OT Gas

pat sublett · Jan 30, 2013

I have new car, bought in march. It has a lot of electronic gagets on it, one is a fuel milage monitor. I shop about 40 miles down the interstate. I fill up with gas ever trip as I start home, normally at a Pilot station. My milage indicator is always 30 Plus when I pull off the interstate. I filled up at Wallmart this week and when I got home it was 27 MPG.

pete black · Jan 30, 2013

not to take over post or to defend walmart but i try to purchase most of my gas there. reason being, alabama, due to budget constraints had quit testing gas pumps for accuracy. pull into most any station and there is no inspection sticker, particularly those owned by folks of foreign descent. wal marts are stickered as to being tested by an independent company annually.

504 · Jan 30, 2013

My last Jeep had the real time readout, the mileage would drop 2MPG just running 10% ethanol over straight gas. In this area you never know what is in the pump from one station to another unless you talk to the delivery driver.

Anonymous-0 · Jan 30, 2013

Walmart gas has 10% Ethanol in it.Look up the BTU difference of regular gas and Ethanol.Regular Gas produces 115,000 Btu's versus 75,000 Btu's for Ethanol.

I had a Nissan Titan truck equipped for E85 and the owners manual stated that you would get a minimum of 30% less mileage with E-85.

john *.?-!.* cub owner · Jan 30, 2013

Our intelligent (NOT) politicians made 10% ethanol mandatory. It resulted in a 1 to 1 1/2 mpg reduction in gas mileage in all my vehicles. I do track it pretty close. One thing to pay attention to, is do not go on a single gas up, especially if only driving 80 miles. I have compared my gas mileage from Caseys, Walmart, Phillips, and BP. Caseys is the worst of the bunch. Walmart, BP, and Phillips were all the same.

M w J · Jan 30, 2013

I do use 10 percent ethanol in every thing I own
except a 2010 gmc pickup there is a little less
mileage to it but it is cheaper . I use E 85 in the
pickup except when i take a long trip the E 85 has
always been 1 or 2 cents per mile less cost then E
10 but you have to fill more often.

paul · Jan 30, 2013

Be nice if we could run 20 to 25% ethanol, that is typically the
best bang for the buck for cheaper fuel, better efficiency. I
know E30 has less btu per gallon, but several studies show it
burns more efficiently so it ends up cheaper.

But, we just aren't there yet.

Paul

CenTex Farmall · Jan 30, 2013

I too noticed a 1 to 2 mpg loss on the newer car. In addition, the density can vary batch to batch and every once in a while I'll get a 3 or 4 mpg additional dip in mileage until that tank is gone. Then it's back to "normal". IIRC the fuel comes from jobbers that supply many different stations and
they add the proprietary stuff that makes it "brand x" once it's pumped into the stations tanks.

Jon Hagen · Jan 30, 2013

This wintere I installed a Scangauge E on my 2000 Dakota with 4.7 so I could get some accurate fuel economy numbers with different fuel blends.
I tried E0,E10 and E30 from our local blender pump.
I was amazed and pleased that it made the best average mpg using E30.

My 2010 Toyota prius has the same type of monitor and makes it's best mpg on E10. also from the cenex blender pump.

Our state (ND)is one of those midwest states that does not mandate ethanol in fuel, so I have the opertunity to compare gasoline with no ethanol (E0) to the 10% and 30% blends using the same gasoline stock in the blends with ethanol.

Jon Hagen · Jan 30, 2013

"Walmart gas has 10% Ethanol in it.Look up the BTU difference of regular gas and Ethanol.Regular Gas produces 115,000 Btu's versus 75,000 Btu's for Ethanol."

Yes, but remember that E10 has only 10% ethanol, so has 3% less btu's than 100% gasoline.
You would have to be burning E100 pure ethanol to get 30% less btu's.

MSD · Jan 30, 2013

I notice the same on my 2000 Dakota. In the summer the E30 does the best but it did drop off when it got colder. I run E15 now and mileage is back up again. E10 it drops off also. Brazil runs 20% and is going to 25. 90% of all gas sold has ethanol in it.

GregCO · Jan 31, 2013

We have a local radio show that runs in Saturday morning called Drive Radio. The hosts have done many tests on gas and top tier fuel while costing more to buy is less expensive to to run. The cheap fuels just don't seem to get the mileage that the better fuel does. Top tier being name brands like Shell have better add packs.

Greg

DeltaRed · Jan 31, 2013

Greg,Is that a Denver 'thing'? Steve

ss55 · Jan 31, 2013

Large temperature drops can hurt gas milage, high winds affect it too. Most likely it is the percentage of ethanol in the mix.

MarkB_MI · Jan 31, 2013

If you didn't reset your average after filling up, that's a huge difference since the mileage would have to drop to about 20 mpg before you'd notice a change in your average over 40 miles. If you did reset the average, then that 3 mpg drop might not mean much. Wait until you've run through the tank of gas before you make any conclusions. A stiff headwind could easily account for a ten percent drop in economy.

Note that gas gets reformulated in the winter months, which could account for a drop in mileage regardless of your fuel supplier.

John M · Jan 31, 2013

I have 3 vehicles with those mileage indicators. They are all off if I hand calculate by the 2 or 3 mpgs.

Texasmark1 · Jan 31, 2013

Don't know about the mileage, but my '11 Silverado fuel consumption readout is within a decimal point of what the meter on the pump says when I fill up....usually same pump, same station.

I will attest to the fact that when advertisers say X mpg and add "on gasoline" it is true that ethanol has less BTU's per gallon hence less mpg. Since my station has started using the E10 my mileage has dropped about 2 mpg driving the same route in the same manner.

Oh, and while we are at it, one day the gasoline delivery truck was filling up the tanks and I went over and shot a little bull with the guy. Question was about what fuel, and what additives does he put in it.

Answer was that in his truck he had about 870 gallons of alcohol and 9 x that of gasoline......E10. On additives, he said: THE CUSTOMER PUTS IN HIS OWN ADDITIVES AS I DELIVER TO THE GENERAL AREA, ALL SHIELDS, AND ONLY HAVE ONE SOURCE OF PRODUCT.........daaaa you think the guy with the cheapest price in town added anything anything to his tanks????????? To me, a little common sense says why? You'll never know whether he did or didn't and no additives help him to support his low price.

Soooo folks, that says we are at the discretion of our fuel supplier for what we get in our tank.......anybody wondering why fuel additives from the auto parts work?

That was an eye opener and thought it might be of interest to you.

Mark

dcarp · Jan 31, 2013

Main reason those indicators are off is that they use the throttle position sensor to estimate milage. They do not monitor actual fuel usage.

Pops1532 · Jan 31, 2013

In my experience the only way to accurately calculate fuel mileage is manually. The electronic indicators on the cars aren't very accurate.
Also as mentioned, there are too many variables to use a 40 mile trip as a good indicator.
We typically get the best mileage with Shell gasoline, and the worst with Casey's. E10 is the norm around here. Unfortunately the feds are pushing for E15.
There's a Conoco/Phillips tank farm a mile from my house. They supply most of the local brands and use each brand's additives as required.
I've got a couple of buddies that worked at tank farms. They both said the additives were added when filling the trucks.

al1933 · Jan 31, 2013

The facts on Ethanol!The basic story on ethanol mileage and cost.Some Ethanol proponents claim it doesn't hurt their mileage, but this goes against physics, and you will not find the ethanol lobby making such fraudulent claims--they could be sued. But just to be sure, zFacts analyzed all of EPA's ethanol mileage tests for one year and, big surprise, ethanol gave exactly 2/3 the mileage of gasoline Unfortunately it's very expensive. The USDA tells us that ethanol cost 57 cents more per gallon on average over the last 25 years and it still does. Put that together with the fact that it takes 1.53 gallons to equal a gallon of gasoline.
EPA has measured the gas mileage of 2006 flexible fuel models. For the 31 models they tested the average reduction is 26 percent fewer miles per gallon. For example a car that gets 30 mpg on regular would typically get 22.2 mpg with E85. This is exactly what is predicted from the fact that E85 has less energy per gallon than gasoline.

For these calculations, the EPA assumes that E85 costs $2.00 and regular $2.20 gallon. Obviously they are on the low side, especially for ethanol, but this proportion is similar to what DOE predict for the next few years. The loss in mileage more than makes up for the cost savings, and on average the EPA predicts driving on E85 will cost 23 percent more than driving on regular.

Tony S. · Jan 31, 2013

We are getting worse mileage in winter on our new Nissan. I think it's because we aare warming up the engine longer.

JMS/.MN · Jan 31, 2013

Of course the mileage drops- ethanol has less energy in it. Supporters of ethanol have never disputed that. But what is your per mile cost (if you track it closely)? If E85 is 40 cents cheaper we are way ahead in cost per mile over the 10% blend. We"ve seen it 90 cents cheaper......savings are even more. If you really know the numbers in cost per gallon difference and mileage difference, it is an easy choice. I don"t miss frozen gas lines in MN winters either, and that"s just with the 10% blend.

bobs old iron · Jan 31, 2013

i have noticed that if i try, [what i call cut rate gas] grocery stores gasses, i get lousy milage, when i use name brands, shell, sinclair, phillips, etc, my milage does better, even with the 10% ethenol...
i would guess that the store gasses don't have all the adtives that the bigger brands have to make car run better..
e.g.- friend went to vegas, lousy gas milage, using cheap gasses, told him to use name brands, told me latter, car was getting better power and milage,,,you get what you pay for,,in all type of products.

Walt Davies · Jan 31, 2013

Back in the early 80s we did a test on running alcohol in some Chevy S10s these little trucks got around 25 to 30 MPG ON STRAIGHT gas. Running on 85/15 they got around 6 MPG. The desision was that there was no ad advantage to running alcohol. We had to 40 gallon tanks on them to have enough fuel to get to town and back. Ask any old race driver and he wil tell you that gas is the best for MPG. We are getting the short end with this stupid government rules we use just as much gas with or without the alcohol.
Walt

Ted in NE-OH · Jan 31, 2013

Don't complain about ethanol in gas. If we didn't have ethanol in gas where do you think corn prices would be. In the dumpers.

1936 · Jan 31, 2013

This gas is called "well head gas" raw gas nothing added,looks like gas smells and taste like gas burns like gas but, just won't give the mileage of the big gas companies. Friend was using such until his injectors went south and was told to buy a better gas and not problem after that. Only a few cents more.

Pops1532 · Jan 31, 2013

JMS,
Where did you find the data showing cost per mile was less with E85? Not arguing, but that contradicts what I've read....unless the tax incentives were figured into the equation.

Ted,
Not everyone on here is a farmer. Of course ethanol makes financial sense for farmers. Not so much for many of us. The cost per mile with ethanol is higher. Ethanol is damaging to fuel systems on vintage vehicles and allot of power equipment.

Texasmark1 · Jan 31, 2013

Not so much the price but what kind of crap they put in it. What was the last fiasco we had. The stuff was carcinogenic. Referred to it with a 4 letter abbreviation.

Mark

Pops1532 · Jan 31, 2013

(quoted from post at 22:20:09 01/31/13) Not so much the price but what kind of crap they put in it. What was the last fiasco we had. The stuff was carcinogenic. Referred to it with a 4 letter abbreviation.

Mark

MTBE

jm. · Jan 31, 2013

I have a 2012 F150 and know very well how to check gas millage and the onboard computer is within .3 MPG almost all time. Tennessee you can buy pure gas or E 10 about 22 cents difference.
I can not make the math work. Not worth paying the difference. Very little millage difference.
May be the new v6 Eco Boost.

GregCO · Jan 31, 2013

Steve, yes it is a local show out of Denver. Starts at 10:00 A.M. and runs till 1:00 P.M. every Saturday mountain standard time. Pretty good show. Here is a link. You can steam the show live or download podcast's. It is hosted by a group of local independent shops and is sponsored by NAPA.

Greg
Drive radio

oldtanker · Jan 31, 2013

(quoted from post at 09:33:00 01/31/13) Don't complain about ethanol in gas. If we didn't have ethanol in gas where do you think corn prices would be. In the dumpers.

Why? I don't sell corn. Why should 99.9% of the gas users get screwed so you can get better corn prices? Then get screwed again when food prices go up too? Then a 3rd time by paying taxes that go to Farm Subsidies?

And don't tell me about the corn for ehtonal not being for food or animal feed (been told this before). If the land planted was not used for that type of corn it could be put to other crops.

Rick

Texasmark1 · Feb 1, 2013

That's it. You could smell it in the exhaust too.

OT Gas

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads