The Great Ethanol Scam

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:14 am

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/c ... 058678.htm

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:13 am

I never thought ethanol was a solution. Originally it didn't seem bad because it offered a greater supply & bit of independance from foreign oil. However, it really hasn't reduced prices significantly, so it really didn't help.

That said, engines & fuel pumps going bad are really more of an issue of the manufacturers not having been in the position of using a new fuel & needing to work out the kinks. Though I do believe that they should cover the repair costs if they advertise the vehicle as E85 approved.

Pugsley · Post by **Pugsley** » Thu May 28, 2009 1:46 pm

If Ethanol has done anything its made racing cars cheaper. Before most guys would run alcohol for maximum compression, but it is expensive. Now they can run Ethanol and run 12-14:1 and it runs about as good as it would have on alcohol.

Other then that ethanol is crap. Unless you build a engine to use Ethanol (high compression0 its pointless to run it in a flex fuel (low compression) engine.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Thu May 28, 2009 1:47 pm

Yeah I think its a big mistake going to 15%, since the majority of the cars are not designed for this. By reading the article, some of the customers affected had more than the 10% required by law. You would think that the major brands would test their fuel for this.

Are all oil companies adding Ethanol to their gas? I normally fill up with Chevron, but never really noticed any advertisement of the use of Ethanol.

Post by **FlyingPenguin** » Thu May 28, 2009 3:39 pm

They ALL have 10% Ethanol here. Says it right on the pump. I have no idea if anyone actually sells straight gas anymore. I'm going to look around because I don't want to put this crap in my mowers anymore.

b-man1 · Post by **b-man1** » Thu May 28, 2009 5:04 pm

my is350 currently has a recall on it related to EtOH...the fuel lines can become corroded and eventually leak. apparently the material used internally on the lines can be damaged by ethanol. horray!

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Thu May 28, 2009 7:37 pm

When I was putting gas in to/from our cabin last weekend in N. WI, I noticed that the premium had no ethanol. I wish we had choices here because the cars get better mileage w/o it too.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Thu May 28, 2009 8:16 pm

EvilHorace wrote:When I was putting gas in to/from our cabin last weekend in N. WI, I noticed that the premium had no ethanol. I wish we had choices here because the cars get better mileage w/o it too.

I noticed that when I fill up my Vette with premium. I'll have to take a closer look next time, so it sound like if you buy premium, there is no Ethanol added?

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:22 pm

I'd have to possibly agree on the premium thing.. I have to use 93 in my car because of a custom performance tune and my mileage has increase by 3-4mpg since I started using it..

eGo

normalicy · Post by **normalicy** » Thu May 28, 2009 10:29 pm

Heck, that's worth buying premium just to get the extra MPG. May start doing that.

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Thu May 28, 2009 11:33 pm

Yah, I end up saving like $2 a tank in the long run based on the increase in mileage when using premium here.

Executioner · Post by **Executioner** » Thu May 28, 2009 11:49 pm

Went today to fill up my F150, and I always get regular at Chevron. I did not notice any labels that stated if Ethanol was being used on all 3 grades.

EvilHorace · Post by **EvilHorace** » Fri May 29, 2009 5:50 am

Every car I own (3) runs premium and here in SE WI, there's 10% Ethanol in all grades. That's because there's more pollution here than in other areas of the state. It's great because a car that'd normally get maybe 22 mpg now gets about 18 mpg instead.