Disclaimer: Before I go on with my question, I just want to classify it as a "Willa question" so I don't get no heat!!!:)

Ok, whats the deal with the gas stations advertising 10% ethanol? I went to sunoco last night, filled up 94 octane, and it said 10% ethanol. Is there gas without ethanol? What's the difference?

Thanks

 

If I'm not mistaking Ethanol in the fuel is supossed to help it burn cleaner, hence more environmentally friendly....but I'm not 100% sure.

You think I would know since I work for Diamond Shamrock! LOL!!

 

Ethanol also raises the octane.

It gained a bad rap for drying up seals in carbs year ago but anything new should run ethanol no problem.

Iowa is a big ethanol state, probably 90% of the cars on the road are using 89 octane with 10% ethanol.

Eric

 

I think asking "Willa style questions" is reason enough to drop you down to 95%. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Jerry

 

WHERE IS WILLA????

Have I missed some of his latest post?


[Modified by wallstAL, 4:09 PM 10/19/2001]

 

:smash: Al he was banned a while back for foul languish :)

 

The tree huggers in a previous administration came up with this plan that made them look good politically but in practicallity really just sucks and doesn't do a thing for the invironment.

If your metro area falls below certain federally mandated pollution levels then you get to do 2 things that really make me want to hug a tree.

1. You get to have emissons checked by state operated sniffing stations @ $24 every year.

2. All of the gasoline in your metro area must be reformulated with 10% ethanol, MTBE, or ETBE. (MTBE & ETBE are oxygenates that reduce carbon monoxide emissions).

While all this is great marketing for the politicos, fact is that most of the air emissions that cause the high ratings are from power plants and manufacturing and not from automobiles (at least not here in St. Louis, or in many other metro areas that have already scrapped those tail pipe sniffing stations)

Back to reality...GM, of course recommends the use of blended fuels according to the owners manual. It also states that octane-enhancing additive MMT (methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl) is not recommended and should not be used.

They cite poor spark plug life and bad things happening to your emissions system. They also make notice in bold boxed print that methanol should not be used and will do bad things to the fuel system and void the fuel system warranty. Gee what will I do when I enter my C5 in the Indy 500 next year????


[Modified by Gary2KC5, 8:19 PM 10/19/2001]

 

Zack, You will find some Sunoco stations use ethanol (I avoid it, it is water-attracting and lower btu output) They must post on the pump if it being put in the mix. You will also find the non-ethanol sunoco's are more expensive because they don't blend it in. Sometimes I wonder if it is worth the extra $$ over amaco, mobil, etc. Ready for the track yet? :smash:

 

Ethanol and MTBE are both examples of compounds used to oxygenate fuel. The idea is that by adding this extra oxygen into the fuel you can force cars that are running rich into a zone of operation closer to stochiometric, reducing unburned hydrocarbon emissions (ironically at the expense of higher combustion chamber temps, and thus greater NOx emissions).
But the real kicker is all cars built in the last I-don't-know-how-many years have oxygen sensors that allow the car's computer to solve this problem on it's own. So when you burn oxygenated fuel, your car just compensates so that there's the same amount of oxygen running past the O2 sensors as before. End result? Worse power and a decrease in fuel economy.

Gotta love it.

 

Actually, water can not mix with ethanol, it will end up sitting on the bottom of the tank at the filling station. As a side note, there is no need to run Heet or other additive to prevent fuel freezing if you use ethanol.

Eric

 

So what brand of premium fuel are you guys running?

 

Water can and does mix with with ethanol, its miscible. I've never seen a good whiskey separate out
See:http://www.commerce.state.mn.us/pages/WeightMeasure/WMGasContam.htm
Hence, I avoid gas/ethanol mixes, stick with amaco sunoco mobil, etc 93ron or better

 

...and some nasty photos as well.