Ethanol Free gas and the EcoBoost
 

I want to begin by offering some background into my reasons for finding and using ethanol free fuel. This thread will be updated as needed to allow others to see what I'm experiencing real-time using it in my EcoBoost.

I've been doing allot of reading online concerning the effects of ethanol on our gas engines and what I'm finding across the board is not very good. Ethanol is a filler used to reduce our dependency on oil. it has no real good qualities in an internal combustion engine. It is basically used as a filler to lower the oil content in our gasoline.. Although some may disagree, I can see it is no good for our engines.

However it does one positive thing.... Reduces our need for oil.

Ok... about a month ago I began my Ethanol free gasoline challenge to see exactly what benefits I'd get keeping ethanol out of my EcoBoost and so far the results are impressive.

First things first.... There is one station, about a mile from my house that offers 90 octane ethanol free gas so I've been buying my fuel there all month. It fluctuates in price just like the ethanol stations do and is usually about 15 cents a gallon more then all the other local stations. So do expect to pay slightly more for it but as you'll see here in a minute, it's worth it IMO.

I've put 5000 miles on my EcoBoost using 10% ethanol gas at several local stations... I try to use name brands such as Chevron and texaco but that isn't always the case.
My truck has averaged between 20.5 and 22.2 MPG's during it's first 5000 miles on ethanol gas.

At 5000 miles I filled her up with 90 octane "ethanol free" gas. This first tank averaged 25.9 with mixed driving.

Second tank of ethanol free 90 octane was used during the Christmas holidays where there was allot of highway driving... This tank averaged 28.8 mpg's. Now I know some of you are very skeptical but I assure you these are accurate numbers, all hand calculated and double checked because I even doubted it.

I just finished my third tank of ethanol free 90 octane with being back to work and my normal driving routine of mixed driving. I got 26.7 mpg's.

I am averaging almost 600 miles per tank and the performance is noticeably better on ethanol free.

Now I'm no expert on gas but it's clear to me that the ethanol is obviously hurting our mileage at the least.

Oh yeah, I noticed something else... I used to have to clean this black soot off my chrome exhaust tip every time I washed the truck... Since switching to ethanol free I no longer have that soot on the exhaust tip... Hmmm... Makes you think..What in the hell are we burning

In closing, if this information is useful for somebody then great....Do your own research and you'll see what I'm seeing....

For Ethanol free gas stations in your state go to http://pure-gas.org
there are over 500 in my state of Florida alone... Try it out and you'll be surprised at the mileage improvement, not to mention you won't be putting all that crap into your engine.

J

Yes, it is a known fact that oxygenated fuel negatively affects gas mileage. I used to work closely with fuel companies as a state investigator.

Ethanol only does two positive things...it minimizes our need for foreign oil and it gives farmers a chance to sell excess corn and realize a profit rather than a loss.

I have see this first hand.... I am at times seeing 5 and 6 mpg's better then before with E-10.

I sympathize with the farmers but I can't agree with the fact it is reducing "my" mileage and whatever other unknown negative effects it has on our engines.
This E-10 has only been out and in most every station for a couple years so we don't yet know what all the negatives effects will be on the long term durability or longevity of our engines. That's what worries me.

This E/B F-150 is going to be my last truck for probably 15 or 20 years....So after spending close to $40K for this thing I am going to do whatever I can to make it last. Even if it means keeping a few hundred from a farmer.

Ethanol is an alcohol, which means it breaks down most rubber, plastic, and cork.

This is 100% correct. Very destructive to soft materials.

Let me enlighten you a little more! I work for a company that has 27 convent stores. I am not an expert but I do work with one when it comes to fuel pumps and despencers. Ethanol is a joke. We have trouble with old despencers all the time because of the ethanol, even new ones made for E85 don't hold up. Even with only 10% ethanol! I also loose 8 miles to the gallon on my Honda Goldwing when using 10%!

I can agree with the fact it really impacted my motorcycle as well.

Here in FL where E10 is at every station I ran it all the time and my bike averaged 47 mpg's.... When we went on our North Carolina Mountain ride up there we spent 12 days on our bikes and when we got up there I found allot of pure gas stations and when I began using it in my bike up there my mileage increased to 58.

Because of government regulation it's almost imposable to find pure gas anymore! The only place around here is where I work and then only if you have a farm tank. I can't even get it their!

Can't find any pure gas here in Washington. It's all got up to 10% Ethanol.

It's 10% here in Phoenix also.

I found this web site.

Same here, but most is on the lower end of the spectrum.

Thanks Tom. I checked the links and noted stations in Washington. Most of them are rural, farm co-op or marina's and none are the major fuel providers. I may make a trip and see if I can get a tank load in my Explorer.

My closest is about 100 miles away in Payson AZ. I have family there and plan a fill up just to see.

Losing that much gas mileage going from E10 to G100 makes very little sense to me. E10 only requires ~3% more fuel for the same tune, which would linearly work out to a 3% drop in gas mileage.

That's not how alcohol fuels work though. I am able to get only a 5-20% drop in gas mileage running E85 vs E10 on tests under extremely similar conditions. I did try buying ethanol free gas but no one within 50 miles has any, so I can't directly rebuff your claim. Results are based on >20 gas mileage tests; HOWEVER, this was all done with small vehicles. Which is why I've joined this forum. I'm looking into purchasing an 05+ FFV Ford F150 to do some additional tuning and see what type of losses occur with E85/M60.

I regularly run up to E50 in my WRX and only see a 10% drop in gas mileage.

Jesse, what size fuel tank have you got? I have the 36 gallon tank with the 5.0 engine and mixed highway/city (70% highway) running E10 I am getting 16.4 mpg. When I fill up my miles to empty is showing 590 to empty and my trip meter is pretty right on the money with how many gallons it takes to fill up. I drive right at 100 miles a day and fill up once a week with about 510-525 on the trip A. With the miles to empty showing anywhere from 75-125 miles to empty.

I am not trying to criticize but I am curious on the math. If you have the larger tank then the numbers don't compute, unless I am missing something else.

I will be trying it in mine as well to see if there is a measurable difference. I appreciate the information

Driving in the Desert or very hot places? Ethanol tends to cool the motor. Running E85 you might even see some frost on the intake manifold under certain circumstances. Reason alcohol reduces the temperature of the air by about 100 degrees when it vaporizes. Reason for gas mixed in, is to keep it from condensing again before it burns. Noticing the exhaust, it is very clean very few harmful emmision. Unleaded gasoline with out Ethanol may have very harmful additives in it. Emmision harmful. Most cars are designed with fuel systems very resistant to corrosion. With the removal of support Ethanol will probably go up in price, but the oil companies will also raise their prices much quicker. Like they already do everytime the economy tries to improve. A liquid fuel has to be around for a long-long time or it's baby hitch the horse, mule and oxen and we know the kind of environmental impact that has with emmisions.