I'm due for a fill up right now so within the next few hours I'll be getting 30 gallons of fuel in the van.

I'm wondering if it's good/bad/otherwise to use ethanol free 89 octane from the new Wawa gas station by my house.

 

I would never recommend using ethanol ever.

 

Ethanol free gas will last longer and possibly net more mileage. It is also better on the vehicle filters and fuel system. Do it and report back on the mileage difference.

 

Ethanol does nothing to help the engine or the rest of the vehicle. It is there because the government says so. It's not to help you or your engine. If you use fuel without ethanol it will run better.

 

I wish I could buy straight gasoline! I think ethanol hurt my mpg quite a bit.

 

Carolina- look for truck stop gas stations or search google for local ethanol free places. They are still around but cost a bit more per gallon.

 

I usually get 12 sometimes 13 miles per gallon with my V10 E350. That's based on a normal day of about 120 miles on the highway at 65 mph and about 30 miles in the Orlando area doing 6-8 job stops.

Yesterday after putting $140 worth of 89 octane ethanol free wawa fuel in it, I drove 70 Highway miles and 45 miles of city driving doing over 20 job locations. That 45 miles is a real killer for my experiment.

I will say that I thought the van was a lot smoother and better with the new gas, but also have to keep in mind that the day before I put in the new gas I had also slightly tightened the wheel bearings because there was some play.

Also noteworthy: Greatly reduced part throttle spark knock. Heavy throttle and full throttle spark knock remained the same as before.

I'll probably be filling her up again Thursday. I will report back then with more observations.

 

There's Wawas in Florida now!? I didn't realize that they had spread that far South, I live about 2 miles from the home of the Wawa corp, can remember when they were only very local to here and still had cows at the original plant.

 

Wawa popping up ALL over central florida. Tampa, Orlando, and everywhere in between.

 

Nice site for ethanol-free stations:

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

If you know of others, I think they have a link for you to add them.

 

Me and some other guy (Fredvon4?) with the same computer calibration both reported absolutely no difference between 10% ethanol and plain gasoline.

On the other hand, when done right, E85 can net MORE power (and worse MPGs): 2011 Ford F-150 5.0-liter V-8 Gains Power Burning E85 Ethanol - PickupTrucks.com News

In the meantime, it just keeps your plumbing cleaner

 

I haven't heard Fredvon4 for a long time. I've also run E10 in both my V10s and my 6.2 and I can tell no difference between regular and E10 empty or pulling. I did try E85 in my 6.2 and under heavy load in the wind pulling our trailer the power decline was very noticeable and the mpg really dropped way off but the truck ran smooth.

Denny

 

13.4mpg!
Considering the 45 miles where I did over 20 job stops (noted in the post above), this is a remarkable improvement in fuel economy. It certainly would have been over 14mpg, maybe close to 15.

I filled it up with the same fuel this morning, and for the next few business days I'll be doing the same experiment under my usual driving habits.

 

www.pure-gas.org

A great app on your Android. I use it all the time.

 

Ahhhhhhhhh I was at Parker Fuels yesterday I had no Idea, now I am back in the Socialist republic of California, any one know why gas is 3.79 out in the middle of the desert with no refineries around and 3.99 right next to one?Fing California! gee gas was 3.50 in Arizona.