85/15 ethanol--what about older 911s?

[hytem]

We are now running our cars with 90/10 ethanol gas--so far so good with my 82 SC.

But what about 85/15 ethanol? Bush's State of the Union implied an increase in ethanol use. This made that Iowa Senator Graessley just about orgasm on the Senate floor.

I wonder if older cars in this country can run on 15% ethanol. Should I expect the politicians to care much about that?

[legion]

You can run it...for a while.

You will get worse gas mileage. It will dissolve any varnish built up in the gas tank. Ethanol and German rubber don't play well together either. (Expect some fuel leaks in rubber fuel lines and fittings with rubber seals.)

[Jims5543]

They sell it in a lot of stations in NC and I avoid it like the plague in my SC.

for all the reason Legion mentions.

[M.D. Holloway]

I noticed a lag in all our cars - ethanol may help emmissions and be a home grown fuel but folks are gonna need to step on it to get the sort of responce they were once used to until the next gen hits the streets and doen't know the difference like we don't know leaded fuel.

[M.D. Holloway]

I just re-read my post...holy Gawd! To think I actually make a living writing. Sorry guys and no I am not drunk.

[red-beard]

Av-Gas may be your friend...

[jyl]

There was an article about this in Excellence not that long ago. Bottom line, 85/15 is not going to be good for our cars. Nor is it going to be good for most newer cars, unless they have been specifically designed for it.

On top of which, the benefits of corn-based ethanol seem questionable or at least quite limited, unless you're a corn farmer. At best a small reduction in greenhouse gases. Increased price of corn for food and feed, which then increases prices of meat (beef, hog, poultry).

Cellulosic ethanol sounds better, but so far it is not commercially feasible.

Increasing the miles per gallon of or cars makes more sense, to me. But increasing CAFE fuel economy standards and closing loopholes (e.g. the SUV/truck one) don't attract as much money from industry and lobbyists, or as many votes from early primary and swing states.

[hytem]

Originally posted by jyl
There was an article about this in Excellence not that long ago. Bottom line, 85/15 is not going to be good for our cars. Nor is it going to be good for most newer cars, unless they have been specifically designed for it.

On top of which, the benefits of corn-based ethanol seem questionable or at least quite limited, unless you're a corn farmer. At best a small reduction in greenhouse gases. Increased price of corn for food and feed, which then increases prices of meat (beef, hog, poultry).

Cellulosic ethanol sounds better, but so far it is not commercially feasible.

Increasing the miles per gallon of or cars makes more sense, to me. But increasing CAFE fuel economy standards and closing loopholes (e.g. the SUV/truck one) don't attract as much money from industry and lobbyists, or as many votes from early primary and swing states.

I agree with everything here. 85/15 would cause too many car headaches and misses the point about CAFE and carbon emissions--the real problems. Corn on the cob doubled in price this summer, and feed prices surely rose.

Bush just doesn't seem to have it together on energy. He thinks politics first. The last real conservation President was Jimmy Carter, who was wrecked by the oil embargo and that Iranian hostage fiasco.

[red-beard]

Jimmy Carter?

The Oil embargo occured a few years before he was in office. 1973 war. The Oil/Energy crisis under Carter occured due to price controls, mostly from Stagflation.

[hytem]

Originally posted by red-beard
Jimmy Carter?

The Oil embargo occured a few years before he was in office. 1973 war. The Oil/Energy crisis under Carter occured due to price controls, mostly from Stagflation.

Nixon imposed price controls in 73--a mistake, since it created oil shortages because of old, "cheap" oil being taken off the market in favor of new, higher-priced oil. Exacerbated the problem.

On the plus side, the shortages created a conservation mentality, resulting in a 55 mph speed limit, the CAFE mpg rules and catalytic converters by Nixon and Carter. The Dept of Energy was created during Carter's administration.

The CAFE rules have been suffering from benign neglect, and are in dire need of further ratcheting--especially for SUVs and trucks.