Excellent results!!!

I won't object to your analysis of water and ethanol . . . in ground transportation. The worst that might happen is the vehicle not run or worse, fluid-block (what diesel does to destroy a gasoline ICE.) Mostly, I was thinking of the 50 ml of water which is a pretty hefty quantity to 'reabsorb.' Small amounts, are probably "OK" but my aviation training has instilled a strong reaction against any water coming close to gasoline. So if you perform the experiment on your engine, I'm "OK" with that but I'll probably hold off doing that test with my engine a bit longer.

Bob Wilson

 

50ml = 0.013208 gallons

0.013208/15 gallon tank = .00088

880 parts per million ( assumes equally mixed ) or 0.088% water.

E85 sold at retail is allowed 1.1% water IIRC. ( or is it 1.2% ? )
It's over 1% for sure.
-John

 

So it got LOWER mpg (say 30 mpg on E30 instead of 35mpg on E00).

We don't have any E85 in Virginia or Maryland or eastern Pennsylvania, else I might try a 30-40% blend.

 

Looks good to me. In So Cal, who knows what we got. The pump doesn't give any info. I do admire your research. Not for me to start mixing this 'n that. A sure fire way to take the Prius, pump, station - and more, sending it all out over Long Beach Harbor.

 

Was that a typo or a brain freeze?
I think I ( and the study ) make it clear the REVERSE was true.

The Ford Fusion got HIGHER miles per gallon with E30 than any other fuel, including pure gasoline.

 

It got +1% higher.
25.2 instead of 25.
Which may be a real value, or just error.

I notice this study was funded by the Ethanol coalition and performed by the renewable Energy department of a college. It could possibly be.... say... biased? Nah. (I also find it strange that the non-flexfuel Chevy Impala shows LESS mpg - just as you would expect - and wonder if they made an error on the other cars.)

I located an E85 station near my home. I will try the E85/gasoline blend to run E30-E40 and see if I still get a 300 mile tank.

 

All studies should be suspect until independent verification. This is what 'gpsman1' to his great credit is doing. It is what I do and what I expect from others. It is the basis of the scientific method.

This is the right approach and don't be surprised if you get different results. It is not uncommon to discover that there are subtle differences in between E30 and different vehicles that may or may not improve their performance.

The nearest E<anything> appears to be Nashville. Alabama seems to still run a gas (or mystery fuels.) But I noticed a small, self-tuning effect using higher octane fuels under heavy loads climbing a hill. One possibility is the effective octane of E30 allows the engine to auto-tune the ignition to gain a significant performance advantage.

Certainly do the experiment and I would recommend reviewing 'gpsman1' procedure and measurement technique. It makes sense to do a quality check on the tank fuel to know what your actual ratio is. It may be sensitive to small changes.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

Just by dumb luck... it was not a car show, an ethanol show, or any show of any kind.... this was just a random parking lot at a random time. Now what's the odds of this... and to happen to me... of all persons! I thought the co-incidence was just too amazing, so even tho it was +5 degrees, I had to get out and take a couple photos. This was spotted in N. Iowa 2/14/08 and has S.Dakota plates.
-John

 

My Civic can run on e85 now!!!!



I'm happy

I am proud to say, I have an Ethanol-Electric Hybrid! I am official running E85 and the car is doing great. Unfortunately, I cannot give anyone any MPG loss data. I actually gained FE, because I change my oil today as well. I haven't driven in cold temps with fresh oil, but based on my estimations (which could be totally wrong!!) There is about a 3-5 MPG decrease.

PS: I thought the Escape Hybrid was already FF.Or is that only the '08s?

 

Oh, and by the way, I got 1.59 more mpg using E28.7 over E10. (38.89 vs, 40.48) The 2 tanks (not including a 50mpg freeway only drive) before that were standard California gas (E5.75) and I got 42.5 mpg average between the two. Here are the results:

(cold weather and low oil life %age):
Standard Gas (E5.75): 42.5 mpg
E10: 38.89 (3.61 less than reg gas)
E30 (actually E28.7): 40.48 (2.02 less mpg less than reg gas, but 1.59 more mpg than E10)

Please keep in mind I did not have a very large sample size at all, and although my driving habits remained the same for the most part, they were not 100% equal.

I will keep you updated on how my car is running on E85.