ethananol vs non ethanol gas

[chargerdon]

I saw that a new law introduced by the Trump administration is going into effect soon...   That law will allow up to 15% ethanol in regular gas. 

Now, understand that a gallon of gasoline contains 124,000 btu's and ethanol only 77,000 in ethanol.   So, ethanol is 40% less energy per gallon.   Blend in 10 percent ethanol to a gallon and you lose about 4 percent power per gallon.   This was confirmed in a youtube test on a  4 cycle generator under load.   A pint of pure gasoline lastet 4 % longer than the equivalent of 90/10 gasoline.   

Makes sense.

Now, i have a cousin with a 2014 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup with the 5.7 hemi.   He says on the "regular" 90/10 gas he gets an average of around 13 mpg, but, if he puts Ethanol Free gas in it he gets 16 mpg average...over several tanks.   Thats about 23% better not 4%.   I personally think he is FULL of sh...   But, i guess if his ethanol free is 90 or better octane then maybe the increased octance would allow better timing ...thus better mileage.

NOW MY QUESTION...   I know that on our classic cars, many of us have cars that sit for over a week at a time, and ethanol laced gas evaporates faster,  and there fore we have to crank for several seconds to refill the bowls before they will start, and is more prone to heat boil over...   other than that, is it WORTH using Ethanol gas economically?  Here in the Raleigh area the only Ethanol free gas is 94 octane which is more than i need, and is priced at about a 50% premium...   

Conversely, my local Sheetz is now selling in addition to E85 a 88 octane gas which is about 20 cents a gallon cheaper than regular 87 octane but has 15% ethanol that is now allowed.   using my math 15% would be about 2% worse on fuel mileage than the 10% ethanol regular.   20 cents cheaper means a savings of about 10$ so i guess that means the 88 85/15 gas is a good deal?   Im talking here about in my 2008 sebring designed for "regular 87 octane gas.   

comments please? 

[Racer57]

Bidens EPA killed the E15 mandate. All E15 pumps are required to have a label saying E15. The same as they do for E85 and Diesel.  I've never had access to anything other than E10 ever since I started driving in the early 70's and have yet to have issues.  A lot of street racers have tuned their cars for E85. Indy cars use 98% ethanol with 2% denaturant which includes a small amount of high-octane racing fuel with an octane rating of 113, methanol has 107. Ethanol doesn't have the energy rating of gas, but gas doesn't create its own oxygen, the same with methanol.  My 383 Cuda will sit for several months during the winter and fires up on the 3rd pump instead of 1-2.   I do use Seafoam during extended times, but I would use it even if I didn't have E10. Plain gas will also evaporate.  Imho, the amount that stations jack up the price of real gas versus ethanol does not make it financially feasible.

[Poolshark314]

"But, i guess if his ethanol free is 90 or better octane then maybe the increased octance would allow better timing ...thus better mileage."

I am by no means an expert on the matter but I am not sure that higher octane = better gas mileage 

[RacerX]

The problem with ethanol in the gas isn't so much the evaporation but the fact that it is hygroscopic.
It absorbs moisture from the air.

This leads to excessive corrosion inside carburetors as the stuff evaporates.   The problem is 1000x
worse in high humidity climates.    I have a lot of carbureted vehicles in the Philippines and keeping
them working if they sit for more than 1-2 weeks is a massive ordeal with the high humidity there.
That is an extreme case but any humidity at all + ethanol is a bad combination and spells trouble for
carburetors.

Cleaning carburetors sucks.   But we have few solutions and none are particularly attractive...

drive more often --  of course we would love to but can't always take the cars out as much as we would like
run ethanol free gas only --  not widely available and costs a lot more than regular
add fuel additives (Sta-bil, et al)   --  mixed results with these, and not 100% effective
dump the carb and go FI   --   expensive, sacrifices originality, etc...

[captcolour]

My friend has a new Jeep Wrangler and he seemed to notice better gas mileage with ethanol free gas too.

[Dakota]

I have 2 gas stations nearby that sell 90 octane "recreational vehicle" fuel that has no ethanol in it.  That's all I've ever put in my Challenger so far, primarily to avoid the corrosion issues mentioned above.  Once I take it for a longer trip, I will probably have to use something with ethanol in it but I will avoid it as much as possible.

[MEK-Dangerous]

Ethanol in gas will eat away at any rubber fuel lines you have. I don't have a station less than an hours drive from me, but I would love to try "real" gas.

   https://www.pure-gas.org/

[gzig5]

When I'm in Florida, I always try to find the pump with the 90 octane Ethanol-free gas that the boaters put in their tanks.  I definitely get 5-10% better mileage with it than the E10 crapola.  There is only one place within thirty miles of my house that has it here.  MKE is some sort of EPA exclusion zone, but there are lots of opportunities out-state.

[torredcuda]

Only ethanol free gas around here is race or av gas, both are niether affordable or practical as it`s only available in a few locations so if you drive anywhere you need to fill up at a regular gas station. I replaced my fuel lines years ago and have not had any problems since although carb seems to need to be gone thru every couple years.

[RacerX]

Only ethanol free gas around here is race or av gas, both are niether affordable or practical as it`s only available in a few locations so if you drive anywhere you need to fill up at a regular gas station. I replaced my fuel lines years ago and have not had any problems since although carb seems to need to be gone thru every couple years.

It is unfortunate that it is not more widely available as everyone with a carbureted engine, whether it is a car, motorcycle or truck or even lawnmowers, weed whackers, boat engines, etc etc etc are vulnerable to ethanol in the fuel.

Here in Texas many of the Walmart stores with gas sell ethanol-free and we have QT (Quick-Trip) a gas station chain selling ethanol-free.    I filled up my 74 Roadrunner with it there.    Guess we are lucky.

[cuda hunter]

I have one gas station in my county that sells non ethanol fuel.
The only reason they have it is that they are not in city limits and controlled by the big name fuel companies. 
the lobbyists that push the ethanol will never let ethanol disappear from fuel.  Very unfortunate.  I know several corn growers and they all claim it's a giant scam being forced on America.

My 67 winged car used to only run E85 when it was in the big city for about 10 of it's years.  Colorado Springs.  Straight ethanol.  Ran ok.  The problem with E85 is that the octane is unreliable. 
  My best friend, who owned the car and drove it 20 plus years was a mechanic down there and he made Ethanol and bio fuel for his company's fleet of trucks.  Since he made ethanol, he started running straight ethanol.
  Being that he was creating the ethanol, he would still get E85 at the stores.  But when he would get the store brand ethanol he would check the octane level each time.  Never once was the octane level within 5%.  It would always vary at least 15% plus. 
  Since the octane level would vary by so much every time he would get gas, it made it difficult to tune the car.  Tune it one way and next week the fuel has 20% more power, next week 30% less than that. 
  That motor eventually destroyed some bearings.