In my area there are some gas stations that carry non ethanol gas. The price is usually about 20 cents higher than the regular stuff. I've ran it twice in my car with no real gain. My mpg still stays around 38.5. Should I be doing something differently? Anyone else have experience with non ethanol gas?

 

38.5 is great for 50/50 driving. Its been my experience that it takes 5 tanks for the ecu to adjust. Up here Bp premium is the closest thing to ethanol free but since the bad gas sold by them their premium has changed.

 

Even if it did improve mpg it would be a very small change. Probably not enough to offset thje 20 cents extra cost.

Clifton

 

At the current price of $3.60:

For someone getting 38.5mpg, you'd have to see a 2.1 mpg increase to simply break even to justify the increased cost. Someone getting 30mpg would need to see a minimum of 1.7mpg increase and someone getting 20mpg would need to see a minimum of 1.1mpg increase.

if an Ethanol free fuel will get you any of those increases above(if you average those mpg numbers currently) then it is worth it. Those running in the 20mpg range are more likely to achieve the increase than those running in the high 30's or low 40's. Achieving 2.1mpg Average increase for someone running 38mpg would be difficult while achieving a 1.1mpg increase for someone running 20mpg would likely not be.

On the other side of it... you'll be spending $2 more per tank for an ethanol free fuel... depending on the number of miles you drive, that may be well worth it knowing you have 0 ethanol in your fuel system.

~SB

 

Well in my 1970 C10 I use the non ethanol, the fuel system just isn't built for ethanol and it sits for extended periods of time. I drive my fit everyday and it's fuel lines are alcohol resistant. I was just looking to squeeze a little more mpg out. I'd like to pump my average to over 40.

 

Good luck with averaging over 40. I went for two years at 38mpg and had one of the commutes the fit likes best. I could get numerous tanks over 40mpg during the spring and early fall (and cooler summer weeks) but there's no way I was getting 40 or over for the lifetime of the Fit. with your MPG at 38.4, I have a feeling that you might be able to eek out 39 but that extra 1mpg on a regular basis above what you already do I think is going to be a long shot. It wouldn't hurt to try it for a few months to see what you can do. The best think you can do is run your car for 1-2 months on the ethanol free gas and compare to last year's fill-ups to see if you are an average of 1mpg-2mpg higher than the same 2 month period. If so, then you may be spot on and it could be achievable.

I don't know of anyone on this forum who has a lifetime average of over 40mpg. Some of us are closer to that but If there is, i'd look at what cost they've taken to obtain this and see if it is worth it. They may have $150 eco-tires that aren't as safe and cost twice that of a better performing tire, have driving practices that are dangerous (Such as driving 10mph under the speed limit, freewheeling on every slight downhill, etc...)

That said, i'm not going to say to not give it a "whirl" as you may learn a few things and provide some good insight. For me, it is balance that I strive for.

~SB

 

You wont see 40 average on your fuelly. You would need to average 45 mpg all winter long. It takes time for the ecu to adjust but if there is no knock and its really ethanol free you should get 40 mpg driving the way you are if you are getting 38.5 now. 3-4 percent more BTU's from ethanol free should add 1.2 mpg so 40 mpg is possible.

 

I have the unfortunate luck of living in an EPA non-attainment area. We have had E-10 here for the last 19 years. I am also fortunate that the next county is not in the non-attainment area so I can buy 100% real gas there. Also the fuel terminal for that county does not have ethanol mixing and storage facilities. So that makes comparison fairly easy. But that is another story. At one time my company vehicle was part of a fleet used for real world testing. Mine was to use E-10 of a specific brand that used the minimum EPA amount of additives whenever possible. Every 30,000 miles it went in and they pulled the heads to determine amount and type of deposits. What they found was E-10 engines were cleaner running with next to no deposits without the use of additional additives. That was bad news for us since we were in the additive business. That is the only good thing I have to say about E-10.

Over the years I have been able to document 10% to 11% difference in mileage on multiple personal vehicles. I have never really included or compared the Fit in those numbers since ours is normally driven by my daughter who lives 30 miles away in another state. She only uses 100% real gasoline. She tells me she gets 38 mpg in her normal 8 mile commute to work and 42-44 on longer highway trips. I have never verified those numbers.

The amount of energy of a a gallon of gas iis expressed in BTUs per gallon. E-10 is less than E-0. When you go looking at the numbers you will find differences quoted because of difference in the composition based on the area sold and winter or summer blends. Winter has less BTUs.

Here are one set of numbers:

1 gal of gasoline=124,884btu - (Pure gasoline)
1 gal of E10=~120,096btu
1 gal of E85=84,460btu
1 gal E100=~77,000btu - (Pure ethanol)
1 gal of No.2 diesel=138,874btu

Here is another set of numbers:
E0 = 116,090 BTU's
E10 = 112,114 BTU's

In both of the above there is about a 4% difference

I have seen numbers with as much as 12,000 BTU differences. It all depends on who is trying to sell you what. Our lab testing put the difference number between the 12,000 and 4,000 ones quoted above. So lets just say there is a difference with E-10 being less.

My Blazer gets 22 + mpg highway on real gas and it struggles to get 20 mpg on E10. My last trip last week end it got 19.8 on E10 east bound in flatland country and 22.1 westbound on the same route on real gas coming back. On the return trip I filled up with 17.8 gallons of real gasoline in an 18.6 gallon tank so the residual ethanol from the previous tank full was nil. It was a straight east - west trip and the wind was out of the north and not a factor.

The only way you are going to see if it makes any real difference to you is to run several consecutive tanks of real gas to eliminate any residual ethanol and see what you come up with. We never lab or road tested a Fit.

 

Thanks for all the info. I don't really plan to put that much effort into it. I had already figured what I needed to obtain mpg wise before I filled up, which is why i got excited about 40 mpg. I have no real need to go higher unless I can do it with little to no effort. As it stands I'm already better than the estimated highway mileage and that is for my daily commute through town.