Gas in Iowa (Des Moines: rental car, rental, home) - (IA) - City-Data Forum

pinetar10 · 10-08-2008, 07:09 AM

When I visited Iowa, i saw that they had much cheaper gas than Pennsylvania. I didn't realize this until after I left, but it was E85 gas that was cheaper. Just seeing the cheaper price and not paying attention, I filled my car up a few times with the E85. I was just wondering, can you use this gas in any vehicle? My car ran fine with it, so obviously it worked for me, but I just thought about this after I came home and realized I put a different type of gas than I normally put in.

pepe1 · 10-08-2008, 08:47 AM

Are you sure it was E85? Because your car will not run on E85 unless it has a conversion kit (some cars do come factory equipped, most do not though). More common in Iowa is the 10% ethanol blend - And it's usually a few cents cheaper than the 87 octane. Any car will run fine with the 10% blend.

SharpHawkeye · 10-08-2008, 09:37 AM

From what I understand, you can get away with running a regular gas car on E85 once or twice (happens on accident often), but if you make a habit of it, it will cause serious damage to your car. But that's just what I have heard.

If you used E10 then there is no problem--most people in Iowa use it (usually sold as "Super Unleaded") and it's always cheaper than regular.

pepe1 · 10-08-2008, 10:03 AM

I guess I should correct my statement. Your car might run on E85 without the conversion kit - It definetly will not run well if you do not have the conversion kit (E85 is 105 octane).

pinetar10 · 10-08-2008, 10:28 AM

i'm not totally sure it was E85, maybe it was the 10% blend. It was about 20 cents cheaper per gallon than regular 87 though. Would there have been a warning or anything on the 85, cause i did not see any warnings when i filled my car up

SharpHawkeye · 10-08-2008, 09:10 PM

If it was only .20 cheaper than it was E10. E85 is usually MUCH cheaper, around a buck or more. You're fine, and glad you got a kick out of our cheap gas!

Iowagirl566 · 10-09-2008, 11:30 AM

Iowa is usually about 25 cents less than the national average. Yesterday gas in Des Moines was 2.91 and the national average was 3.42 I think, so we're running about 50 cents less right now.

I use to own a Ford Taurus that would take e-85 and it was about 25% less to buy(it's about a dollar less a gallon right now). The down side was that it decreased my gas milage by about 25% as well. I heard of a gas station chain in Northern Iowa that was filling their Super Unleaded storage tanks with the E-85 and are in all kinds of trouble now.

Raphael07 · 10-09-2008, 05:01 PM

Gas is 2.89 here right now, and if you pay with cash you can get it for 2.84.

zz4guy · 10-10-2008, 04:57 PM

The E85 is cheap, but you'll end up getting horrible mileage compared to regular gas.

Also, now that gas is $3+/gallon, the Ethonal is actually a worse deal because your mileage suffers more than the amount of money you save. For example in my car I can save 3% if I get ethonol, but I get 8% worse mileage. So I always go strait for good ol 87

Corn gas is just a gimmick to keep the farmers voting for the politicians that prop it up.

moveagain · 10-10-2008, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zz4guy

The E85 is cheap, but you'll end up getting horrible mileage compared to regular gas.

Also, now that gas is $3+/gallon, the Ethonal is actually a worse deal because your mileage suffers more than the amount of money you save. For example in my car I can save 3% if I get ethonol, but I get 8% worse mileage. So I always go strait for good ol 87

Corn gas is just a gimmick to keep the farmers voting for the politicians that prop it up.

Thanks! I will remember to use the corn gas to fill up a rental car when I return it...