re: 10% ethanol gas vs non ethanol gas. Any harm in using pure gas?

One time I flew into Iowa and rented a Suburban. It was full of 85% ethanol gas, because there were all these corn ethanol plants in Iowa and that's what they were promoting.

Anyhow, I never looked at the gas gauge. Drove 200 miles down the interstate and ran out of gas. Couldn't freaking believe it. That's how far a Suburban goes on a tank of ethanol.

Never again.

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One time I flew into Iowa and rented a Suburban. It was full of 85% ethanol gas, because there were all these corn ethanol plants in Iowa and that's what they were promoting.

Anyhow, I never looked at the gas gauge. Drove 200 miles down the interstate and ran out of gas. Couldn't freaking believe it. That's how far a Suburban goes on a tank of ethanol.

Never again.

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yes it's about 30% less efficient than gas. SO 30% less mileage. The only way it works economically is that is needs to be at least 30% cheaper than gas, which it usually is not. The people I know that run it have performance cars that are set up and tuned for it. It's a wonderful cheap race fuel.

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seeinspots

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Is a dummy

Ethanol gives you less mpg but is equally cheaper. But also gives you more horsepower. I think it burns cooler?

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I think the 7mpg claim is not legit.

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I agree

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Can anyone really claim that ethanol is destroying their engines?

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Probably not, depending on what precisely what you mean by this, but it does cause some problems.

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Most engine problems I believe are from neglectful owners not doing basic maintenance on boats and cars

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This is true as far as it goes. But ethanol presents problems specifically for certain soft materials (rubber, vinyl, etc). Hence there is a need to use slightly more expensive gasket materials and hoses and they tend to break down quicker, even still. Additionally, hoses tend to break down in a manner that can cause issues with ports, valves, etc. via the emulsion that is sometimes created by material dissolved off the insides of the hoses.

Of course many, if not most, of those problems are on older engines. Newer engines have soft parts that are more alcohol tolerant. But Many of the components that work well with alcohol do not work well with gasoline and vice versa.

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And with boats most problems are lack of use and not ethanol.

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Again, true as far as it goes but the boat industry was particularly slow in addressing the issues related to alcohol and hoses/soft parts.

That's my take on it.

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Same driving habits(cruise set at 75)

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There's your problem. 100 mph+ would have gotten some really good MPG

The 10% ethanol screws up small engines like lawn mowers and weed eaters.

DP

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Use it when you can get it. No harm at all. In fact, it is better for your car.

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This is the correct answer.

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Not exactly. It depends on how efficient the engine is as well.

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The assumption is we were talking about similar octane ratings for the same engine. But you hit on a good point regarding power efficiency, all else being equal, higher compression ratio will produce higher power efficiency. That should, theoretically, lead to higher fuel efficiency. Higher compression is the only way to increase the efficiency of the Otto cyle (not the engine as a whole but the efficiency of the thermodynamic power cycle).

And in terms of thermodynamics, lower BTU content always equals lower available power.