E30 running good in non Flex Fuel vehicle

[TiredTrucker]

Well, for my older stuff that I had that ran E10, it was about 1 mpg, sometimes 2 mpg less on E10 than E0. The 74 Pontiac I mentioned, a 79 Ford Bronco got E10 most of the time. as has everything else right on up to today.

Now, lets say that there is a 2 mpg loss using E10. And that one is getting 20 mpg normally. E0 in my area runs about 30-40 cents a gallon more than E10. E10 is currently $2.09 in my area for about 11.6 cents a mile at 18 mpg. E0 is running around @2.44. So about 35 cents higher. At 20 mpg and $2.44, cost per mile is 12.2 cents a mile. So the edge goes to the E10 even though it causes a 2 mpg loss, at least for this discussion.

Run a few tanks of E10 and find out what kind of mpg you get compared to using E0. Then decide if it is worth it based on your local fuel price.

 

[John_Conrad]

Thanks for sharing your experience and having a discussion based on ones own data as opposed to just bashing that many bring to the forum.

It is interesting that at an additional 1 mpg loss(or 3 total) you would be at break even in your case and at 4 mpg loss you would be wiser to run EO. But your numbers help you make the best decision for you.

In my case my yield of ethanol fuel is not that good. I can drop from 4-6 miles per gallon on the ethanol fuel. That really makes me wonder whether I am getting more than 10% ethanol from my station. And yes i fuel up at the exact same station every week and have been doing this for about 17 years.
Ok, so moving on to sharing my experience and in my case it has always been more cost effective to go with EO.

How i figure my actual cost of E10 to E0 is to take the E10 price per gallon and divide by the expected yield. Since my loss in mileage is generally at least 4 mpg i use .875 as my yield.(28/32)

Using your prices of E0=$2.44 and E10=$2.32
my actual cost of E10 due to energy loss=
2.32/.875=$2.65 so i would fuel with the E0 at $2.44.

 

[Pontual]

You start to get leaning problems with E50, lack of power in modern fis. Green plastic injectors are flex compatible (my old 95 Taurus BR version, came with green injectors hence all the fs, except ecm). Also above E50, you get hard start from low volatility of ethanol below 58F.

 

[TiredTrucker]

It is not really worth the risk to put E85 in a non flex fuel vehicle. It is going to throw a code somewhere down the line, it could mess with an O2 sensor. Playing with E10, E15, E20 is not out of line, but loading up a non flex fuel on E85 is getting well outside the envelope. I did try it one time with a Chevy car that the wife had. A 2002 I believe. Didn't take long for a code to show up. I had used about 1/2 tank of E10 when I filled with E85. I filled it back up with E0 and code went away. I would guess at that point, I used about 1/4 tank, so filling with E0 probably got it into E20 or E30 territory.

 

[Warwagon92]

I love seeing people post about wifes tails .. your car will explode if you use E85. lol get real people.

 

[RTexasF]

Are there gas pumps that dispense E30? I've never heard of that mix.

 

[Rand]

Originally Posted By: RTexasF
Are there gas pumps that dispense E30? I've never heard of that mix.


They work just like those pumps that have 3 grades of gas..
Sunoco here had 85-87-89-92-94 for awhile.



With the ethanol blend pumps they just mix the gas and ethanol to give you the % you paid for.

Around here There is usually just e85 and e10 but most stations dont carry e85 either.

 

[TiredTrucker]

They are called blender pumps. We have them in various locations around me. The dispense E10, E15, E20, E30, and E85. Probably just two types in the tanks.... Regular and E85... and they mix when pumped based on selection. Depending on pricing, can be a good thing to have variety if one has a flex fuel vehicle.

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted By: Pontual
You start to get leaning problems with E50, lack of power in modern fis. Green plastic injectors are flex compatible (my old 95 Taurus BR version, came with green injectors hence all the fs, except ecm). Also above E50, you get hard start from low volatility of ethanol below 58F.


I run E85 almost exclusively in my truck...including all winter long in temps well below freezing, and sometimes below zero. I have never experienced a starting problem. I do realize that the blend changes in the winter to more like E70 (but not any less), but still well above the E50 you are talking about.

I do this because I love the power of my 6.2L, and to get all I can it requires premium (yes, it says it right on the fuel filling door). E85 gives the same or better performance as premium, and as long as it stays at 75% the cost of premium, I break even or am ahead with E85.