O/T Ethanol in 2012 Toyota Prius????

Anonymous-0 · Dec 17, 2011

I am planning to use straight Gasoline in my 2012 Toyota Prius V. It is getting to be more and more difficult to find motor fuel that does not have ethanol in it. If one has to fill with ethanol fuel E-10) occasionally is this likely to harm the vehicle in any way? I have heard it both ways??

David G · Dec 17, 2011

E10 will not harm your car, you can use it all the time.

Bob Huntress · Dec 17, 2011

TSV, I am a serious critic of ethanol, yet, if you are using it in a brand new 2012 vehicle, the problem should be almost nonexistent. The new cars and trucks are pretty compatible with E10 and E15. The problem starts with vehicles made between 1980 and 2005. Your very vintage cars and trucks are also pretty safe, as long as they don't have gas sitting in their tanks for long time.

armand tatro · Dec 17, 2011

Why not use E-10 and enjoy?? We have been using E-10 in all our vehicals and yard equipment and farm tractors and have no problems. The diesel tractors and trucks get soy-diesel with additives except Dec., Jan. and Feb. when I use straight ULS. Armand

504 · Dec 17, 2011

Owners Manual.

Ron A Anderson · Dec 17, 2011

My daughter has had a Prius for 3 years and uses 10% all the time. We have had 10% in Minn for several years and I have burned it in all my gas vehicles. The only problem I have had was it ruined some cheap rubber gas line hose I put on a vehicle several years ago. I since replaced it and never had a problem since.
I use sea foam or staybil in all my small engines as a precaution and never have a problem starting them.

old · Dec 17, 2011

2012 car and E-10 you joking here??? Any car made pretty much after the year 2000 is made to be run on E-10 and some even the E-85 so what is your worry?? E-10 is a fact of life unless you want to run the gas that is $00.50 higher then the cheap stuff. Run it, it was made to do so and it is a fact of life now days

Bob Huntress · Dec 17, 2011

You use the phrase, "the Cheap Stuff" pretty liberally. I realize that non ethanol is even more, but even with ethanol it is not cheap!!!

JMS/.MN · Dec 17, 2011

MN has had E10 in all gas for decades. E85 is available for flex-fuel vehicles, like our "03 Dodge. Lately E85 is 80 cents under E10, well worth the 11% drop in mileage.

Jon Hagen · Dec 17, 2011

No problem at all, E10 is recommended in the operators manual.
I have a 2010 Prius and have run careful tests of the MPG over the last couple of years with 87 octane regular, 89 octane E10 and 90 octane premium gasoline. My BEST fuel economy is with a trusted high quality brand of E10.

The generation 3 Prius has an Atkinson cycle engine that runs a very high compression ratio (13/1) and can benifit from high octane fuel.
If you can, buy from a station that has blender pumps, then you have a better chance that their E10 is a good quality 87 octane base stock with 10% Ethanol added.
I have read that some cut rate outfits will use a poor quality gasoline stock and add Ethanol, sometimes in excess of 10%, until it meets the minimum 87 octane, not good stuff. Shop around for a store that has blender pumps and makes a quality product.

onefarmer · Dec 17, 2011

The question should be....Can you use e-85 in it? Ethanol (10%) is a fact of life, at least in Mi for 20yrs plus. I see a lot of new cars with flex fuel stickers on their tails.

Bob Huntress · Dec 17, 2011

Tsv, I don't actually know what you are asking. If you want to know how to get traditional gas, you can buy it at marinias and Coops, but, as has been mentioned, it does cost more. I think enough people mentioned how your 2012 Prius will run ethanol, just fine, and I'm a bit surprised that anyone has told you otherwise, as those of us who oppose ethonal do so because of it's affect on older vehicles, not 2012 models. Do the ones warning you against using ethanol in a 2012, mention what problems it would cause? All the O rings and seals and neoprene hoses are compatible with both gas and now ethanol. Today's fuel pumps are able to maintain lubrication as well as cooling in ethanol. What problems did your sources indicate would come to a 2012 from burning E10, or even E15? My truck has issues with ethanol. I have to change my fuel pump evey 3-4years along with the rubber hose on top of the sender.

dlplost · Dec 18, 2011

NO, straight Gasoline won't hurt your Prius. You'll get better gas milage with it.

MarkB_MI · Dec 18, 2011

Do not assume that just because the pump doesn't say there's ethanol in the fuel that it's ethanol-free. The only way to know is to test. Just assume there will always be ethanol in the fuel you're pumping. It should cause no problems for your Prius or any other late-model auto.

UncleTom · Dec 18, 2011

The small engine people use a test bottle to check for alcohol. You put water in it up to a certain line and then fuel to test. shake it up and it tells you if there is alcohol in the fuel. I would like to have one. Something like $6.

Leroy · Dec 18, 2011

Lets see, problem starts with 1980 ond goes to 2005. Had 1980,1981,1983,1984,1985,1985,1987,1988,1990,1994,1998,1998, &2000. never and problem with any of them or the 70's before that. And 2000 is newest that we have had. And the only place you might(?) find non ethnol gas is at the airport. And the only company that had blending pumps quit them years ago.

Indiana Ken · Dec 18, 2011

(quoted from post at 05:26:19 12/18/11) The small engine people use a test bottle to check for alcohol. You put water in it up to a certain line and then fuel to test. shake it up and it tells you if there is alcohol in the fuel. I would like to have one. Something like $6.

You do not need a special $6 bottle to test for the presence of ethanol in gasoline, any glass container will work - just be carefull not to drop it. The procedure is to add one part water to ten parts gasoline and shake it up. Allow to settle for a minute or so and any ethanol will now be combined with the water and visible at the bottom of the container - just as water is visible in the bottom of a glass sediment bowl. For E-10 the voume of the ethanol/water mixture should increase to two parts of the total solution.

If I were to pay extra for gasoline without ethanol I would certainly test it to verify.

rustyfarmall · Dec 18, 2011

(quoted from post at 05:26:19 12/18/11) The small engine people use a test bottle to check for alcohol. You put water in it up to a certain line and then fuel to test. shake it up and it tells you if there is alcohol in the fuel. I would like to have one. Something like $6.

The small engine people need to step into the 21st century. Ethanol has been around for at least 30 years and if Briggs and Stratton can't build an engine that will run on ethanol then they just flat won't sell any engines to me. My most recent NEW lawn mower has a Kohler, and it is rated for E-10.

old · Dec 18, 2011

Ah but cheap is a matter of prospective and ya back in the 60s gas was $00.15/9 and now it is $2.95-9 for the cheap stuff and #365-9 for the high priced stuff but hey the dollar is not worth what it was back in the 60s either. I still remember filling the tank of my 1974 Dodge van back in Jan. of 1974 and getting change back from a 5 dollar bill but now you can not drive around the block so to speak on 5 dollars

Jon Hagen · Dec 18, 2011

I have on of those, it not only tells you IF their is ethanol in the fuel, but also exactly what percentage.
Briggs & stratton ethanol test kit.

O/T Ethanol in 2012 Toyota Prius????

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