Okay... here's the results of test #1 taken from this pump in S. Minnesota.



Here's my supplies:



Here's what it looks like after mixing 50ml "E85" with 50ml water and allowed to stand ~15 minutes:



The fuel was clear and colorless to start. It looked just like distilled water.
After, both mixtures were "milky".
After sitting for 3 hours, the top ( gasoline ) layer clarified. The alcohol/water mix stayed milky.
After sitting for 24 hours, both layers clarified. Maybe the milkyness was just trapped air?

And here's the math from a formula given in an earlier post:



So now we have the "legal" question of why is that pump labeled "minimum 85% ethanol" when it looks very clear that is not true?

Now I must apologize for posting incorrect graphs earlier.
I did not have "45% ethanol" in my tank this past tank.
Without testing, just by math, I used E26 and E40 respectively. ( not E30 and E45 )
I have the same data... just the labels are changed.... lower.
-John

P.S. I called the station owner and he didn't know what the ethanol blend was, or when it changed but he "believed" it went down in winter ( less ethanol, more gas ) "to keep it from freezing".

I called KwikTrip corporate HQ, and to my amazement, I got transfered to someone at the top, or near the top right away. Without telling him of my "experiment" he said right away that they sell E70 in winter, based on regional guidelines, and that it transitions to E75, then E80, then E85 only in summer. I said "Great! That's what I was reading online. Then I told him about the "Minimum 85%" sticker. He said right off that was a mistake, and the label should read "maximum 85% ethanol". Much to my surprise, he said he was going to call "engineering" and get them out on the road to change the stickers.

I asked if he would like an email copy of the photo, (above) and he said I didn't need to do that, but if I wanted to, he would forward the photos to engineering so they knew what to look for.

So great customer service... but that means tracking MPG is more difficult... since the transition from winter blend to summer blend varries by state.

I wonder if people with FFV who use exclusively E85 year round, get the same MPG year round?
Would the extra 15% gas in winter offset the cold effects?
I wonder if E85 users have a much flatter graph anually than the rest of us?

Also some good news is... my simple test looks like it works fine, since the corporate HQ does confirm they are currently selling E70 in my area.