Ethanol or ethanol free gas, which do you use?

[Narei Mooncatt]

I've recently come to a decision. In Wisconsin (along with many other states), they require about a 10% blend of ethanol in regular unleaded gas. It's no secret that ethanol results in lower fuel economy, but it's also cheaper than straight gas. During a road trip not too long ago, I got to go out of state and get ahold of straight regular gas and saw just how much of a milage difference there was between the two. I also noticed that in WI, premium unleaded is generally ethanol free, and the smallest price difference was about $.20 between the two options. Without going through all the math, I'll just say I found out that a small 2 mpg increase would break even on net fuel costs by going with ethanol free premium.

Since then, I've tried running the e-free premium to see if I got the same mpg increase. In the summer, I could get about 32 mpg on my 2002 Ford Focus. 35 on a good day. That's running almost all highway, 1/3 at 65 mph, 2/3 at 55-60 with some small towns to slow down through. I just finished my first full tank of e-free premium (had to make sure the E10 was all flushed out), and I got right about 40 mpg on the same run. Keeping in mind that includes colder/denser air and more idling as I run my defrosters to keep windows clear of snow, I expect to see an even bigger difference when I get back in to the summer months.

I also started poking around a bit online and listening to a few things on the radio about ethanol production. Seems there's a big controversy where some scientists claim it takes more energy to make ethanol than is contained in the fuel itself, meaning the enviromental impact is actually worse than using straight gas and is not offset by the cleaner burning of the ethanol. I also ran across one story from Edmunds that measured only a 0.5% reduction in CO2 when using E85 over straight gas (so I'd assume a smaller difference when using E10). On the other hand, How Stuff Works reported a 10 ton reduction in green house gasses in 2007 attributed to ethanol blends and WI had a lot less high ozone alert days. So it seems there's no clear answer yet on if ethanol is really as eco-friendly as enviromentalists lead us to believe.

Given all this, I'm sticking with straight gas for my Focus or doing highway driving, even if it means buying premium. Ethanol would have to be drastically less for it to be economically benefitial to run a blend, which you just wont see at a pump these days. Then there's also the questionability of its enviromental impacts that take away that excuse for the higher running costs. The only other benefit is it does help reduce our oil dependency, but that's also offset by cutting in to corn food supplies and causing those prices to go up. It also seems milage differences may be debatable in my mate's car when she does mostly city driving. Considering how long it takes her to go through a tank and how the conditions can vary wildly on a single tank, it's been hard to say so far if there's much of a difference in city driving. So that one we're running the regular gas with E10 unless taking it on a decent highway run. When spring comes back around and road conditions stabilize, we'll try it again.

After saying all that, I'm curious what others views are on running straight gas, E10, or E85. Anyone look in to this and come to differing conclusions? Do you just buy what ever is cheapest at the pump or easiest to access? Or do you go out of your way to buy one fuel over another? As a side note, I'm not saying that premium itself is better when a car doesn't require it. That's common knowledge that it isn't. My only reason for bringing it up is because the only straight gas I can find around here is premium and the milage increase I get offsets the price difference.

[furtopia02]

The gasoline I get here is usually blended. I put 87 octane in my truck because it can run it just fine, and I put 93 octane in my Turbocoupe because it has to have Premium or it would damage it with the tune it has. Other than that.. I don't really care. I don't have any big cause agenda I am fighting for or care enough to pinch pennies by finding the most efficient mixture in the area to buy. *shrug*

[Avan]

Ethanol from corn is stupidly inefficient, wasting energy, and is really a result of the sheeple effect. There are MUCH more efficient ways to make it... but... economics and corn farming.

Anyways, I'm still waiting for my car back, so.... I don't currently use anything.
On the other hand, while its on loan, my parents are paying all of the charges so... XD (And as a result, I got a free engine-remounting. And brake pads.)

[Foxpup]

I use ethanol-free petrol (Regular 93), partly because I can't rationalise burning food as long as there are people starving in the world, but mostly because my engine was built in 1989 and is vulnerable to corrosion.

[Cimarron]

I usually just put in regular 87 octane, I dont like the ethanol in gas, and really believe it serves no environmental or mileage benefits.  I always thought it was just a gift to the corn lobby from the politians.

[Arbutus]

I always thought it was just a gift to the corn lobby from the politians.

I think you might be right about that, actually. The corn lobby is powerful in a lot of Midwestern states. I visited the Great Plains for the first time last year (South Dakota, Nebraska, etc.), and it really surprised me to see that premium gas, with a higher percentage of ethanol, was 20 cents cheaper per gallon than the regular gas. We have massive corn subsidies to "thank" for that.

Of course, I'll use whatever is cheapest at the pump. I have no cause to advance.

[Emerald Blade]

If I had the cash flow to be picky about my gas i would certainly get the stuff with out ethanol because;
Ethanol from corn uses up way more gas than it produces.  This is because of all the deseal the tractors use while growing the stuff, the reapers use while harvesting it, the trucks while hauling it, and the process to actually rend ethanol takes more energy than it's worth anyway.

Also ethanol has played the part of distractor, even though it isn't a great product somebody marketed it very well and made it sound like the cure all to our gas problems.  Now with every one convinced ethanol will save us, they have stopped focusing on finding better solutions.

Thirdly it's bad for older cars, E-85 has a higher acidity than straight gas,  This means that "Flex Fuel" cars have tuffer  fuel lines to compensate where as older cars will begin to show signs of corroding in the gas lines.  This still applies for E-10 but to a lesser extent, hence the reason it's sold every where now.

Fourth and finally, as stated in the first post ethanol decreases gas mileage(significantly in some cars) and doesn't burn much cleaner than gas anyway.

[Narei Mooncatt]

For Emerald and the others that mentioned just getting what is cheaper, are you all talking about at the pump or over all? As I mentioned in my first post, while it costs a bit more at the pump for straight gas, you're saving money over all because the milage increase more than offsets the cost. At least in my case. It isn't much, maybe a few bucks a tank, but it's saving. Not to mention nice to see that big 4-0 number for milage when the factory sticker estimates 32 mpg.

If anyone wants to calculate their own costs to compare, here's some calculations.

Distance / fuel used = mpg

Fuel Cost per gallon / mpg = cost per mile

Fuel tank capacity X mpg = travel distance

With these, you can figure out how things stack up between the different fuels. The best way to test is always using the same pump if possible. Do not top off the tank, but instead stop fueling when the pump's auto shutoff kicks it off to help eliminate tank capacity variancies. By the same token, don't just partial fill it since you can't tell what the exact fuel level is. Using the fuel you currently use, find your exact mpg. The more precise you are the better. Most pumps go to to .001 gallon displays and trip odometers to .1 mile. Fill your tank and and reset your trip odometer before you leave. At your next fill up, see what your distance is and how much gas it takes to fill it and now you can plug numbers. Also make note of how much gas is per gallon, or the price differences between straight gas an E10 to figure actual cost differences.

When you get that, run your tank as low as you can so when you switch fuels, it isn't "dilluted" by the prior gas. It took me 2 tanks to flush the E10 out enough to not make a difference. Once that is done, make your notes again with fill ups. Then you can just plug the numbers into the equations and see what your results are for comparison. If comparing penny per mile and gallon differences are hard to wrap your head around, just figure the costs per mile on the fuels and multiply by a bigger distance. That way you can figure the difference per 100, 200, 300 miles or whatever.

[Fen-Fen]

For Emerald and the others that mentioned just getting what is cheaper, are you all talking about at the pump or over all? As I mentioned in my first post, while it costs a bit more at the pump for straight gas, you're saving money over all because the milage increase more than offsets the cost. At least in my case. It isn't much, maybe a few bucks a tank, but it's saving. Not to mention nice to see that big 4-0 number for milage when the factory sticker estimates 32 mpg.

I actually made a similar jump within the last month. I used to get gas from my grocery store because it was cheaper (customer loyalty program for gas), but I didn't know just how much mileage I lost from using it. After my friend filled up my car with brand-name gas (BP), I noticed the difference right off the bat. Now I'll only go back to the grocer's gas station if I'm incredibly strapped for cash. While it's still probably part ethanol, it's a step in the right direction! 

My car get's 35-36 mpg depending on the gas I use. It's an '07 Yaris for those who're curious.

[Rocket T. Coyote]

I fuel up with whatever grade is convenient or available at Kroger's or WalMart with a discount card. However, a Prius owner told me that his car's efficiency drops when using 10% ethanol.

[Emerald Blade]

My car is a Chevy blazer and with the exception of premium(which my car dislikes) it's all E-10  So unless I'm driving quite a bit out of my way I can only get E-10.  And even at the cheapest gas price in town it still costs $60 to fill my tank.

[Serra Belvoule]

Honestly, I go for whatever is cheapest... and that's sad since I would love to be true to my convictions and spend on what is better for the environment (like a hybrid or electric car, maybe), but you know, I gotta eat x3