Quote:
Originally Posted by DGthe3
Not quite. Its been shown that midrange blends (20-30%) seem to have hit a sweet spot where they can provide better fuel economy than regular gasoline.
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There was an article on a study that found that blends up to 30% ethanol showed infiticimal losses in fuel economy. sadly i cant quote that article because it was published by Chemical and Engineering news, which I only have in magazine form. Most areas blend ethanol when it is in season, a few areas blend year round. Ethanol is an oxygenate, used basically to make sure your fuel has enough oxygen to complete combustion in the cylinders and reduce harmful emissions. its there to displace other oxygenates that have been used in the past such as MTBE. MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) was toxic and could contaminate water sources, making it a very dangerous addative. Ethanol is also a very clean solvent. it can actually clean the engine of grime, carbon buildup, gum buildup, ect ect ect.
As per Ethanols faults: it is a polar compound, making it a hydrophillic substance. that means it will pick up and carry water. all ethanol should be checked for water content before being blended with gasoline. once blended I would assume that the gasoline would be a stronger solute than water, meaning that the little bit of water in the ethanol would fall out. since this is done at the blending racks the water would be separated by the filters at the pump and would never make it into your gas tank. second is that if you have an older car with seals that are soluble in ethanol then they can be damaged by this. so if your thinking of putting any oxygenated fuel in your vintage 69 camaro.... dont... please. otherwise any vehicle less than 20 years old is fine because they use different materials.
The skinny: you wont see a drop in fuel economy or HP. if your fueling up your GT500 with it then it will actually do you good by acting as a detergent. so just keep on truckin