I just returned from a long vacation drive to Myrtle Beach, SC from Houston, TX. Talk about a long drive. Knowing that the family truckster gets lousy gas mileage on 10% ETOH, I knowingly departed the family homestead with less than a 1/4 tank of gas with the plan of filling up further east of Houston with 100%, ethanol free gas. Unfortunately, it seems this country is now awash with 10% ETOH gas. ALL the stations I stopped at between Houston and Jacksonville, regardless of city size just had blended gas. Bunch o' suck. Because at 75mph (roughly 1900-2000 rpm with 3.55 gears) the rig will average 15.5 mpg. Un-Holy bunch o' suck.

So, whilst on the road I let the little woman take over for a bit while I did some research with my laptop tethered to my iphone (I've got AT&T and there are MANY no service areas on I-10 east bound). I found the following site: Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada. This site lists user entered locations of known stations, coast to coast that still carry pure gas. I gave it a shot on my return trip and was able to run 100% gas 98% of the way home. Here's the catch: These are user entered locations and not all locations still carry ETOH free gas. I went on a couple of wild goose chases only to find the station converted over to 10% blended, and in one case I couldn't even find the station listed (even with my GPS and google maps). However, it was worth it because at the same speed and RPM I got 18.4MPG on the return trip.

Here's some other tips for the long haul family trip:
-Make sure you're tires are properly inflated. I run the 20" factory scorpions at 40psi (5psi above the Ford recommendation).
-My truck got the best MPG at between 70 and 75mph. Anything over 2100 RPM and the MPGs start ticking down.
-This one some might find a bit questionable, so be safe. Find another car/truck/suv going your way at your speed and stay 4 or 5 car lengths behind them. Drafting works. I set my Edge to show instantaneous MPG and could see the difference with another car in front of me as compared to open road.

Other observations:
-There are still many people in the country that don't know what the left hand lane is for. I've noticed that many of these people drive small foreign cars and have blue hair.

 

Thanks for the E-Free site!

 

Interesting,Thanks.....

I run 87 oct in my 08 5.4-4x4-SC-6.5 box,17" tires and at 68 mph with cruise on I get 17.3 on Interstate.....Mn is pretty flat tho hahaha....

 

Thanks for the tip on Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada. By the way if you come up behind me at 4 or 5 car lenghts at 70 MPH, we will be slowing down and you will go around me. The number one killer on the road is right behind you!

 

I tested the mpg on a recent trip (January) to the farm in Texas. (755 miles each way) On the way there I burned gasoline and got 17.4 mpg. On the way home I burned 10% blend and got 13.5 mpg. Same driving conditions - 2,000 foot increase in elevation on the way home. That is a 22% decrease in fuel mileage. What a ripoff.
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My boat repairman told me to run E free whenever possible. unfortunately in my state there are no stations available. So I use the Stabilizer for Ethanol in my marine tank.

 

Yeah, the corn lobby didn't seem to give a crap about plane and boat owners when they lobbied congress to use ETOH as an oxygenate. Even worse, nobody bothered to explain that ETOH will absorb moister to our oh so brilliant legislators.

For those who don't know, when used in recreational vehicles that sit for weeks or months at a time, the ETOH will take in any available moister and cause an aqueous layer in the fuel tank. Its bad if you have a boat. Its REALLY bad if you have a plane with an auto fuel rated engine.

 

In my area the premium is suppose to be non ethanol and everything else blend. Not 100% if that is true or not. My friend who owns a station had a guy come in and tell him he had been testing all the gas in the area and that only 2 or 3 stations had ethanol in their 91 or 93 octane. So i always run premium in chainsaws and weed eater. For me dont think the extra mpg would make up for the extra price of the fuel for my truck.

 

I always run 93 because of my tune, but my area of SJ has E 10 in all grades. Camping in PA last month I went to a gas station that had only 5% ethanol in it's grades, and my towing mileage back home went up to 11.8 mpg ( towing a 30' Travel trailer), up from 10.2 mpg, always hand calculated. The more ethanol, the less mpg.