Ethanol Free Gasoline

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Glisella

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While driving through VA today (I live in NY) I came across a WaWa gas station that had "Ethanol Free Gasoline". I've never heard of this and didn't have time to google it then and there but did a quick search now and some sites say no changes and others say you can get increased mileage and better for older cars.

My '08 Yukon XL Denali says to use Premium but I've always used Regular, and I'm curious if anyone uses this gas and their thoughts on it?
 

Larryjb

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Many supreme gasolines are ethanol free because some equipment (generators, gas mowers, etc) can be damaged by the ethanol.

Ethanol, per gallon, has less energy in it: https://neutrium.net/properties/specific-energy-and-energy-density-of-fuels/

Therefore, you will get fewer miles out of any ethanol blend than ethanol-free gasoline. I observed this in the past before WA forced out all ethanol free gasolines (except for supreme).

Supreme gasolines will give you better mileage as long as you're tuned for it. That is because 93 octane has a greater energy density than 87 octane. However, cost wise I'm not sure you are ahead.

Now for an interesting question.

If you are towing up the CA Grapevine, will supreme give you more power and keep the engine cooler while towing? I may try this out.
 

George B

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I use it for all my small engines. Ethanol gas has a 30 day shelf life before it starts to degrade. When I am traveling some distance I will run it in our vehicle. I do note an increase in mileage and performance out in the interstate as compared to the ethanol blended fuel. I don’t so much in town as I tend to drive somewhat “defensively”.
 
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Fless

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^^^ This.

We have one station nearby that offers it in mid-grade octane (87 here at high altitude) for the same price as the ethanol blend of the same octane, and I usually run it in my daily driver and the mower and snowblower. I don't really notice a difference in mileage in the Fusion, but I think it helps the small engines run better since they're not used as often and fuel deterioration can be an issue. I generally run stabilizer in the small engines and tend to buy small quantities of fuel for them.
 

swathdiver

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While driving through VA today (I live in NY) I came across a WaWa gas station that had "Ethanol Free Gasoline". I've never heard of this and didn't have time to google it then and there but did a quick search now and some sites say no changes and others say you can get increased mileage and better for older cars.

My '08 Yukon XL Denali says to use Premium but I've always used Regular, and I'm curious if anyone uses this gas and their thoughts on it?

You're likely eventually bust a ring or crack a piston running low octane fuel in that high compression motor. We see it quite often here and on the other forums.

Ethanol is used today as a knock inhibitor. Many ethanol free gasolines are not high octane anymore but in the interior of Florida, high octane, ethanol free gasoline, is the norm, so there's that.

Now, if you never really get on it, keep the rpms and load relatively low, then you can get away with using it. I bet if you burned E15/Unleaded 88, and drove the same profile as you normally do you would see better mileage. You could also fill her up with 22 gallons of 93 and 4 gallons of E85 and she would run even better still and this time you wouldn't have to worry about cracking pistons!
 

Doubeleive

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While driving through VA today (I live in NY) I came across a WaWa gas station that had "Ethanol Free Gasoline". I've never heard of this and didn't have time to google it then and there but did a quick search now and some sites say no changes and others say you can get increased mileage and better for older cars.

My '08 Yukon XL Denali says to use Premium but I've always used Regular, and I'm curious if anyone uses this gas and their thoughts on it?
you must be a youngster lol, there used to never be Ethanol in gas and you could buy "leaded gas" instead of Unleaded, if you ever walk around a decent junkyard you may see a "unleaded fuel only" sticker near the gas tank filler because leaded gas would ruin catalytic converters and sensors in unleaded fuel vehicles

unleaded.JPG
 

BG1988

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100 Octane racing fuel :) 9.59 a gallon total rip off

100 octane unleaded should be about 5.39 a gallon it only cost a few pennies more a gallon to make..


if you have VVT it should max out the timing to 42 degrees BTDC


91 will do 36 degrees advancement or so (seen it occasionally at 42 degrees)..


I see 35.1-69% fuel efficiency increase with 91 Octane fuel over 87octane


active fuel management works better with 91oct or higher.


from 18.5mpg No matter how it's driven with 87Oct
trying super hard . No v4 mode or rapid loop v4-v8 etc..


25-31.3MPG with 91 oct (highway)

my last highway trip was 38.3mpg on the downhill side and 24.5mpg on the uphill side from LA to the High Desert averaged 31.3MPG




City is a hit or miss on the mileage since there is too much variable with traffic lights and train freight crossing and other traffic... it's typically around 20-22mpg. on two routes that i could take to get to certain areas i need to go.... the lowest ever was 12,14.5mpg when it snowed...

like lately I pretty much hit every single red light with in the last two days it came to 16mpg in the city still better then what many of you get...anyways..



I did Install the ECO tires they weigh 10 pounds less ea (to the drive wheels) Less wheel mass the engine has to spin(this matters a lot)


my goal is to get 40MPG I should make it to 40mpg with this 6.0L with a few eco mods :D so it will cost 400-800$ to go from somewhat gas guzzler to not a Prius , but Prius MPG.... plus it will lower my carbon foot print by 50%

note prius has a 1.5 L 4-cylinder..


it runs on ICE 100% of the time on the freeway so there is pretty much Zero cheating. on my end. with a Fully Optimized route that i take..


say if you go from 14mpg to 19mpg at $2.799 you will save 1$ for every gallon it would take about 800 gallons 1.5 years to get that money back at 12k miles a year saving 226 gallons of fuel in the first year..
 
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swathdiver

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you must be a youngster lol, there used to never be Ethanol in gas and you could buy "leaded gas" instead of Unleaded, if you ever walk around a decent junkyard you may see a "unleaded fuel only" sticker near the gas tank filler because leaded gas would ruin catalytic converters and sensors in unleaded fuel vehicles

View attachment 240814

When I was a kid, we knocked out the restrictor in the filler necks so we could continue pumping leaded gas, great stuff.

My other Buicks loved to run on Sunoco 104 unleaded gas. There's a Sunoco not too far away that sells 100 unleaded from a pump, it's street legal. Someday I'd like to run a tank and see how the motor performs on it compared with E85 and E85R.
 

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