All the stations in my area sell E10 now rather than normal unleaded.
I get 2-4 MPGs less than normal gas.

Is this a normal problem? I know that the E10 drops it some, but it seems to be worse for me than what I have read.

 

It dropped my mileage by about 1-1.5mpg in my F150. What are you getting now, 6?

 

You might consider having a tune written for E10 if you're sure that's what you'll be getting(rather you want to or not) as with the older vehicles that don't have the "Flex Fuel" compatibility don't have the sensors that adjust fueling tables for how much ethanol is present. Now I'm sure the newer vehicles(atleast in my 150) don't have to worry about this as there are sensors for that.

However, having said that, are you sure that nothing else has gone on that would have an affect on MPG that you might not be thinking about? Even temperature of the fuel can affect energy content and that in turn would affect mileage. Or are you just going by the timing of it all? "I did A, then B happened, so therefore, A caused B." That kinda thing?

 

Sounds about right to me, when we switched to 10% ethanol up here my mileage dropped 2 mpg with no other changes. On a side not it didn't affect my boat nearly as much, I guess that's the beauty of only getting around 3 mpg

 

But if I found real gas I would need to change the tune?
How much do you think that would help me?



When I started using E10 the fuel mileage went down. I figured out what it was and started going to the last few stations that have 100% gas, and it went right back up. Now they have gone to E10 too, and every tank sees the drop in MPGs.

 

The V10s do not get 6 MPGs unless somthing is very wrong with them.

I am getting 9-12 now most tanks.

Used to be my MPGs ranged from 7.5-16 depending on what I was doing.

with E10 they go from 7.5 to 12.5.

Working it very hard it still gets the same MPGs as before, but empty its more than a 3 MPG diffrence.

 

Does the label on the pump say "E10" or "Contains up to 10% ethanol)?

Who told you that?

 

Some of each, but most are " up to 10% ethanol"

My fuel mileage is the same with either one.

 

Well if most are "up to E10", then you'll actually need to test the content of the fuel that you pump out to see if it truly is E10.

As to the tuning and rather or not it'll help you. Think of it as having a vehicle that is programmed to run on 93 and you put 87 in it. Or having a vehicle tuned for 87, but you put 93 in it. You aren't getting what you need or you are getting stuff you can't use.

Now, yes you are correct, you put something that says 100% fuel in it, then you'll need to change it back to either stock, or another tune. However, I'm wanting to say that there is some requirement that stipulates that gas has to be blended by the end of this year or into next year. Even if that isn't the case, I think you'll find it very hard to find a station that doesn't have some form of mixture. I travel a good bit through the South and I have only found one place that actually strongly proclaims that they have straight fuel, but I hardly go out that way, so I don't know if that is still the case or not.

 

87 octane E10 is rated at 87 octane unlike E85 which is around 100 octane or a little over. You DO NOT have to have a tune to run E10 successfully. Ethanol has been used in gasoline for decades now, you better believe Ford tested even older vehicles to use gasoline that contains different amounts of ethanol. When you think about it Ford designed these vehicles to be able to run in conditions from -50 to well over 100 degrees F and do it at sea level or over 10,000' above sea level and run at stoich. A little bit of ethanol don't mean a whole lot.

I think your mileage issues may be mechanical or you got some poor quality fuel. I have labeled "E10", "up to 10%" and straight gasoline available in my area. I have not seen much of difference between the 3 as far as mpg is concerned. When is the last time you changed air filter, cleaned the MAF and etc. In my area 89, 91 and 93 usually contain little or no ethanol. You could try a tank of 89 and see if your mpg changes. Fuel varies so much across the country so it can be a crap shoot.

 

Every thing is in great shape.
Good coils, plugs and filters. Cleaned the MAF last oil change.
The tires are in good shape running 60 front and 80 rear.
No brake drag, wheel bearings are good and the toe/camber is perfect.

Its been a problem for a long time and I have watched my MPGs and whether I was running "up to 10%" or straight gas.

I have dealt with it by fueling up with real gas whenever I can find it.
Now I can't find a single station that sells it, and every tank for the last 2 months has been E10.

I can deal with 12 empty rather than the 15 it used to get, I almost never drive it without a trailer in tow.
With 18,000+ gross GCW its the same 7.5-8.5 as always, but used to be I could almost hit 10 being gentle. Thats gone but its not that big of a deal.

The problem is getting 10 MPGs towing an empty trailer dead heading when I used to get 13-14, or towing at 12-15K GCW getting 8.5-9 when I used to get 11.5-12.5 and occasionally as high as 13.5. Thats 75% of its miles and its hurting!

My 4.6 has a custom 87 tune from 5 star that I changed to 2* more timing than Mike had it on. It gets the same mileage either way, but I don't know because I never drove it stock enough to see if the fuel made any diffrence for it.

 

Ethanol, unlike gasoline is hydrophilic... ever mix a drink?

it is especially bad for boat engines since they are operated in humid climates and sometimes sit for weeks or months without being run.

The longer ethanol sits (in your tank or the station's) the worse it is for an engine.

 

7.5 is close enough to 6 that I'm quite happy with my 18.6mpg in a 6.4 twin turbo...

 

I'm assuming you get 18.6 mpg's running 85 mph and towing about 10k lbs since that is what you are comparing for Bill's mpg's. In case you haven't read Bill's other posts he says he tows between 80-90 mph and drives it like he stole it.

 

Last time I got 7.5 I was grossing 25,000 in hills. I did get 6.3 one time, but I was idling all day long. Only shut it off for lunch.



I have backed it down allot since I don't haul in such a time crunch like I was then, but when I did that it was 7.5-8 depending on wind drag and how hard I pushed it.

So ChargersFan, what MPGs does your 6.4 see at 25,000 in hills or running 85 and 90 towing 10K ( 17K gross)?