I have a 3.73 geared Tow Max, and as you can guess I don't get anywhere near the fuel economy that other people boast of with numerically lower gears. (And I've always been kind of ticked off about it.) Well, that may be about to change....

I bought a lawnmower a couple weeks ago and I was told to fill it up with premium "no ethanol" gasoline at a Phillips 66 station just down the road. I didn't even know such a thing existed in my area. So I do as I'm told and I figure, What the heck! I'll just fill up my truck too since it's time anyway. I immediately felt a power gain and I've been playing around having fun with the throttle for nearly two weeks. After 475 miles of spirited driving I look at my fuel gage and notice it sitting an entire +1 mpg better than normal. In fact, it's the best average I've ever experienced --- like EVER. So out of curiosity I drive easy to work and the readout goes up another 0.1 mpg. Do you know how hard it is to effect average fuel economy in a positive direction after 475 miles of data logging?! (it's hard if you can't figure it out) I must have been pulling some amazing mileage to do that.

So I'm currently near time to fill up again and I'm going to go fill it up with the same "no ethanol" 91 octane again at Phillips 66. Then I'm going to drive like grandma for 500 miles and see what kind of mileage I get. I'll report back in a few weeks. This could be the last time I complain about my mileage with a Tow Max Ecoboost. Let's hope so anyway.

 

Yep, 10% ethanol will cost between 1 and 2 mpg over real gasoline.

 

And ethanol is brutal to fuel systems. Talk to small engine repair guys about what that stuff does to chainsaws, weedeaters, lawnmowers, etc. Not quite the same thing as the fuel system on your truck, but some of the principles are the same....

 

Yeah, pure gasoline actually has more BTU's of energy per gallon. That's probably why you're getting better fuel economy . Ethanol only has 75% the energy density so 10% of your fuel is only 75% as good and the rest is at 100%. So you've really gained 2.5% more energy/BTU's per gallon of fuel.

 

I have to drive about 50 miles from my home to get ethanol free gas however, where my daughter goes to college, it's readily available. It's a 200 mile drive from home.

Running ethanol free gas won't hurt the ecoboost? If not, when we go again, I leave the house with just enough gas to comfortable get here and I'll get a tank full while I'm there and experiment with it on the ride home.

 

I wish that I could get ethanol free gas around me. I have looked everywhere and cannot find anywhere close. Good to hear that you are getting good results from it.

 

All the advice here is spot on. While in the Fl Keys for the winter, I fill with "Rec 90" fuel that is readily available and SOP in the boat. As named it is 90 octane, alcohol free. More range, seems better power, more expensive. Fuel economy seems markedly improved when towing the boat.
Corn should go to food production not to fuel. Our govt at work, and an apparent strong farmer lobby.

 

There is a app for IPhones that give you a listing of non-ethanol gas stations around you, however not all are listed there. When you find a new one just add it to the list for everyone else to enjoy. I get 20 mpg from my 11' fx4 EB running ethanol gas. The fuel at the non-ethanol gas stations around me seems to be a lower octane than they display at the pump.

 

Fastrac markets here in upstate NY has 91 octane ethanol free. It is the same price as 10% ethanol premium at any other station. I notice a .8 to 1.1mpg increase when I fill up with the ethanol free, always seems to run better too.

Mark

 

I hate ethanol:

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada

 

I thought this was worth noting:

Florida
Minnesota
Hawaii
Missouri
Iowa
Montana
Kansas
Louisiana
Washington

All, by law, require their pump gasoline to contain 10% Ethanol. Oregon requires it only on lower grades only.

Washington D.C.
Indiana
Kentucky
Maryland
Michigan
Nevada
New Jersey
Ohio

Have no requirements for posting ethanol information at the pump.

In the rest of the states, gasoline can often contain up to 2% without requiring any posting at the pump.

What am I getting at? Well, If you're looking for gasoline with 0% ethanol content it's necessary for you to test it yourself. Don't believe what the guy at the gas station tells you. The test is easy to do and then you'll know for sure. Here's an example:

 

while true, the BTU content of gasoline containing ethanol is roughly equal to the BTU content of gasoline containing 10% MTBE. So, for the states which replaced MTBE with ethanol, fuel economy should be rougly the same.

ethanol or no ethanol, no harm will come to ANY modern vehicle using either fuel.

the only exception here is a vehicle that has very high miles and has never had ethanol in the tank. if you fill that vehicle with a tank full of 10% ethanol, you may have problems as the ethanol cleans all the garbage out of the tank (left by the regular gas)

if you buy a used car and aren't sure, fill up with non ethanol gasoline, and add a high quality fuel cleaner to that tank. this will safely clean the fuel system making it safe to use ethanol if you wish.... i have done this with EVERY used car i have bought and have never had a problem as i use ethanol almost exclusively.


the increase in power is due to the increase in the Octane rating of the fuel, and nothing more.

if you want a REAL increase in power, try E30 or E85 (in a flex fuel vehicle of course) ... there is a VERY noticable increase in low end torque when burning higher levels of ethanol. so much so, that the last time i used regular gas i was wondering what the heck was wrong with my truck because i was using a LOT more pedal and RPMs to get up to speed.

Again, this is due to the increase in Octane rating of the fuel. The computer will use as much ignition timing as the fuel can sustain without pinging, and timing = power.

the use of ethanol is a direct result of MTBE being banned. Many states require oxygenated fuels, and without MTBE, ethanol is the only viable alternative to oxygenate the fuel. It has much less to do with the farmer's loby than the need for oxygenated fuels.

and the food for fuel arguement .... sigh ... i'm not going to say much other than there is no need to choose between food and fuel because you get both.

 

I have no interest in burning 30% more E85 for more power. My experience is the "rec 90" fuel gets better mileage than the typical 10% ethanol "regular" fuel. Probably a wash due to the higher price of the fuel. My vehicle does not run an "incipient knock" aka "active spark" strategy, rather uses tables for all the calibration perameters. As long as knock is not detected, it runs the same calibration with regular or premium fuel. So my increase in fuel economy is due to higher energy content of the fuel, not octane rating. I learned during my engine design career that gas engines usually got 3-5% more power with E85 than E10. Easy power upgrade if your car is capable and you don't mind the decreased range.
Cereal products are more expensive because of diversion of corn to fuel. All crops are up in price as more acres go to corn for fuel.

 

not sure what vehicle you are referring to, but my understanding is that all the current engines in the f150 advance the timing according to the spark tolerance of the fuel being used. perhaps that is not correct, but for any flex fuel vehicle in particular, it will be true.

the price of cereal has much less to do with the price of corn than it does the energy inputs required to produce it. only about 12% of the corn grown in the US is consumed by humans, the rest is consumed by livestock. and in that regard, the production of ethanol has no impact on the food supply. they simply remove the starches to make the ethanol, then they feed it to livestock.

80% of the cost of your corn flakes has nothing to do with the corn contained within.
Corn prices vs food prices, don

back on point, one can generally expect a 10% increase in fuel economy going from ethanol to non-ethanol. but in my area, there is about a 15-20% increase in cost, so it will not pay for itself to make the change.

 

Most calibrations do not run incipient knock, including my Ford truck. Yes, it has knock sensors, but these are used to identify knock due to some anomaly, and retard if neccessay, like in an overheat or other situation. Otherwise the spark (and EGR, cam timing, throttle opening which does not follow pedal travel) are adjusted via tables. Adding octance achieves nothing.
Some vehicles (Jags for instance) run/have run incipient knock where the spark is adjusted to be at a borderline limit, so going up in octane can provide more power/economy. Not is all cases however.
Interesting blurb, from Kansas farm source, saying only 2% increase of cereal is due to fuel diversion of corn. I have seen much higher stats presented. Hard to know what to believe. I'll go with common sense.