I've been using a Sunoco station that has a "10% ethanol" sticker on the pump. My understanding of combustion is limited, but I've read that ethanol

• burns cleaner
• has less explosive power (thus you only get about 2/3rds the mileage of gas)
• is more corrosive to the engine.

Should I find another fill-up station?

 

Don't know about your ethanol issue, but I always try fill up at one of the retailers listed on

http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

 

what you've heard is accurate.

The idea of adding ethanol to fuel is to decrease the tendacy for predetonation (which is measured as a higher octane rating). Most states require a certain level of oxygen within fuel now to aid in full combustion. A more common oxygenated additive was MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) but it's being phased out now due to spillage pollution concerns. So now some formulators are switching over to small alcohols like ethanol and methanol to deliver the oxygen levels required by law as well as to prevent pre-detonation.

Since you already know the trade-offs, the choice is yours. It's not necessarily a bad thing running ethanol fuels but if you can find something else, you'll get better performance. You might even spend less running a more expensive fuel due to the milage tradeoff.

 

Here's a very recent article about using 85% ethanol / 15% gasoline mix. Some of what I heard is not quite right.

• All cars today are made to tolerate up to 10% ethanol, so I don't have to worry
• ethanol has higher octane than gas, so you get more performance but less mileage. (I thought you got less of both.)

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specia...4/article.html