Don't drink the E15 Kool-aid

[AtomicPunk]

In attempt to put a bandaid on on a self-inflicted chest wound, the current American admistration is now pushing E15 gas for sale during the summer months. Per my 2017 Mirage owners manual, E15 is NOT approved in our cars. E15 burns dirtier, lowers mpg and could harm engine components. All for a savings of 10 cents a gallon. To quote Chazz Michael Michaels: "it's mind bottling".

https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/12/2...e15-gas-prices

This was also covered 7 years ago on the forum:

https://mirageforum.com/forum/showth...subishi-Mirage

[Top_Fuel]

I don't know how current this list is, but some states don't require a label on the pump to indicate how much ethanol is in the fuel...

1. California
2. District of Columbia
3. Hawaii
4. Indiana
5. Kansas
6. Kentucky
7. Louisiana
8. Maryland
9. Michigan
10. Minnesota
11. Missouri
12. New Jersey
13. New Mexico
14. North Carolina
15. Ohio

SOURCE

[Fummins]

I noticed a little while ago that the 7-11 I usually fill up at doesn't show how much ethanol is in the gas. I'm pretty sure I recall seeing ethanol numbers at Shell, said may contain up to whatever % on regular 87 and mid grade but showed no ethanol on 91. Stupid ethanol.

[Mark]

In attempt to put a bandaid on on a self-inflicted chest wound, the current American admistration is now pushing E15 gas for sale during the summer months. Per my 2017 Mirage owners manual, E15 is NOT approved in our cars. E15 burns dirtier, lowers mpg and could harm engine components. All for a savings of 10 cents a gallon. To quote Chazz Michael Michaels: "it's mind bottling".

The place I most frequently buy gas carries diesel, E85, 87/E10, 88/E15, and 91/E0. 88/E15 tends to be 5 cents cheaper than 87/E10.

Since our Mirage manual states no more than 10% ethanol, I use 87/E10. I use all 91/E0 at home for my chainsaws, lawnmowers, ATVs, UTV, grass trimmer, & whatever.

Since the 2015 Impala (driving school car I use the most) is a flex fuel car, I will buy the 88/E15 when I buy gas there. Most other places, however, aren't carrying E15 gas at this point.

Personally, I don't think the people who make these decisions/suggestions even drive cars. They also don't seem to dictate what fuel is used in the jets they fly with!

[klroger]

The place I most frequently buy gas carries diesel, E85, 87/E10, 88/E15, and 91/E0. 88/E15 tends to be 5 cents cheaper than 87/E10. Since the 2015 Impala (driving school car I use the most) is a flex fuel car, I will buy the 88/E15 when I buy gas there. Most other places, however, aren't carrying E15 gas at this point.

Hey Mark, have you ever tried the E85 in the Impala?? If so, how does it work?? We have lots of Flex Fuel vehicles around but no place to buy E85. Just wondering if you can tell the difference with general fuel economy & performance...

[Dirk Diggler]

How does one avoid E15 gas if it isn't labeled at the pump? Where is it labeled?

[Fummins]

https://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp

I have never seen non-ethanol regular octane gas before. I guess it's not even a thing in Alberta.
Non-ethanol is only available in 91 or 94 octane out here.
I've never seen an e85 pump before either. I believe there might be one station in the province that sells it in Calgary.

[Mark]

Hey Mark, have you ever tried the E85 in the Impala?? If so, how does it work?? We have lots of Flex Fuel vehicles around but no place to buy E85. Just wondering if you can tell the difference with general fuel economy & performance...

I've been using that car since 2016, but I have never put E85 in it. I have a driving school credit card that I use at the gas pump. It's not coming out of my pocket. The car gets a mix of 88/E15 & 87/E10, because I don't always gas up in the same town with that particular car.

91/E0 (no ethanol) is quite common in my area, because anyone using a 2-stroke engines (old boat motors, chainsaws, gas grass trimmers, etc..) will want to use non-ethanol fuel. Some of my stuff will sit for months, too. My log splitter for example has a 4-stroke 5 horsepower Honda engine. It always runs great. Same with my Troy-Bilt rototiller with a 5.5 hp B & S engine. I never have problems with either one, but I have never used ethanol gas in either of them. They probably won't start this spring after saying this, but I had both of them for well over 15 years. I don't think I've even changed a spark plug in either one. Just change oil every few years.

[Fummins]

Ironically enough I've just used regular 10%ethanol crap 87 octane in everything I owned for probably 5-8 years now. My old crappy Champion generator can sit a year or more and still fire up. I have no idea how, same with my old lawn mowers. I always meant to put non-ethanol in my chainsaw cause I don't want to have to dick with that thing when I need it, but I usually end up just pouring in what I have at camp. The previous owner of my toy hauler claimed he would drain all the fuel from the fuel tanks, then run fuel stabilizer in the generator until it ran out of fuel. I just pumped all the fuel out last fall into my car and parked it in a field.

I only put 91 octane in my 94 firebird. It had really old gas in it when I sold it, probably at least 5 years old. It always started with zero problems though. I don't think it would have with stinky old corn fuel.

Neglect will probably catch up with me this year!

[Top_Fuel]

How does one avoid E15 gas if it isn't labeled at the pump? Where is it labeled?

Somewhere on the front of the pump you should see something like this...



If you don't see any label on a gas pump, assume it's 10% ethanol.


Now...I've never seen anything like this but I guess pumps like these are common out in the middle of the country...