Ethanol free gas for car/truck

[DFTR Josh]

Anybody use it and why? Just starting to do my homework to see what's the deal with it. It's grown in UT big time it seems.

[MLA]

Ethanol is added to gasoline, so ethanol-free is, well, gasoline. Its gas prior to the corn lobbyist and environmentalists got involved with the EPA. Bottom line, there is ZERO good to consumers, about ethanol blended fuel.

[Broke Pilot]

If you can get it, run it. It's worth the $$. You'll most likely see lower fuel consumption, especially in a boat where the RPMs are higher at a constant load. Ethanol dilutes gasoline, takes more fuel to make the same sized bang in the cylinder. Pure gas will give more power with less fuel. (However, ethanol has a higher octane rating then gas. Pure ethanol is around 116 octane race fuel) Plus, ethanol and rubber do not mix. Eventually we'll all be replacing our fuel systems.

[MJHSupra]

E-fuel will absorb moisture if you vehicle sits.

Modern motors have internals that support the E-fuels. I keep it far away from my Chevelle motor.

I’ve read about the better fuel consumption, but you have to offset the cost for those trying to save $$.


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[Broke Pilot]

The only part they can't make compliant is any rubber fuel lines. They have ethanol resistant rubber, but it too will rot away. There's a few companies in the go fast car world working on synthetic materials but not having much luck.
And yes, thank you for mentioning the water absorption of the fuel... forgot about that for reason.

[DFTR Josh]

If you can get it, run it. It's worth the $$
Sorry if a dumb question: Do you need a flex fuel car to run E free gas?

[MLA]

Sorry if a dumb question: Do you need a flex fuel car to run E free gas?

Not stupid at all. All gas cars and trucks can run E10 or even E15 pump gas. Then theres the good ol E85, which is 85% ethanol. You need a flex-fuel to run E85.

[Broke Pilot]

Yep, what MLA said. All a flex fuel car is, is a vehicle with a special sensor that can sense the amount of ethanol in the fuel. Since it takes more E85 to make the equivalent bang in the power stroke than just straight gas or a blend, it needs to know the amount so it can tell the injectors to fire longer.

[DFTR Josh]

Getting gas in my wifes car I noticed the cap say E85/Gasoline, is that telling me it's actually a flex fuel car but don't say it with a fancy decal?

[MLA]

Probably so.

[rdlangston13]

To me that would indicate it being "flex fuel" but I still would not run E85. It may be cheaper but your fuel mileage will be awful.

We recently had a new Buccees built by my house and they sell ethanol free gas, problem is it is about $1.40 a gallon more expensive than E10 so I just can't justify the added cost. The increase in fuel mileage will not offset that cost.

[Broke Pilot]

David, where is this Buccees?!? I've been searching for E0 in Texas for months! I'll be down there with 2 transfer tanks as soon as I get home! Any chance you remember what octane they had?
We've been driving to Louisiana to get it in the past.

[rdlangston13]

David, where is this Buccees?!? I've been searching for E0 in Texas for months! I'll be down there with 2 transfer tanks as soon as I get home! Any chance you remember what octane they had?
We've been driving to Louisiana to get it in the past.

It is on Katy right off of I-10 and Cane Island Parkway. You get $0.20 a gallon off if you buy a premium car wash so if you plan on buying a large amount the $16 car wash may end up saving you some money.

The octane is an interesting topic, every pump offers ethanol free however some have it listed as 87 octane and some pumps have it listed has 92 octane. You may want to ask management about that, not sure why different pumps would have different octanes.

[Broke Pilot]

Yea that is different... if they have 92-93 I'm all over it.

[sandm]

To me that would indicate it being "flex fuel" but I still would not run E85. It may be cheaper but your fuel mileage will be awful.


I did some homework with the last ford ranger that I bought that was able to run e85. it was quite a bit cheaper in WI and although you do have a mileage penalty for using it, the difference in cost vs mileage was close.
what stopped me from switching was a truck with 100k on the clock and read a lot of stories about how e85 will snag the crap in the bottom of the tank and drag it through the engine causing more issues with injectors and fuel pumps/filters. most say if you don't run e85 out of the gate or alternate, stay away from it and if you do, expect to replace a few fuel filters within the first 1k miles you run it on older vehicles..

on the flip side, lots of turbo4 guys moving to e85 as primary gas due to the higher octane rating and increased boost you can run by switching rather than running meth/water injection or race gas.

I have noticed a lot more stations putting in ethanol free gas in utah but at a higher cost and it's typically at the lower end of the octane rating.


I use an app called fuel buddy for both my rigs. I started using with the Genesis coupe when it was brand new in Nov'15. I ONLY used 91octane ethanol free from a station in Wisconsin and now in Utah, I am forced to use ethanol blended premium. gas mileage last year averaged 23.5. gas mileage this year is 25.2. I am driving more 60mph highway than before so not true apples to apples but doesn't look to be as much of a hit as I expected on the premium side..

[rdlangston13]

I think the main benefit for having ethanol free pump gas is that I can fill my cans for my mower with and not have to worry about their fuel systems. I don't see myself spending that much for boat gas especially since all I ever used in the LSV was E10 and I never once had an issue.


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[zabooda]

I use ethanol free in the small engines including the dirt bike mainly because of the length of time the fuel sits in the tannks. I'll pump out the ethanol gas in my Moomba and replace it with ethanol free gas with Stabil when it gets winterized. I only put in a couple of gallons.

[KnoxMojo]

If you are cycling through your boat fuel on a regular basis, the e10 is fine as most newer fuel injected engines are tuned for it. Keep in mind, that some pure gas places don't run any sort of gas additives like cleaners and stuff, so that is also to consider.

[MLA]

Refined gasoline actually includes a mandated package of additives, even though some add additional to their "premium" in order to charge a premium p/gal. Boat engines and their fuel system have been ethanol tolerant for about 15 years or more. The real issue is the moisture absorption and phase separation in vehicles that sit. Even law mower and weed eaters.

[KnoxMojo]

Let me expand on my previous statement. Yes, all gas has a certain level of detergents added to the fuel at the refineries. The difference is that the major branded fuels have their own additional additives added to the mix, while unbranded gas only has the absolute minimum as required by federal standards. So as most on here have seen, the places that carry %100 gas are normally unbranded stations, so they don't have the higher level detergents. Just like as my Corvette, I run an after market additive with my %100 and only try to put Chevron or Texaco gas with Techron in it.