gdideric
New member
i haven't had the AC off, and we have e10 here...could be a factor..
is your mileage in the low 20s or worse
- Thread starter knexster
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i haven't had the AC off, and we have e10 here...could be a factor..
gdideric
New member
Can't. Houston and most of the surrounding area is mandated for e10 "due to smog"
gdideric
New member
depends on what you mean by worse. ethanol replace MTBE which has started showing up in the water supplies in quantities that start to cause concern. MTBE was there to reduce the CO content of exhaust fumes (biasing it to CO2). CO causes smog, CO2 doesn't. So in places where MTBE is banned, ethanol does indeed improve the smog...
From a CO2 perspective though, ethanol gives worse fuel economy and depending on where you read it, takes more energy to produce than it puts back into our cars, so the net CO2 is (likely? IMO) worse with ethanol. So from the standpoint of CO2 and a host of other things, food prices, fertilizer use, etc, ethanol is very likely worse for the "environment"
It's extremely difficult to have a strictly unbiased opinion on the matter though, so your results may vary. Suffice to say, I gots the alcohol in my gases and they aint going anywhither so I needs to adjust my mpg goggles..or i need to move to the country...or maybe mexico...the sonic would make a delightful drug runner, I bet...secret compartment under the trunk...
From a CO2 perspective though, ethanol gives worse fuel economy and depending on where you read it, takes more energy to produce than it puts back into our cars, so the net CO2 is (likely? IMO) worse with ethanol. So from the standpoint of CO2 and a host of other things, food prices, fertilizer use, etc, ethanol is very likely worse for the "environment"
It's extremely difficult to have a strictly unbiased opinion on the matter though, so your results may vary. Suffice to say, I gots the alcohol in my gases and they aint going anywhither so I needs to adjust my mpg goggles..or i need to move to the country...or maybe mexico...the sonic would make a delightful drug runner, I bet...secret compartment under the trunk...
Bogus
Senior Member
..or i need to move to the country...or maybe mexico...the sonic would make a delightful drug runner, I bet...secret compartment under the trunk...
My thoughts exactly.
Johnny Alien
New member
My ethanol free test yielded me 1.5 MPG max higher than with e10. At the current price of gas it was not worth the extra money (30 cents higher) that I paid for the ethanol free gas.
My current tank did 35.5 MPG with an average speed of 33.6. That is the standard e10 gas.
Eric Smit
Enforcer
I find that impossible to do with the automatic. I'm kind jelly of the numbers people can get in the manual, especially on rural roads. No matter how much I feather the pedal, it likes to shift at around 2k. I may try out the manual mode some day when I'm driving around the sticks and see if there's a big MPG difference.
I used to get low-to-mid 20's or so for the first 1500 miles, and I was really bummed. Since then I've been averaging 33-35 MPG, depending how much city driving I'm doing.
Graham
New member
The ethanol free gas also has a higher energy density so yo get more power along with better mileage. It's also supposed to run cleaner, less deposits in your engine. It's worth it when u factor in all the Benefits. At least it is for me.
Johnny Alien
New member
If it was the same price I would easily go with it. But I would be paying more per mile and honestly I felt little to no power improvement. Modern cars are built to deal with 10% ethanol so while I am sure ethanol free is nicer it's not hurting anything. I really hope that pure gas becomes more readily available at a better price but until then I will stick with what I got. I actually just tallied my last tank of gas and my MPG was higher than with the ethanol free. Very slightly but still higher.
LS1notFOUND
New member
generally speaking over the life of the vehicle the ethanol gas should be be healthier. It acts as a cleaner so in theory you might end up with better MPG over the life of the vehicle. Also even "ethanol" free does have some in it, this is because some chemicals have been removed because of ground water contamination and ethanol is put in its place.
Its hard to tell which is the under 10 group because all the pumps are getting "may contain up to 10%" on them, so its roll of the dice.
Also for Droid 4 and (maybe Razr users), with ICS update you can take a screenshot by momentarily holding and releasing power button and volume down. Careful because when held for to long this also restarts the phone.
Onstar attached.
Its hard to tell which is the under 10 group because all the pumps are getting "may contain up to 10%" on them, so its roll of the dice.
Also for Droid 4 and (maybe Razr users), with ICS update you can take a screenshot by momentarily holding and releasing power button and volume down. Careful because when held for to long this also restarts the phone.
Onstar attached.
Attachments
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Screenshot_2012-09-16-13-48-22.jpg
gdideric
New member
Generally, I do a 5 mile commute in traffic. I average about 20 mph.
So for this last tank, I reset the MPG computer. I did 50 miles of that commute and got my normal 26.5 mpg. Then my wife and I went downtown, and did 50 miles of mostly highway. The mpg shot up to 34 mpg! wow. So half highway and half city was 34mpg. Now with another 100 miles of city commuting i'm still at 31 mpg for this tank.
That's a pretty remarkable difference...
So for this last tank, I reset the MPG computer. I did 50 miles of that commute and got my normal 26.5 mpg. Then my wife and I went downtown, and did 50 miles of mostly highway. The mpg shot up to 34 mpg! wow. So half highway and half city was 34mpg. Now with another 100 miles of city commuting i'm still at 31 mpg for this tank.
That's a pretty remarkable difference...
Anything in particular you did to improve the mileage or did it "break in" as everyone says? I'm in the same predicament, however I'm nearing 4000 miles on my sonic.
Maddog2020
Active member
That worked on my Razr.
