Ethanol?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 2,898
Likes: 5
From: Plainfield, IL
Yeah whatsup with all these FL guys posting about this ethanol now? As far as I know in the rest of the country its been this way for years. I dont even remember the last time I saw a pump around here without a 10% ethanol sticker. Also, as far as fuel economy im not sure what you guys are talking about. If im averaging almost 30 on the highway (at or better than what my window sticker says) your telling me I would be getting almost mid 30's on regular gas??? I doubt that, might want to double check your calculations there.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,042
Likes: 6
From: Bedford, TX
Yeah whatsup with all these FL guys posting about this ethanol now? As far as I know in the rest of the country its been this way for years. I dont even remember the last time I saw a pump around here without a 10% ethanol sticker. Also, as far as fuel economy im not sure what you guys are talking about. If im averaging almost 30 on the highway (at or better than what my window sticker says) your telling me I would be getting almost mid 30's on regular gas??? I doubt that, might want to double check your calculations there.
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,624
Likes: 0
From: Chattanooga Tennessee
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
With my driving habits, I was getting 18 ~ 19 miles per gallon with all gasoline.
Since I've been filling up with 10% ethanol, my mileage went to 16 ~ 17 miles per gallon.
augydog
Since I've been filling up with 10% ethanol, my mileage went to 16 ~ 17 miles per gallon.
augydog
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 125
Likes: 0
From: Wheatfield Indiana
I only wished the vette would run on E85. The local price at my station is $2.85 a gallon with premium at $4.29. The decrease in mileage (which is minimal on my truck) doesn't come close to the cost difference. That will help offset the price of my steak dinner tonight. The local ethanol plant buys a whole lot of my electricity which makes my new vette possible. By the way the local wind farm is supplying that.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 3,064
Likes: 6
From: Pinellas Park Florida
Yeah whatsup with all these FL guys posting about this ethanol now? As far as I know in the rest of the country its been this way for years. I dont even remember the last time I saw a pump around here without a 10% ethanol sticker. Also, as far as fuel economy im not sure what you guys are talking about. If im averaging almost 30 on the highway (at or better than what my window sticker says) your telling me I would be getting almost mid 30's on regular gas??? I doubt that, might want to double check your calculations there.
It has only been recently that ethanol has been showing up at some of the stations. We started noticing labels on some gas pumps saying the fuel contains 10% or less ethanol. As for the rest of the country having ethanol based on your location having ethanol well thanks for setting us Floridians straight
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3,017
Likes: 2
Ethanol cost you mpg, it is a fact. That is actually the LEAST of the harm that crap does.
Most of the crap that the "senator" had in his statement was BS. He is pro ethanol and like most people changes stats, studies, questions, to make it look like he is in the right. Ethanol is a nightmare, and the longer we use this snake oil the worse our country will be.
Most of the crap that the "senator" had in his statement was BS. He is pro ethanol and like most people changes stats, studies, questions, to make it look like he is in the right. Ethanol is a nightmare, and the longer we use this snake oil the worse our country will be.
How can you call anything a politician says is "fact". They are in the lying business.
Ethanol is bad news, MTBE was also bad stuff. Ethanol is a band-aid at best.
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Verdad Gallardo
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 3,604
Likes: 396
From: Austin, TX
I've never noticed markings on the pumps in Austin but I'm going to look now. I'm getting better mileage here in Austin than my Tail of the Dragon trip last week where everything was "up to 10% ethanol". The markings on those pumps was very obvious in large letters. Maybe in Texas its in fine print.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 761
Likes: 0
From: Tucson AZ
Floridians a step behind....again!
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 26
Likes: 0
Ok, how about the Iowa Corn Association? www.iowacorn.org Are they biased against farmers when they say it takes 2.7 bushels of corn to make a gallon of ethanol? According to the National Corn Grower's Association (not noted as a hotbed of BIG OIL propaganda) http://www.ncga.com/news/releases/2007/news121806.asp the national average is about 150 bushels per acre. The USDA http://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2008/03_31_2008.asp expects 86 million acres to be planted in corn this year. A little simple math says that if the entire corn crop of the US were converted to ethanol production we would get 4.8B gallons of ethanol per year. Production of ethanol in 2006 was 4.8B gallons. 
In other words, we are already using all of our corn for ethanol. How can this be? Well for each 56 pound bushel of corn used to make ethanol there is a byproduct of about 18 pounds of animal feed. It is surprising that food prices have gone up as little as they have while corn and soy prices have doubled in the past couple of years.
To meet the demands for ethanol, corn production is up 19% since 2006 and soy bean production is down 15%. Maybe that's why even the environmentalists think ethanol is a terrible idea for the US. http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update69.htm Luckily the US and Brazil produce 88% of the world's ethanol. Then Brazil, noticing that farmers were clearing rain forests at an astounding rate because of their ethanol subsidies, have almost eliminated their government support and the rain forests are no longer being burned. Maybe the US will come to it's senses soon also.
In other words, we are already using all of our corn for ethanol. How can this be? Well for each 56 pound bushel of corn used to make ethanol there is a byproduct of about 18 pounds of animal feed. It is surprising that food prices have gone up as little as they have while corn and soy prices have doubled in the past couple of years.To meet the demands for ethanol, corn production is up 19% since 2006 and soy bean production is down 15%. Maybe that's why even the environmentalists think ethanol is a terrible idea for the US. http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/2008/Update69.htm Luckily the US and Brazil produce 88% of the world's ethanol. Then Brazil, noticing that farmers were clearing rain forests at an astounding rate because of their ethanol subsidies, have almost eliminated their government support and the rain forests are no longer being burned. Maybe the US will come to it's senses soon also.
Last edited by stducrider; Sep 21, 2008 at 08:47 PM.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 14,098
Likes: 1,606
From: Edmond Oklahoma
10% Eth makes my lawnmower run very rough and seems to be down on power. I'm not going to put this stuff in my Corvette untill I have no other choice. 93 octane, 100% gasoline for me! 
Instructor
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 209
Likes: 1
FWIW, the tuners in my local EVO community have been experimenting with E85 as an alternative to our crappy local 91 ****-tane. So far the results have been very promising. The mechanicals have been holding up quite well without any noticeable degradation of parts, lines or seals. Best of all, when setup and tuned properly for E85, cars are making more power on E85 than on 100 octane race gas (lightly modded 400whp!). Yes, there is a significant reduction in mileage but given the cost of both 91 and 100 octane fuel, E85 is becoming very popular as an alternative fuel source among enthusiasts. I'd be curious if a normally aspirated V8 could benefit to the same extent if setup and tuned for E85. Off to the tuning forums I go 
