E15 Arrives in DFW

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This may not be news for some of you, but my favorite QT station now has E15. It is seven cents per gallon cheaper than regular E10 and one point higher octane (88). I figured, what the heck, I'll see what happens. I reset my average fuel economy readout to see how much the mpg drops.
 
Our newer GM trucks love the E20 at a few stations down here. They advance the timing so much the fuel economy hit is very small. Still only a few cents cheaper, if the price spread was equal to the alcohol content I'd like it better...
 
You will probably find the same thing those of us living in the corn belt find. The fuel mileage you lose costs more than the decrease in price, making it uneconomical to run. Its held true for E85 and E15 has been even worse, with some places here selling it at the same price as E10 but labeled as "Super 88".

Performance wise, if flex fuel, you will gain some performance, but the cost difference isn't there.
 
The "super 88" is trickling in around here too. I'll pass. There's a holiday station 1 mile from my house that sells no-oxy premium. I'll stick with that, thank you!
 
You shouldn't be able to notice a fuel economy drop. It's a very very small percentage of energy lost, you'll run into other things that affect the measurement at that point.

2. Your engine will run a bit cleaner and you reduce our dependency on foreign oil!

3. Your engine will run a lot longer the more ethanol you feed it. Ethanol when diluted into the crank case, doesn't corrode internals like gasoline.
 
^The only thing I found to contest in this post is the "dependency on foreign oil" part. The United States has been a net exporter of oil for some time now. The only reason any foreign oil gets used these days is, like any other commodity, refiners get it from the cheapest source. If hard pressed we could be oil independent.

Other than that I appreciate the fact that you didn't just jump on the anti-ethanol bandwagon.
 
Originally Posted By: DBMaster
^The only thing I found to contest in this post is the "dependency on foreign oil" part. The United States has been a net exporter of oil for some time now. The only reason any foreign oil gets used these days is, like any other commodity, refiners get it from the cheapest source. If hard pressed we could be oil independent.

Other than that I appreciate the fact that you didn't just jump on the anti-ethanol bandwagon.


We produce almost 10 million barrels of oil a day. We consume almost 20 million a day. We export gas for profit for oil companies not to help America.
 
I am neither friend or foe of ethanol in gasoline. It was helpful for my 89 Accord around the mid 90s when I was able to stop spending extra for mid-grade and use regular without knocking. The LXi had higher compression than the DXs or LXs of the time and thus required higher octane to prevent knocks. But, at the same time, I lost 10% in fuel economy due to the reformulation of the gas. So, the reduction in cost per gallon was more of a wash due to the 3 mpg reduction in fuel economy.
 
EPA work on the subject has shown that E15 delivers about a 2% fuel mileage drop compared to an E10 blend. Amazingly enough, that corresponds to the energy content difference between the two fuels.

So one can say its only a 2% difference and it shouldn't matter, but 2% is more than zero, everything else held the same.

So if the E15 is priced 2% lower than E10, then maybe it makes sense economically.

As far as ethanol being a better fuel than oil products, given the articles I've been reading in relation to the impacts of corn production on our water resources, I'd have a very hard time making the claim its clean energy. I'll leave it at that.
 
I really hate how I don't get notifications on any posts.

MNgopher. You're not factoring in how much less wear ethanol prevents on an engine, or how your vehicle will get better gas mileage because it has less deposits. Thinking long term, ethanol does not bother the engine and does not corrode it like gas.

Here's an argument I encounter daily, "but ethanol has so many less BTUs, mpgs, etc. But what happens when your fuel economy drops 20-30% because your intake is so caked in deposits it's lost efficiency and computer is not retarding spark and timing? See with ethanol fuels, you won't encounter that as much because ethanol keeps everything clean. E15 is better than E10, but honestly E30 is the good zone, keeps deposits down big time. If we ran E30 as a nation, things would change greatly.

DBmaster, many things at play. Saudis = smart. They will keep us out of the oil game forever. We must reduce foreign decency, actually oil dependency in general. I'm a believer in going to E25 as a nation.

Yes, ethanol production is complicated but is it really? Gasoline has had decades of process refinement, ethanol has had less than 2. It's not fair to say ethanol production isn't up to par with gasoline, when it's barely had time to figure out the challenges. Also, ethanol production energy comes from coal, so there's another argument there.

No alternative energy is entirely clean, but using them all in moderation will avoid the worst cons of each.

On the subject of emissions, it goes back and forth between whether or not the lowered emissions offsets the production challenges.
 
Combustion of gasoline diluted with ethanol also results in increased ozone, an emission that is not reduced by 3-way catalytic converters.
 
Originally Posted By: danielLD
Thinking long term, ethanol does not bother the engine and does not corrode it like gas.

Gasoline has had decades of process refinement, ethanol has had less than 2. It's not fair to say ethanol production isn't up to par with gasoline, when it's barely had time to figure out the challenges.


I first recall using the ethanol blends in 1985 so I know it has been in use for over 30 years. About this time another blending option that was being used was MTBE.

I also remember all the problems it (E10) caused with plugging carburetor
fuel filters; including leaving me barely able to drive 30 mph until I finally got it sorted out. Many others experienced these same problems at that time and the destruction of fuel lines as well.

I know the modern cars are suppose to built to overcome these issues but any small engine repair shop will still tell you to avoid using it.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Cressida
Originally Posted By: danielLD
Thinking long term, ethanol does not bother the engine and does not corrode it like gas.

Gasoline has had decades of process refinement, ethanol has had less than 2. It's not fair to say ethanol production isn't up to par with gasoline, when it's barely had time to figure out the challenges.


I first recall using the ethanol blends in 1985 so I know it has been in use for over 30 years. About this time another blending option that was being used was MTBE.

I also remember all the problems it (E10) caused with plugging carburetor
fuel filters; including leaving me barely able to drive 30 mph until I finally got it sorted out. Many others experienced these same problems at that time and the destruction of fuel lines as well.

I know the modern cars are suppose to built to overcome these issues but any small engine repair shop will still tell you to avoid using it.


Right, there's always the lawnmower argument. Well, at any small engine repair shop, they also sell E0 gasoline and not gasohol.
 
With respect to a lot of small engine applications, I don't blame the ethanol. I blame the 80 cents they spent making the fuelling system. I've had rapid carb failures on stuff that only used E0, too. E10 is just a handy scapegoat for manufacturers that use garbage parts.
 
Show a study (not funded by the corn lobby - heck, I'll accept that even) that shows your engine will have significantly less wear and lower deposits only from using E15 fuel versus E10.

Then make the arguement about engine cleanliness etc... saving you money versus the higher cost per mile.

I've been burning E10 blends since the early 1990's here. Never used any extra fuel cleaners - and run my cars out to nearly 200,000 miles. Fuel mileage records for all of them over the 200,000 miles with little to no degradation in fuel mileage (to be honest, tires were the biggest factor on this). Claiming all sorts of extra benefits from using and extra 5% ethanol is stretching at best.

I'll also state I deal daily with the consequences of our decisions to promote corn ethanol. Our stream and river systems here are falling apart as a result of the narrow world view of corn farmers that claim to be the best stewards of their land, but put the blinders on the second the runoff from their property leaves it. Pattern tiling, ditching, farming right up to water resources... etc... and the stream systems are responding in kind. One state agency recently wrote a fertilizer plan for the state that basically says in order to continue crop yields at levels now expected, it cannot be done without polluting our aquifers and surface waters with nitrates.

But hey, burn more ethanol because its clean energy... Its not like anyone needs clean water, right?
 
And I agree with Garak - blame the small OPE manufacturers for using garbage in the fuel systems. E10 has been around for over 20 years in this market as a legal fuel. Its not like they could have figured it out by now, right?
 
Yep, there are things, as you mention, to dislike ethanol over. I never had a problem with it when it was dictated by the market, and it did work up here. Aside from that, though, if the small engine manufacturers haven't figured out how to produce a fuel system that can handle E10 with it being around well in excess of 20 years in some markets, then perhaps it's time to go electric. My mower was on E0 and the carb died in under two seasons. My neighbor has the same engine and had the same issue; I have no idea what fuel he used. The other mower used only E10 from day one for 20 years, and my buddy still has it and uses it.
 
My mpg after a tank and a half of E15 has been reading 1 mpg more than the long term average (35 v 34 on my Mazda3 Skyactiv). Since I do not consider that significant I guess I could claim that gas mileage with E15 is not different from that with E10. The car is definitely more responsive from a stop, however, the ambient temperatures here recently dropped due to the normal fall cold fronts. This is the problem with anecdotal evidence.

I'm going to keep using it for a while.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
Show a study (not funded by the corn lobby - heck, I'll accept that even) that shows your engine will have significantly less wear and lower deposits only from using E15 fuel versus E10.

Then make the arguement about engine cleanliness etc... saving you money versus the higher cost per mile.

I've been burning E10 blends since the early 1990's here. Never used any extra fuel cleaners - and run my cars out to nearly 200,000 miles. Fuel mileage records for all of them over the 200,000 miles with little to no degradation in fuel mileage (to be honest, tires were the biggest factor on this). Claiming all sorts of extra benefits from using and extra 5% ethanol is stretching at best.

I'll also state I deal daily with the consequences of our decisions to promote corn ethanol. Our stream and river systems here are falling apart as a result of the narrow world view of corn farmers that claim to be the best stewards of their land, but put the blinders on the second the runoff from their property leaves it. Pattern tiling, ditching, farming right up to water resources... etc... and the stream systems are responding in kind. One state agency recently wrote a fertilizer plan for the state that basically says in order to continue crop yields at levels now expected, it cannot be done without polluting our aquifers and surface waters with nitrates.

But hey, burn more ethanol because its clean energy... Its not like anyone needs clean water, right?


Ok, I'm going to keep this short. One thing I come across often is, well I used BP in my engine and it ran to 500,000 miles, so BP can only be the best fuel in the world, etc. Just because something has worked for you doesn't mean much.

E15 is better, I didn't say it would cure everything, I said it was better. Yes an extra 5% is a substantial amount.

In all my UOAs, including the last, you can see what ethanol does. Reduces corrosion in the case, viscosity drop and all wear metals. We've done this time and time again, as have others like Terry Dyson, who's been doing cars for 20 years.

I believe I claimed no alternative fuel is entirely clean, moderately using them all is the way.
 
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