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It's funny how much hatred there is toward ethanol.
Even so... I put 10 gallons of E-50 in my Golf. It's not a flex-fuel car, but there have been a lot of times that I've run E-85. Performance is no different, but I've dropped from 30 mpg to 25 mpg on E-85.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of mileage I get on E-50.
Even so, this isn't something I'll be doing regularly, as this gas station is in a town about an hour away.
I run ethanol in my car only once a year, and that is only to get through the emissions test.
Yeah, I understand that.
It is interesting though... I hear so many people berating ethanol like it's the worst thing that ever hit the planet. It's blamed for everything from decreased mileage to engine seizures.
While I can't prove anybody else's experiences wrong (nor do I need to), I simply have not had all those negative experiences with it. I've run it in everything from trucks to commercial lawn mowers, and have not had drastic drops in mileage or any mechanical problems.
It is interesting though... I hear so many people berating ethanol like it's the worst thing that ever hit the planet. It's blamed for everything from decreased mileage to engine seizures.
While I can't prove anybody else's experiences wrong (nor do I need to), I simply have not had all those negative experiences with it. I've run it in everything from trucks to commercial lawn mowers, and have not had drastic drops in mileage or any mechanical problems.
Here in Las Vegas, all gas is 10% Ethanol. My cars have never had a problem. I run pure ethanol (denatured alcohol) to get through emissions once a year, and it runs fine on that. Granted, I only use a gallon of it once a year. If I did it constantly it would be sure to ruin my car.
It's funny how much hatred there is toward ethanol.
Even so... I put 10 gallons of E-50 in my Golf. It's not a flex-fuel car, but there have been a lot of times that I've run E-85. Performance is no different, but I've dropped from 30 mpg to 25 mpg on E-85.
It'll be interesting to see what kind of mileage I get on E-50.
Even so, this isn't something I'll be doing regularly, as this gas station is in a town about an hour away.
I don't hate ethanol, I hate the government trying to force me to use it.
In my experience, I get worse performance with E-10, at least I get worse MPG. I don't have a good facility to (conveniently) measure acceleration (although as a car guy I ought to break down and buy a G-measurement device...)
You have fun with that E-50. We may all learn something here. I'm definitely not hatin' on you, maybe you will discover something good.
Although based on SAE papers I have read from back in the 70's and 80's, I'm afraid you will be getting not only wiser, Omaha, but sadder as well. (increased fuel pump wear, possible fuel system corrosion, possible elastomer problems, maybe burn a valve). Not certain what the upside of the E-50 could be, unless it was *very* cheap - they would have to sell you the alcohol component at a loss to get the price down where this stuff would be a better deal than E-10.
Some guys are building cars with very high compression ratios and running E-85. And formula cars have run on alcohol for a long time - the effective octane rating is very high. But the BTU/gallon is just not there, you need a rather large fuel tank to have decent range if you are running essentially straight alcohol.
I'm surprised the E-85 does not set a check engine light in your Golf - apparently your FI has enough trim available to richen the mixture enough to stay stoichiometric - I would not have expected that. Remind us what year Golf you have, is it a VR-6 or a 4? Is it set up from the factory for premium fuel? (I don't know of any Golf that is, but I have not followed the more recent year models as closely)
Are you getting the E-85 cheap enough that the fall-off in MPG from 30 to 25 is compensated by the lower fuel price per gallon?
Me, I am glad to have found a few stations around here with E-0 gas. Particularly for motorcycles, chainsaws, etc. I definitely prefer straight gas.
I don't hate ethanol, I hate the government trying to force me to use it.
In my experience, I get worse performance with E-10, at least I get worse MPG. I don't have a good facility to (conveniently) measure acceleration (although as a car guy I ought to break down and buy a G-measurement device...)
You have fun with that E-50. We may all learn something here. I'm definitely not hatin' on you, maybe you will discover something good.
Although based on SAE papers I have read from back in the 70's and 80's, I'm afraid you will be getting not only wiser, Omaha, but sadder as well. (increased fuel pump wear, possible fuel system corrosion, possible elastomer problems, maybe burn a valve). Not certain what the upside of the E-50 could be, unless it was *very* cheap - they would have to sell you the alcohol component at a loss to get the price down where this stuff would be a better deal than E-10.
Some guys are building cars with very high compression ratios and running E-85. And formula cars have run on alcohol for a long time - the effective octane rating is very high. But the BTU/gallon is just not there, you need a rather large fuel tank to have decent range if you are running essentially straight alcohol.
I'm surprised the E-85 does not set a check engine light in your Golf - apparently your FI has enough trim available to richen the mixture enough to stay stoichiometric - I would not have expected that. Remind us what year Golf you have, is it a VR-6 or a 4? Is it set up from the factory for premium fuel? (I don't know of any Golf that is, but I have not followed the more recent year models as closely)
Are you getting the E-85 cheap enough that the fall-off in MPG from 30 to 25 is compensated by the lower fuel price per gallon?
Me, I am glad to have found a few stations around here with E-0 gas. Particularly for motorcycles, chainsaws, etc. I definitely prefer straight gas.
Mine is a 97 Golf K2, with the 2.0 engine. 8 valve, non-turbo, not high performance. You know... Basic transportation.
I've owned this car for a lot of years. Years ago, when living in Minnesota, I often ran E-85 because (at that time) it was 50 cents per gallon cheaper. Even with the drop in mileage it was cheaper per mile to burn E-85.
It now has about 350,000 miles. I've had absolutely no fuel-related issues or problems with this car. Go figure...
As I said earlier, I bought this E-50 blend at a gas station about an hour from home - in a town I'm rarely in. So any way you cut it, I won't be doing this on a regular basis.
The price was 37 cents per gallon cheaper than regular. $2.32 per gallon versus $2.69.
I'll let you know what kind of mileage I end up with on this tank full of E-50.
I normally get right at 30-31 mpg burning regular gas, on the highway. 2-lane or Interstate speed doesn't affect my mileage too much.
I got just over 26 mpg running E-50. However, other than the 40 mile drive home on the highway, all my miles have been city driving. I suspect that if all my miles were on the highway, I would probably have gotten 27-28 mpg running the E-50.
The only "performance" difference I could tell is that, when I first started the car in the morning, it would idle a bit rough. And though I'm not a hot-rodder, I couldn't really tell any speed or power difference.
So there you have it, boys and girls.
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