Better MPG with pure gas.

[MRtv]

So in the past I have tried non-ethanol fuels in my 97 Ford F150 4x4 with a 4.6 engine. I found i got NO different gas milage using it vs. 10% ethanol fuel. I was pretty disappointed my vehicle just didn't see a difference in fuel types. I had bought the vehicle for pretty cheap from a young guy who had not taken a lot of good care of it despite what he represented to me. I dropped a rebuilt engine into it and over the years it pretty much got 12-14 mpg. Occasionally it would see higher but not consistently.

I began to have transmission trouble. I took it into a transmission shop and the tranny was rebuilt. The shop owner said I may see better gas milage but didn't make any big promises about it. At the time winter blend gas was being pumped so no I didn't really see any bump in my gas milage. Then came the summer blend. I did see the usual bump up in milage for the summer blend. Then I began to see the milage crawl upwards with combined city and highway drives. I generally use Top Tier gas with occasional fills without Top Tier gas. I saw a trend in much better milage. I was seeing 14.5 pretty regularly with city driving and 15.5 with occasional 16 mpg fills with highway driving. I was pretty happy about it and thought it was due to the summer blend.

On a lark I dropped into a non-ethanol station to fill up. Phillips 66 here in Boise offers all grades of the gas with no ethanol. I filled up with some 87 octane and headed out on the freeway for a service call some distance away. I noticed my gas gauge was moving much slower than usual. I returned to town and filled up at the same Phillips 66 with non-ethanol gas. I got 18.6 mpg. I was pretty happy about that. It looks like with my rebuilt transmission rebuild I finally have the potential for real gas to show me that my truck can reach a higher milage now.

 

[CT8]

My F150 gets about a mile per gallon better with 100% gas. I never figured out the cost to mpg benefits though. The Mpgs are better with summer gas.

 

[WobblyElvis]

The energy content of %10 ethanol gas is roughly %96.5 that of straight gas. This difference should be seen in fuel consumption but it's rather small.

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

My Corolla get about 2 MPG more on real gas. Which they carry at our local Cenex.

 

[BigCahuna]

Other things to try is, pumping up your tire to the max pressure on the sidewalls, checking your brakes to make sure there not dragging and are releasing quickly. Take out any unnecessary weight out of the truck. Check the alignment, and make sure your air filter is new. If all of that is good, that's about as good as it will ever be.,,

 

[JohnG]

There should be no difference in summer/winter grade gasoline. For summer blend, butane is removed from the mix and stored in caves or tanks to lower the rvp, in the winter it is put back in.

Anyone seeing lower fuel economy in winter is probably due to other factors. These can be more idle time, thicker fluids, and possibly less complete evaporation while the engine is still cold.

 

[CourierDriver]

Originally Posted by BigCahuna
Other things to try is, pumping up your tire to the max pressure on the sidewalls, checking your brakes to make sure there not dragging and are releasing quickly. Take out any unnecessary weight out of the truck. Check the alignment, and make sure your air filter is new. If all of that is good, that's about as good as it will ever be.,,

best quote of the day

 

[ripcord]

I found that maxing the air in the tires just meant I spend the money I saved on fuel on premature tire replacement. Now I just run a couple of PSI extra and call it good.

 

[FT92]

my honda accord gets better mileage in the warmer weather ..summer gas maybe ?? I would say at least 2-3 miles a gallon which isn't a tremendous amount but I'll take it

 

[Eddie]

I actually ran the numbers on 100% gas vs 90/10% ethanol. The BTU differences yielded a 4.7% difference.Therefore you should get about 4.7% lower MPG using 10% ethanol. Ed

 

[Aichiguy]

I got similar results to Eddie. However, with a 34¢ spread between regular and E10, it makes sen$e to use E10 in Iowa if your engine is tolerant.

 

[Dave9]

Originally Posted by ripcord
I found that maxing the air in the tires just meant I spend the money I saved on fuel on premature tire replacement. Now I just run a couple of PSI extra and call it good.

This, and over-inflated tires (per the vehicle weight) are less safe due to reduced traction.

 

[sloinker]

Originally Posted by ripcord
I found that maxing the air in the tires just meant I spend the money I saved on fuel on premature tire replacement. Now I just run a couple of PSI extra and call it good.


Is this true? On radial tires I've always been under the notion that the lower the pressure the higher the wear rate. The recommended pressures affixed to the car's door post is for the best dynamics of your cars suspension or ride quality/handling. I don't pressurize to the max but I well over-pressurize and in my non-scientific checkbook database of 40 years of tire purchasing I say the higher the pressure the better within reason.

 

[whatnext]

OK, basic info here:

Low tire pressure will result in the inside and outside edges wearing. High pressure will result in the center wearing. There is an ideal tire pressure for each application where the wear will be even across the tire. This ideal pressure will also result in a balance of the best handling and ride comfort. 1 - 2 psi below or above this ideal tire pressure will have a small effect on handling and comfort (but can be noticed by a discerning driver/owner). Higher psi for handling, lower for comfort.

For simplicity, assume the pressure on the car's decal is the ideal pressure. The max pressure allowed on the tire is like 10 psi higher. If you max the pressure, that will wear the center of the tires.

On topic: Here in the NE, we see a significant change (10-15%) in gas mileage every fall and spring. Lower mileage starting in the fall (and the winter weather isn't here yet) and higher mileage in the spring. So it is assumed the winter blend doing it.

 

[oldhp]

2012 Equinox 2.4, 2+ more MPG everytime. Wife's 2019 Charger 3.6 2+ more MPG.

 

[sloinker]

Originally Posted by whatnext
OK, basic info here:

Low tire pressure will result in the inside and outside edges wearing. High pressure will result in the center wearing. There is an ideal tire pressure for each application where the wear will be even across the tire. This ideal pressure will also result in a balance of the best handling and ride comfort. 1 - 2 psi below or above this ideal tire pressure will have a small effect on handling and comfort (but can be noticed by a discerning driver/owner). Higher psi for handling, lower for comfort.

For simplicity, assume the pressure on the car's decal is the ideal pressure. The max pressure allowed on the tire is like 10 psi higher. If you max the pressure, that will wear the center of the tires.

On topic: Here in the NE, we see a significant change (10-15%) in gas mileage every fall and spring. Lower mileage starting in the fall (and the winter weather isn't here yet) and higher mileage in the spring. So it is assumed the winter blend doing it.


Here's some remedial information for you.

This is true for bias ply tires. Is it true for radial tires? You have to remember the same tire goes on many different applications with many different pressures. If the manufacturer offers a 60,000 mile warranty on a specific tire and one vehicle that uses the tire requires 32 psi cold and another 44 psi cold, then if using your rationale, the vehicle with the lower factory recommended pressure would have significantly higher wear. I think that when discussing radial tires, the wear difference between max pressure allowed and recommended pressure would be negligible. The outer edge, center wear argument only being valid for extremely under inflated or over inflated values.

 

[whatnext]

Yes, true for radial tires.

Bias ply tires disappeared in the late 70s. I remember a '75 Olds came with radials but a '76 still came with bias belted. So they were phasing out bias belted tires around then. So if you remember bias belted tires ….

Just for you kids (anyone under 55 lol), a car with no power brakes I could easily lock up the bias belted tires on dry pavement. Switched to radials and could not lock up the wheels no matter how hard I stood on the brakes. Just to point out the difference in tires (and never mind the better lateral grip that radials have). Of course power brakes are pretty much standard equipment now and are designed to lock up the wheels so that with ABS you get the max stopping that tire traction with the pavement will allow.

Was typing when you posted a reply - So yes I agree, only severe under/over inflation of radial tires will have a noticeable difference in wear. My +/- 2 psi from ideal pressure is a suggested target to maintain a balance of handling/comfort/wear.

 

[mjk]

My Tahoe gets the same MPG, regardless of what I've tried over the 6 years I've had it (pure gas 89 or 91, 87 w/ 10% ethanol)

Now, summer blend -- that definitely makes a difference for me.

 

[RDY4WAR]

My Tahoe gets ~0.5 mpg better on ethanol free gas, but e-free is about $.70-.80 more per gallon so it's not worth it.

 

[bachman]

Originally Posted by sloinker
Originally Posted by ripcord
I found that maxing the air in the tires just meant I spend the money I saved on fuel on premature tire replacement. Now I just run a couple of PSI extra and call it good.


Is this true? On radial tires I've always been under the notion that the lower the pressure the higher the wear rate. The recommended pressures affixed to the car's door post is for the best dynamics of your cars suspension or ride quality/handling. I don't pressurize to the max but I well over-pressurize and in my non-scientific checkbook database of 40 years of tire purchasing I say the higher the pressure the better within reason.


As real-world cost factor, I don't think of tire wear overall as pressure related except in instances of neglect like signs of uneven wear based on pressure for middle of the tread over inflated or edging wear from under pressure specs. It's really easy to spot and correct. I do find within a given 3 to 5 psi or so, I can tailor the ride, noise and mpg to my liking and that off sets any meaningful cost or miles of tire life considerations. Pricey performance tires going 28,000 miles cost under 4 cents per mile and lots of cars get away with under .01 per mile or even fractions of a penny.

* I admit I belittle tire cost some because I'm attentive to them and getting decent enough life (never as good as other's or advertised though) and I drive about 6k a year.

Get good tires, call it insurance. Handling, traction and stopping that supports your 3300 or 4600 # vehicle should be responsive and predictable.