Ethanol is a joke!

[cyeah]

Man I used to buy ethanol all the time thnking it was cheaper. Did a little test (m.p.g. with straight gas vs. ethanol vs price difference) and find out it was costing me some serious money in the end.

Just an FYI, not only is ethanol taking food off the table, it is costing money at the pump.

 

[isuno1fan]

Congratulations! You have been saved. I've been preaching this for sometime, but prepare to get slaughtered because you are in the heart of ethanol production here in Iowa.

Unfortunately the average person isn't smart enough to figure this out and just puts whatever is the least expensive at the pump in their vehicle.

If ethanol were more expensive do you think anyone would use it? Subsidies and lobbyists at work my friend.

 

[HILLCYD]

Do you have any numbers?

 

[ahaselhu]

What kind of mpg difference are you talking?

 

[CYVADER]

somebody write mythbusters!

 

[isufbcurt]

i also did this test and found the difference was trivial, so I will keep using ethanol.

As for the supposed food shortage, heres an easy fix. Feed our people before we feed others!!!

 

[goldmember]

Man I used to buy ethanol all the time thnking it was cheaper. Did a little test (m.p.g. with straight gas vs. ethanol vs price difference) and find out it was costing me some serious money in the end.

Just an FYI, not only is ethanol taking food off the table, it is costing money at the pump.

Yep, this is because ethanol doesn't have as many calories as regular unleaded....so it takes more fuel to get the same amount of energy. Many people see a high octane rating and think more power....when octane has to do with the compression ratio and aspiration of fuel. So in short ethanol is a joke.

 

[HILLCYD]

Again...numbers anyone? I don't have a horse in this race I just want to get the best mileage for the best price. So again, anyone have numbers, or are we just spouting off against Ethanol?

 

[BD4CY]

I get 34 mpg with ethanol in my ZX2. Could I do better?

 

[jbhtexas]

Yep, this is because ethanol doesn't have as many calories as regular unleaded....so it takes more fuel to get the same amount of energy. Many people see a high octane rating and think more power....when octane has to do with the compression ratio and aspiration of fuel. So in short ethanol is a joke.

Why does that make ethanol a "joke"?

 

[cybsball20]

We just tested it this weekend on our trip to Nashville. My wife's grand am got 37 mpg with regular, 35 with ethanol. Not enough to make up the 20 cents a gallon.

 

[HILLCYD]

We just tested it this weekend on our trip to Nashville. My wife's grand am got 37 mpg with regular, 35 with ethanol. Not enough to make up the 20 cents a gallon.

Thanks, that is what I wanted to know.

 

[The_Architect]

You got 37 mpg with a GRAND AM? That's hard to believe in itself.

 

[brianhos]

Are you talking E10 or E85?

 

[Ames]

E85 gets less mileage, but usually better performance. The blends everyone buys for regular cars has such a slight mileage difference that it doesn't matter; the price savings makes it worth it.

 

[cybsball20]

You got 37 mpg with a GRAND AM? That's hard to believe in itself.

Yeah, we were VERY suprised...

 

[isuno1fan]

If you do the math, the difference needs to be around the 20 cents per gallon to get the two close. For E85 the disparity needs to be much greater.

The subsidies won't last forever and ethanol has many other negative impacts (wildlife habitat going by the wayside & potential to inflate some food prices) that it falls into the "joke" category.

 

[ISUFan22]

We just went to Chicago and back this weekend - got 32mpg in our '08 Altima (2.5L engine). That's about the top end of the "real" rating on that car.

I may run a test though with a non-ethanol gas.

 

[dmclone]

It ranges but E85 usually gets 20% worse gas mileage.

With normal ethanol you will see 2-3% worse.


I don't know what % they use but the register has a nice little calculator.

http://data.desmoinesregister.com/fuelcalculator/ethanolcalculator.php

 

[1100011CS]

Since someone suggested it I decided to see if Mythbusters has done anything on this. It doesn't look like they have but there's a rather large thread about it with some good info. Not sure how reliable it is but...

Alcohol in gas makes gas mileage go down - Topic Powered by eve community

I particularly liked this entry:

It's really not that complicated. Alcohol has a lower energy content than gasoline so it is practically inevitable that you will get lower mileage with a gas/alcohol mix. The point of mixing in alcohol, however is NOT to increase mileage. Instead, it does several things...
1. Increase octane without using MTBE
2. Reduce the amount of gasoline we are using
3. Reduce emissions
4. Replace some of our gasoline usage with a fuel that comes from renewable resources (this, obviously, is directly related to #2 above)

When the EPA says it will save petroleum, they mean exactly that. It doesn't mean that you will save money, or that you will get better mileage, or anything else other than just that it will save petroleum. You may have more TOTAL fluid flowing through your engine, but some of it will be alcohol instead of gas, so you will save petroleum.

Again, not sure how reliable it is but interesting thoughts.