hostility

 

No it doesn't. Read without a preconceived agenda. It doesn't say anything about ethanol. It says gas quality varies, that's all. The point they're making is that you should buy high-quality gas from a reputable retailer - that's why it is under a heading of "Use high quality brands". That statement has absolutely nothing to do with the next paragraph which defines acceptable limits on ethanol content that will keep the warranty in place.

- Mark

 

I used to work on a coastwise product tanker. We carried gasoline from refineries to tank farms up and down the west coast of the U.S.
Gasoline is a commodity, its specifications are set by the oil companies and the government. We would load at, for example, a Union 76 refinery and discharge at a Texaco tank farm.

There is no "brand loyalty" between oil companies. There is no "high quality" or "low quality gas", it is all the same stuff. Different companies have their own additive packages, mostly detergents to keep the fuel systems clean, but most gasoline companies advertise detergent additives. Even Costco has their own "Techron".

Put whatever gas in your car that makes you feel better, but really, there is no "Top tier" gas. That is just marketing B.S.

Dave

 

thank you for putting the arguing to rest

 

Sorry but that's only part of the story.

Gasoline is a fungible commodity, but there are some segregated products.

Amoco Ultimate, and Sunoco 94 were examples when I worked as terminal supervisor for Hess oil in Baltimore.

You were correct about additive packages in the gas. There was a distinct difference between the additive package injected into the gas stream as it was loaded into tanker trucks at the loading rack. We used to get tankers to load from every brand, We had an aggrement with and segregated storage and loading and additive for Sunoco 94, and they loaded plain regular grade with common additive.

Hess premium (for Hess stations only) got an additive package that was about 5 times the cost of the package that everybody else got. (it was really good stuff).

Anyway, if you buy gas from a station that is always busy, (has a lot of turnover), and you don't have Hess or Amoco, or Sunoco, gas is gas...

 

i hate math. i prefer reading. "OCTANE RATING".

 

To bring the convo back to ethanol issues..... I would be interested in hearing about how a person's car ran after switching to ethanol free gasoline.

I found a gas station close to home and it has 92 octane ethanol free fuel. Now....I have to say that either my foot has gotten heavier or the car really is running better on this fuel. I'm in shock that my car has been driving as peppy as it has been with this tank of ethanol free fuel.

The Cooper S guys are gonna be like....JustaCoopa....peppy,lol? But in all seriousness I'm just shocked how well the car is driving. I have yet to see the gas mileage but I have a feeling that....it's going to be the same or worse ....hey hey I'm enjoying the increased peppiness.

I think I'm going to start using this other gas station (Exxon) with the ethanol free gas for here on out.

 

Been running it now for a few months and my mileage and power feel like 10% more. Also noticed my oil doesn't get as black as it used to.

 

i wish i could find one that is close to me.. all the websites suck.. is there any brand that absolutly has it (like exxon, or sunco)

 

There are a couple of ethanol free gas stations around me, but they are regular gas only and they are real expensive!

Dave

 

Just remember that some states have a MANDATORY (some with exceptions for marine and aviation and other uses such as antique cars) Ethanol Laws.

The states are

Florida
Hawaii
Minnesota (first to enact ethanol law)
Missouri
Oregon
Washington (probably the strangest implementation by only requiring 2% of the fuel used to contain ethanol)

Also the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) a federal Law is intending to eliminate the use of NON Ethanol fuel in automobiles by the year 2012.

 

I can't say that the car isn't performing better, but OTOH, what car doesn't run better after a wash? Butt-dynos have been shown time and time again to be notoriously susceptible to suggestion.

Every objective dyno run done has shown exactly what the chemistry suggests - a very small decrease in preformance proportional to the slightly reduced energy content of E10 vs. gas - about 3%.

I'm not a fan of ethanol (especially the economics and politics that surround it) and I'm sure there are a few isolated folks out there who have really gotten bitten in the rear by fuel system corrosion or water contamination issues, but the idea that E10 causes widespread +10% reductions in power or fuel economy and/or causes immediate reliability issues, while widely bandied about on internet forums, simply aren't born out by the data. Ethanol is just a convienent whipping boy for folks to blame on whatever is ailing their cars. And there are actually a few benefits - keeping the water in gas in suspension where it can be burned rather than collecting in the bottom of the tank is not necessarily a bad thing. It's what "dry gas" additives have been sold to do for some time. I've even folks recommend adding dry gas to combat ethanol problems - adding more alcohol to fuel to solve problems with alcohol in the fuel. Talk about ridiculous!

- Mark