Joe,
I heard a track fact on the TV during the Pocono race having to do with changing pit strategy because of the lesser number of laps the cars were getting per tankful and thought I would put the claim to a test. I run regular gas(ahol) in my 1100 Honda Shadow. When I fill up, its tank fills to a certain point I can see and won’t take another teaspoon. So I drove it 96 miles and tracked my mileage, filled it up and continued to run the tank into reserve to near empty. Then I filled it up at that Red Fox station in Fruitland with their ethanol free gasoline and tried to duplicate the type of driving I did with the gasohol. I made sure I was right in Fruitland when the odometer ticked over 96 miles, and filled it up again. I’m telling you I really thought the whole time that 80 cents a gallon more for pure gas was a lot of money. Here are my results:
I used 2.156 gallons of the pure gasoline at $4.35 per gallon vs. 2.91 gallons of gasohol at $3.55 per gallon to go the same distance.
Same driver, same vehicle, same weather.
In pennies per mile, I drove at 10 cents on gasoline and 11 cents on gasohol.
If you figure in that E85 is 85% gasoline, I burned 2.47 gallons of gasoline, the rest of my 2.91 gallons being ethanol, but only used 2.156 gallons while burning the pure stuff. Both times to go 96 miles.
So, I can burn pure gasoline for less money per mile, use less fossil fuels, go farther on each tank, and nobody has to make me any ethanol!
But, it’s not easy being green, as every other station only sells the gasohol!
Gary Bullard
18 comments:
why 96 miles, and not 100 miles?
I need to chime in on this one. I was speaking to my friend Bob from Bob's Auto Repair, (one of our advertisers) and he tells me he is receiving more work for replaement fuel pumps than he has ever seen before, including one of his own vehicles.
I've been driving my 1984 plymouth Reliant that only has 45,000 miles on it on a regular basis. Why, because I couldn't care less what people think of me and most know I have a fleet of vehicles here at home and IF I wanted to impress anyone I could easily do so.
Instead, I believe in getting great gas mileage and this 4 cylinder vehicle goes at least two weeks on a tank of gas. Besides the fact that the car is like brand new and runs great. That is, until the past few days. It won't idle properly and when I spoke to bob about it he explained how it was all about the type of fuel going into the tank. Carborator engines were not designed to run on this kind of fuel and it's screwing it up.
Have YOU had to replace your fuel pump lately?
9:03,
You are correct on the small engines, too. My other bike, a 1982 Goldwing, say the winter with gasohol in it, and now it won't run. For those unfamiliar, that's FOUR carburetors I need to get overhauled.
Gary
Not only more expensive to drive with ethanol gas, more expensive to eat; because so much corn is being diverted to refineries the price of feed corn is up dramatically, raising the price of all foods that rely on feed corn and corn oils.
It's amazing how so many of these mandated solutions fail to take into account causative effects of short sightedness.
It takes 2.5 to 3 to 1 ratio of alcohol to equal gasoline which make you burn more of the alcohol to do do the same as just regular gas Makes them gas companies happy because they get more money for less gas
i was comment 9:03....what happened to it?
All the comments are right on. Ethanol only contains 70% of the energy that gasoline does. Plus, like 942 mentioned, the diverting of feed to ethanol production has caused a serious spike in grain/feed prices, which in turn causes higher prices at the grocer. I can't stand the stuff.
Joe
We have not had to replace our fuel pump but we have had to replace our weed eater, have the generators carb redone and our power washer will not run. It makes you wonder none of them were that old.
The third paragraph fromt he end should say that E85 is 85% ethanol not gasoline.
In reality E85 can be as low as 60% ethanol ans still be sold as E85.
Ethanol has a much higher oxegen content and thus the stoichiometric ratio of ethanol would be closer to 6:1. in other words the fuel air ratio has to be much richer to maintain proper combustion.
Ethanol also has a lower energy content than gasoline as other posters have pointed out.
The end result is that the subsidized lower cost for E85 still does not justify the loss of MPG.
The side effects of ethanol in a fuel system are also detrimental to any vehicle not designed to handle it.
Ethanol is corrosive, it attacks metal parts in the system, it also shortens the life of valves and valve seats in the engine.
Ethanol is also very hygoscopic meaning that it attracts water. Because ethanol is hygroscopic it cannot be tranported in the national gas pipelines and instead has to be producted and then blended locally.
E85 is not feasable if the government subsidies are ever removed.
Most gas sold at the pumps today is 10% ethanol. E85 is actually 85% ethanol, and you need a "flex fuel" vehicle in order to use it.
I tried a tankful of Red Fox's pure gas, but the difference in mileage in my vehicle was not as significant as the OP experienced. At least not enough to warrant the extra 75 to 80 cents per gallon costs.
I personally don't believe that Fox gas should be priced as high as it is, but seeing that they have an exclusive market, they can price it any way they want to. If it were priced more competitively, I would buy more of it -- for now I only use it in my chainsaw and mower engines.
I average 10% less gas mileage in my Chevy truck so I quit buying it. As for damage from ethanol, a friend had the gas tank floats in his 87 Ford van dissolve rendering his gas gauge useless.
What are some of the stations that DON'T sell ehtanol?
Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) and methanol (methyl alcohol) are two types of alcohol fuels. The use of pure alcohols in internal combustion engines is only possible if the engine is designed or modified for that purpose. However, in their anhydrous or pure forms, they can be mixed with gasoline (petrol) in various ratios for use in unmodified gasoline engines, and with minor modifications can also be used with a higher content of ethanol. Typically, only ethanol is used widely in this manner, particularly since methanol is more corrosive to standard engine components than ethanol.
Ethanol fuel mixtures have "E" numbers which describe the percentage of ethanol in the mixture by volume, for example, E85 is 85% anhydrous ethanol and 15% gasoline. Gasoline is the typical fuel mixed with ethanol but there are other fuel additives that can be mixed, such as an ignition improver used in the E95 Swedish blend. Low ethanol blends, from E5 to E25, are also known as gasohol, though internationally the most common use of the term gasohol refers to the E10 blend.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_ethanol_fuel_mixtures
I put it in an earlier comment and I guess the government removed it because of the implications. But if it takes 10 percent more fuel to travel the same distance as reg fuel and we still have to travel the same distances, we will have to purchase more fuel. The more gass purchased, the more taxes are paid into the government making them the big winners in this debacle.
After reading your article I decided to do some research on E85.
I found an article that actually did a road test using gasoline and an identical test using E85.
Test results,(they used a flex fuel vehicle), showed less fuel economy, higher costs, and only a scant difference using E85.
In short, it costs more to use E85, attracts water, is corrosive (even more so on un-modified engines), and does not signifacantly reduce emissions.
I think it should be avoided especially if you do not have a flex fuel vehicle.
http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/e85-vs-gasoline-comparison-test.html
Bullard Construction, I feel your pain. I have a 1982 Honda Goldwing and I have not been able to ride it yet this year because it is in the shop having the carburetors (4)completely rebuilt because of Ethanol. I will be a regular patron of Red Fox in Fruitland from now on.Paying 80 cents more for a gallon is better than paying $300++ for repairs
Test results,(they used a flex fuel vehicle), showed less fuel economy, higher costs, and only a scant difference using E85.
That should have been, 'only a scant emission difference using E85'.
I have gotten at least 2 mpg less on a tank of gas since ethanol was the only thing readily available.
Yes, it will mess with your fuel pumps but as a previous commenter stated, it's highly corrosive.
In older vehicles, it will cause big time problems with fuel pump hoses as well.
There is a long list of reasons why we should NOT be using ethanol in gasoline but you know what? Follow the money! That's what it's all about anymore.
If you follow the money, you'll see who's making the big bucks from this and be able to figure out why.
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