Seriously Ive found an easy way to tell when their is alcohol in the fuel.

If I buy Amoco, Shell, or Exxon which all display E10 stickers the Info Center reads 6-7% Low on MPG.

If I buy Phillips 66 which claims to be 100% gasoline locally I get 3-4% low on the Info Center.

My assumption is the different specific gravity of alcohol vs gasoline changes the reading.

 

I always thought Shell was some of the best gas... Now I may start only using Phillips 66.

 

Shell is good.
It just may not be pure gasoline.

 

Some parts of the country you cant get non-E10. Got something to do with your EPA status. We can still get G100 here but P66 is the only Top Tier rated station with it.

Their was some confusion on Top Tier and alcohol. Many initially believed alcohol was required for top tier rating but in fact all thats required is your detergent package has to be tested with alcohol in the fuel to prove it still does the job. Thats because of the areas where E10 is mandated.

 

Here's a web site that tries to list stations that offer 100% gas:

http://pure-gas.org/

 

I'm confused what you all mean by 6-7 percent low. Is this something on the info center

 

It's only a matter of time. 90% of all gasoline pumped in the US is 10% ethanol and the corn lobby is pushing for 15%. The federal mandate will triple the amount of fuel ethanol produced over the next 10 years.

http://articles.lancasteronline.com/local/4/269544

 

Stupid corn!

 

Ask anybody that farms what the water requirement is for corn! A friend of mine is a 'hobby' farmer / rancher after his day job in CO and had some comments on the whole alternative fuel thing. I don't remember them exactly, but they were along the lines of 90% of ALL crops in CO would have to be corn just to support that state's fuel requirements, and that would require 2-3 times the current water consumption to grow it. That would mean everyone downstream of the watershed would pretty much go thirsty.

If someone has better figures for this, please correct me.

 

G100 - 23.0 mpg Actual (gallons/miles) / Info Center 22.3-22.1 mpg. Info Center was 3-4% low. I have 3 tanks of P66 (Sold as G100) and every tank the Info Center was 3-4% Low.


E10 - 22.0 mpg Actual (gallons/miles) / Info Center 20.5-20.7 mpg. Info center was 6-7% low. I have 4 Tanks of E10 (Exxon, Shell, Amoco/BP) and every tank the Info Center was 6-7% Low.

The hypothesis is that the variation in specific gravity of alcohol compared to gasoline causes the difference in Info Center Accuracy. This would have to be under similar temperature conditions as specific gravity of fuel also changes with temperature.