Custom Mirage products: Cruise control kit, Glove box light, MAF sensor housing, Rear sway bar, Upper grill block
Current project: DIY Nitrous oxide setup for ~$100
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2015 Mirage DE 1.2 manual: 47.2 mpg (US) ... 20.1 km/L ... 5.0 L/100 km ... 56.7 mpg (Imp)
Sorry to raise this thread from the dead but there was no clear answer here. I've got more stations in my area that are now offering ethanol free gas. In my Miata which was designed to run without it even the 87 octane gives me better results on mileage and performance. However the Mirage should have been assembled with the expectation of running ethanol so I am wondering if I should stick with the regular mix or not. Would running the occasional tank of ethanol free help burn trash out of the engine or just foul it some for not being what it was meant to run on?
It doesn't seem to make any difference. Members have tried ethanol free premium with no increase in mileage that would support the extra cost. Unless someone can point to their fuel log and show They were consistently getting xxx mpg with 10% ethanol and xxx without I'd buy whichever is cheapest from a reputable retailer. On the other hand, there is a difference between winter grade fuels and summer grade fuels in certain markets. But you can't avoid those regardless of octane/ethanol % etc..
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 40.5 mpg (US) ... 17.2 km/L ... 5.8 L/100 km ... 48.6 mpg (Imp)
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)
About forty cents more which is the same as ultimate with the ethanol. There's one place that only sells ethanol free but it averages sixty cents more on the 87 octane and forty cents more per grade higher. So ultimate there runs $1.40 more than it does with ethanol.
You may not have to search for to much longer. Part of trumps anti-EPA stuff is to get rid of ethanol and go back to cars with more horsepower. Fuel economy or environment be damned. I wouldn't mind the classic car designation for import/export being dropped to 15 years though.
My regular station, E0 is $2.40 (91 octane) E10 $1.90 (87), E15 $1.80(88), & E85 $1.65. When I could get 87 E0 I lost 2-3% fuel economy using E10, price difference used to be 10%. The FE difference between E10 & E15 has been tiny.
July I ran E10 for the month got 41.168 mpg over 3000 miles , August I used E15 and averaged 42.15 over 2200. (09 Cobalt xfe)
Newer Chevy FFV trucks make more HP on E85 than regular.
A year or two ago the Oil Companies in this area changed the base blend stock from 87 octane to 85 octane, 10% ethanol brings it up to 87 the minimum allowable, or they have to blend in premium to bring it up making the price unattractive. Ethanol isn't going anywhere it is a cost effective octane booster.
Read a story the other day about distributing ethanol thru pipe lines. The problem is it cleans the gunk and water out of the pipe line ruining the ethanol, water settles in the low spots in the pipe and the gasoline just goes over top. Ethanol likes to bond with water so it picks it up, effectively cleaning the pipe line, if you translate that to a car it might be best to run ethanol occasionally even if you have access to E0 to get in water out of the tank that might be building up.
I run E15 because it's cheaper per mile.
inuvik (11-18-2016)
Besides the gas saving aspect of turning off the compressor, Are you saying that it also extends the life of the AC in general? And lastly, if you hit AUTO after the intial deactivation does it resort back original settings?
Generally, yes. If you use something less, it doesn't tend to wear out quite as quickly. That is, unless I misunderstand what you are asking here.
No. Once you turn off automatic AC mode, it only turns on when the air conditioning switch is used or during defrost operation.
You can learn more about it in my post in this thread or in your Owner's Manual. If you don't have a copy of your Owner's Manual, one can be downloaded from Mitsubishi.
Let us know if you have any other questions.
__________________________________________
View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 49.6 mpg (US) ... 21.1 km/L ... 4.7 L/100 km ... 59.5 mpg (Imp)
How come you didnt want the compressor running all the time? Im curious.