip I initially was getting 32mpg on the freeway. Through Utah and Colorado I was able to purchase non ethanol fuel (same octane) and my mpg jumped to 34. I have since found out that Phillips 66 stations in Idaho sell non ethanol fuel.

As AU N EGL, stated the Phillips 66 station has a sign up the says 'YOU WON'T FIND ETHANOL HERE"

 

hmmm....I put some Union 76 gas(ethanol) into my '99 just one time and never heard it ping so much in all the years I owned it. I had no choice at the time as it was running on fumes. Got some "real" gas into it and it was back to normal. Out here, all we can get is 91 octane.

 

There are still some stations left that do not add ethanol.
I go to Texaco which has signs on the pump saying it does NOT contain ethanol, plus it also has Techron.
I used to buy only Chevron, but most of them shutdown around here.

 

Pinging is not the problem since ethanol actually raises the octane level of the gas, but it is corrosive and does lower the gas mileage.

 

There was an article in vette where they changed a c6 to run on e85. When tuned for only the e85, it gained power and did not lose hardley any fuel effic. The problem is, our cars are tuned where the "can" run on 10% or 15%. They are tuned where they "can" run on 87 octane as well, but most of us run on 91 at least. The point is, if you have your car tuned to run better on 10%, or even e85% (along with some fuel system mods so it does not eat at the rubbers) then I think you will not see the mileage decreae, and may even see an increase in power as the octane increases. I also do not think you will have a water retention problem on a 10 or 15 blend.

 

Not sure what that is... Maybe they filled the wrong tanks and 87 was put in the 91 tank. But I'd bet my dog that it wasn't the ethanol that did that.

HOWEVER, I did have problems with 76 Gas. I'll never use their gas or Arco's gas ever again.

 

Well, the higher the compression your motor is, the higher the octane you'll need not to ping. You're right, you technically can run on 87 with an LS1, but it's REALLY not a good idea. Especially if you want to get above 4000 RPM. LOL LTx and LSx motors all run 10+:1 compression. In my book, that's high enough to warrant the "NOTHING LOWER THAN 91" flag. But I have friends that run 89... those cheap asses!

My dad once borrowed my LT1 Trans Am. I told him to use ONLY 91 and nothing else. When I got the car back, it was pinging like crazy. I asked him what gas he used and he told me 87 because 91 was too expensive. I then explained to him that 91 isn't a luxury item. 10.5:1 compression is no joke. I ended up siphoning out the gas and putting in 91.

As for water retention, it's proven here in California that 15% does NOT retain water like some speculate. My LS1 Trans Am sat with a half tank of 91 E15 for a little over a year. No water retained. We bought an 85 Corvette back in 96 that hadn't moved or been started in 3 years. It also had a E15 blend with more than half a tank. Fired right up without issues. Never had injector or water problems. NO water retention.

It takes quite a bit more alcohol than 15% blend of ethanol to retain water.

 

5 major issues

a) Ethanol has less energy per unit volume and as a result burns less effeciant. E85 cars have been reported to get 10-15% less milage than a standard petrol car.

b) Ethanol has to be transported by truck because it corrodes the pipelines. This costs more enviornmentally and financially.

c) Subsidized farmland for ethanol has caused a significant rise in the cost of food across the market

d) Stored ethanol has a tendancy to go bad faster than pure petrol.

e) Ethonal gasolines actully cost more to make/refine and distribute than traditional petrol.

Why then do we use a less-effecient/more expensive additive in our fuels?....you'll have to see PR&C for that answer......

 

My Vette really has no problem with it. But I have an 07' Harley Ultra Classic, and it pings. If I put octane booster usually the Lucas NASCAR stuff or LHP liquid horsepower it will go away. We noticed this when the started putting it in the gas last April. We went to Key West on the bike and pinged all the way.

 

Sorry disagree with this information. Now I've had quite a few Lsx based motors including the monster I have now.

If you don't mess with the tuning table it is fine to run 87 even at 6500 rpms.

The computer has 2 tables for timing a high octane table and low octane table. The low will default if the computer see that there is ping for xxx period of time. Yes you will loose some ponies but your not going to blow up the motor. Gm did this on purpose to control warranty claims. Do you think the C6's that Hertz rents out ends with premium every time? The additional backup is the knock sensor which will also cut timing if needed. Another reason why the motors are one of the best designs in history.

You can't compare a LT1 based car with a LSX. The design of the motor and computer is much smarter then the older design. If your broke and need to get to work go ahead put 86 in you'll just get there a little slower.