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Gotta love ethanol free gas

dmftoy1

New member
4 straight tanks in Michigan's UP and 47.3, 48.2, 49.3 and 48.0 mpg. Wish we could get ethanol free in IL

5a3epure.jpg
 
When I use E-Free racing fuel to put some engines to bed for the winter, I find, the aroma of the "old fuel" like a trip back in time. :gerg
OM
 
I have ran ethanol free gas in my bike, car and truck to test against gas with ethanol. After running about three tanks through all of my vehicles I came to the conclusion that despite what most claim the gas mileage improvement was so minimal to not be worth the extra cost. They do charge more for ethanol free gas at the station I am able to purchase at. I do purchase and run the ethanol free gas in all my small engines and will fill my bike with it for winter storage but outside of that it's really all hype in my humble opinion and experience. It's not a game changer in MPG and there was no noticeable H.P. difference that I could detect on a normal day of riding.
 
I have ran ethanol free gas in my bike, car and truck to test against gas with ethanol. After running about three tanks through all of my vehicles I came to the conclusion that despite what most claim the gas mileage improvement was so minimal to not be worth the extra cost. They do charge more for ethanol free gas at the station I am able to purchase at. I do purchase and run the ethanol free gas in all my small engines and will fill my bike with it for winter storage but outside of that it's really all hype in my humble opinion and experience. It's not a game changer in MPG and there was no noticeable H.P. difference that I could detect on a normal day of riding.

I would not use ethanol free out of concern for mileage or performance but because of other technical problems that ethanol brings, i.e.: fuel stability, corrosion and adverse effects on certain materials in the fuel supply system. For this, I gladly pay a little more.
 
I would not use ethanol free out of concern for mileage or performance but because of other technical problems that ethanol brings, i.e.: fuel stability, corrosion and adverse effects on certain materials in the fuel supply system. For this, I gladly pay a little more.

+1 :thumb
 
I know I'm interloping here with you K guys but on my 2011 R1200GS I do see noticeable improvements with mileage. Near my home I can get 87 and 93 octane ethanol free. I run the 93 which is about $3.99 per gal and my mid-grade E10 is about $3.40. Mileage on my instrument panel is 44-46 with E10 and 48 with E0. Gulf is selling 89 octane mid grade in NC for exactly the same price as E0 mid grade and it give me 49-50 mpg. The bike doesn't go any faster, but idle is smoother and transitions out of corners are also smoother. This data comes from multiple tanks and doing the fill amount / miles driven method has always been real close to my instrument panel.
 
I would not use ethanol free out of concern for mileage or performance but because of other technical problems that ethanol brings, i.e.: fuel stability, corrosion and adverse effects on certain materials in the fuel supply system. For this, I gladly pay a little more.

For years I had no choice but to run the gas with the ethanol and have had absolutely nothing go wrong with any of my vehicles. I do think it could make a difference on older small engines or older verhicles developed long before ethanol came into existence. I will go out of my way to ensure I only use the ethanol free gas in any of my older engines such as a lawnmower or chainsaw engine but for any newer vehicle I seriously doubt it makes any difference at all. Just think of how busy all the auto repair places would be if ethanol were truly that bad for engines and the lawsuits would be unstoppable.
 
RECENT MODERN cages may not be much of an issue with ethanol other than those that come from water separated fuel in badly managed filling stations but it sure creates problem is small engines.
Take some time to talk to your local small engine repair place and ask them how much business has been created for them since this junk replaced pure gas. Almost all of it gummed carbs (in fairness, also possible with pure gas), some of it non-compatible parts damaged by ethanol. My local folks say its half of their business.
If you add up all the costs associated with ethanol use, its pretty obvious its basically a subsidy to large farm industry and wastes a food crop doing it.
Our energy security from foreign oil isn't going to come from ethanol in any appreciable way but instead from our own natural gas sources, whatever we can get from renewable stuff, etc.
 
I see a good 4-5mpg difference when I'm out of state and can burn pure gas. Track stuff pretty religiously. YMMV (literally. :) )
 
For years I had no choice but to run the gas with the ethanol and have had absolutely nothing go wrong with any of my vehicles. I do think it could make a difference on older small engines or older verhicles developed long before ethanol came into existence. I will go out of my way to ensure I only use the ethanol free gas in any of my older engines such as a lawnmower or chainsaw engine but for any newer vehicle I seriously doubt it makes any difference at all. Just think of how busy all the auto repair places would be if ethanol were truly that bad for engines and the lawsuits would be unstoppable.

Wow Chuck, you are one lucky son-of-a-gun! Ethanol in my area has been and continues to be an absolute nightmare. It is hard on everything from fuel injectors to fuel tanks. Last fall I went to give my snowblower, that is only two years old, a checkup before winter. I forgot that I had put a small amount of ethanol gasoline in it before putting it away and I did not drain/run it out of the blower before putting it up for the summer. Long story short the inside carburetor looked like some kind of fungus from another planet took it over. I have never seen anything like it in my life. There is a definite difference in almost every vehicle I own when I am forced to use gasoline blended with ethanol. I am glad you are happy with the stuff but it is garbage from first hand experience. I almost never use it in my motorcycles unless I have no choice and then it is just enough to get me to some real gasoline.

Rick
 
YMMV is so true...

I've always been somewhat fanatical about tracking gas mileage in all our vehicles. When our local Chevron station started serving up ethanol I noticed the difference quickly with my bike, car, and truck. And of course they NEVER tell you how much ethanol is in the blend, just a small note on the pump that states "this fuel MAY contain up to 10% Ethanol". Sort of a crap shoot, to say the least! So, I buy their gas most of the time, and notice the difference in our '07 Avalon. With EO we average 26+ in mixed use, 31+ in freeway cruise (65-70mph), mpg drops 10% in both driving modes with E10 (E?) in 90K miles of driving experience. I'm a big fan of Techron (198K on our F-150) and will continue using Chevron/Texaco most of the time. We do use E0 from another station now and then, the 10% improvement in mileage is worth the extra 3% in per gallon cost.

As they say...YMMV!

Cheers!
 
. I do think it could make a difference on older small engines or older verhicles developed long before ethanol came into existence. .

I dare to say that some newer vehicles and associated technology - like fuel pumps and level sender strips in the tanks - have more problems with ethanol than older, simpler designs. The fact that gasoline gums up in small engine carbs is not an engine problem. It is a maintenance problem and can be addressed by adding stabilizer to the gas. I do this on my lawnmowers, snowblower, chainsaw and weedwacker and never had a problem. They all start up and run even after 6 months of sitting in the shed.
 
Ethanol in gas

The small engine repair person that fixes my lawn mower tells me fuel problems associated with ethanol problems is epidemic. Foolishly we modeled our ethanol program after Brazil who makes their ethanol from sugar cane witch produces seven times the production of corn.At the end of the day this policy will go down as one of the least efficient way to make us energy independent.
 
The small engine repair person that fixes my lawn mower tells me fuel problems associated with ethanol problems is epidemic. .

Do you know how many people who have seasonal gas-engine powered equipment use fuel stabilizer? Probably one out of ten. The only thing most people in my neighborhood do is run the tank and engine dry before they put the unit out of service. One of the worst things you can do. No wonder problems are epidemic.
 
I usually buy gas at Chevron with the Techron 3 additive or Costco which also adds a cleaning agent similar to what Chevron uses and I most definetly do use fuel stabilier over the winter which includes adding it to the gas and running the engine to ensure the fuel stabilizer is ran into the fuel lines. Never had a problem with any of my vehicles or small gas engines which last year totaled 15 different gas engines, I am working on reducing that number.
As for the mileage check, the only way any of you can truly test your mileage is to drive the same route with the ethanol free gas as you do with the ethanol added gas on the same route. It's hardly accurate to say while driving in a different state you used ethanol free gas. I have tested it on the same stretch of roadway in my truck, car and motorcycle and it just does not make much, if any difference on the MPG.

I have seen many gummed up carbs from small engines which mainly come from any type of fuel stored for too long without the use of fuel stabilizers.
 
Same route

I've been carefully monitoring MPG on my R1200RT since 2008. Exact same riding patterns and road to and from work mileage goes from 49mpg with ethanol to 52 without. I carefully establish a variable free or as much of a variable free equation as possible. I've been able to track MPG so carefully now that I can tell when a gas station claiming ethanol free sells me ethanol the difference is that dramatic. I only run 93 octane in the bike. I have noticed that the difference in MPG on the BMW 328i is not as noticeable but still there. My opinion ethanol is a corn lobby solution that benifits everyone but the consumer. Free market society is not a free market when all the choices but one are removed.
 
The only thing most people in my neighborhood do is run the tank and engine dry before they put the unit out of service. One of the worst things you can do. No wonder problems are epidemic.

Out of curiosity, why? We had an old Lawnboy mower that lasted for over 18 years. The only maintenance it required was a new spark plug and cutting blade when needed. We probably replaced the starter pull rope a few times too. It had a fuel valve under the tank and we never killed it by turning off the ignition. We'd close the fuel valve and let the engine run the carburetor dry. It only took about a minute so was no big deal. The main reason we did this was because the engine was a 2-stroke, requiring a fuel/oil mix and getting into that habit precluded the possibility of the engine sitting through the winter season with that oil mix evaporating in the float bowl but we never had any problems with it doing that, regardless of how long it sat before the next start up. We retired it when it started getting harder to start and besides, the mowing deck was seriously starting to deteriorate by then too.

Just wondering!

Ride Safe,
Steve R.
 
Out of curiosity, why? We had an old Lawnboy mower that lasted for over 18 years. The only maintenance it required was a new spark plug and cutting blade when needed. We probably replaced the starter pull rope a few times too. It had a fuel valve under the tank and we never killed it by turning off the ignition. We'd close the fuel valve and let the engine run the carburetor dry. It only took about a minute so was no big deal. The main reason we did this was because the engine was a 2-stroke, requiring a fuel/oil mix and getting into that habit precluded the possibility of the engine sitting through the winter season with that oil mix evaporating in the float bowl but we never had any problems with it doing that, regardless of how long it sat before the next start up. We retired it when it started getting harder to start and besides, the mowing deck was seriously starting to deteriorate by then too.

Just wondering!

Ride Safe,
Steve R.

Because they are being told or have read somewhere that fuel goes bad after a while. So, they follow the instructions of some other halfwit to get rid of all the gas before they store the unit and run it dry (so they think).
You are speaking in past tense about your Lawnboy, which makes me believe this all happened before we had ethanol in gas.
 
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