So it seems like the government tax breaks the stations are giving for using ethanol blends has taken hold here in Pennsylvania and its getting extremely hard to find a station that at least thinks they are not selling a blended fuel. I had to put a tank of gasahol in today. Has anyone had any problems using ethanol blended fuels or does anyone still know of any stations in PA not selling blends?

 

The only down side seems to be reduced mileage. Other than that, I have noticed no difference.

 

Yeah reduced mileage I heard also... But no reduced price.... Man we are getting screwed.

 

Imagine that. We get to pay the same so they profit more and....we get to use more also.
We have it here with no real problems. Have had it for years.

 

We have a mix of stations here in Colorado. Usually the E10 gas is about 15 cents/gallon cheaper than E0 gas. Of course we have a lot of Conoco stations that are very proud of their gas and usually charge 30 cents/gallon more than other brands. There are exceptions though. One little station is trying to be competitive and offers real gas. Got it for $3.70/gallon vs $3.68/gallon for E10.

 

In california they don't tell us what percentage of ethanol does it consist, they just say it may consist up to a maximum of 10% ethanol.

 

Here is a questions - With this wonderful E10 gas that we get less mileage from, has anyone looked at the emmisions it takes to produce the fuel? We are all going to be using more due to the lower mileage which means they need to produce more! Yes the cars burning E10 are emitting lower emmisions, but does this out weigh the emmisions it took to make the fuel? Just my two cents! Not that I have much left after buying fuel!

 

I can't speak for the Crossfire but I have been warned by two marina's not to use gas with any ethanol in it in an outboard. They say the ethanol draws moisture and can ruin your engine. They recommend that if you have it in your tank that you completely use it all up in two weeks or less. They posted some pictures that show some nasty deposits they claim were caused by the ethanol. They showed pictures of a caramel like deposit at the bottom of a gas tank. Of course they sell ethanol free gas. I'm a little skeptical of their motives. What do you guy's think?

I would assume if the above is true it wouldn't be doing our cars much good either.

We have always used gas from the station in our previous boat a 5 liter V8, and would haul gas down the dock to save money. The marina charges about 40 to 50 cents more but it's ethanol free. If you use station gas they recommend that you use Stabil gas stabilizer. The cost of driving to the station and the cost of the Stabil costs more than just filling up at the marina.

 

Where do you find gasoline that isn't E-10 in Ohio? It seems to me that they have been blending ethanol with our fuel (at least in the Northeastern part of our state) for as long as I can remember.

 

I'm referring to Indiana. We have a lake home in Indiana and that's where our boat is. I believe that the marina's get their ethanol free from a special source. Our jet ski requires 93 octane and the marina supplies that also ethanol free.

 

That's why I mentioned Ohio. I cannot remember the last time I saw a pump in Ohio that didn't have the disclaimer that the fuel "might" contain 10% ethanol. I wonder if the tank of gasoline that I bought while visiting Indianapolis over Labor Day weekend was ethanol free. That might explain the improvement in mpg's that I've seen since then.

 

That's the big hypocrisy about blended fuels being "cleaner". You have to burn more of it, so any possible emissions savings are null IMHO.

 

If they mixed water instead of ethanol, it wouldn't burn at all. Then they could eliminate all emissions.

If you factor in the emissions from making the ethanol and the reduced mileage (and the increased cost of corn products due to all that corn being turned into ethanol), I too cannot see how we benefit from E10 (or E85 for that matter).

 

Not to mention that alot of people around the world sure could use that corn to eat.

 

Stations will not blend if the price of Ethanol is more than or equal to the price of gasoline on any given day. Ethanol prices vary just like gas does, they are just as volatile & are subject to wide price swings just like gas.
That's the rub: you never really know if the gas you're purchasing has been blended. The only way to know for certain is to speak to the station owner & ask.