5% Ethanol based fuels in 3.2 Carreras?

WydRyd · 11-23-2006, 07:00 PM

Who's running 5% Ethanol based fuels in their 3.2 Carreras?

Any issues/problems experienced so far?

Is it safe to run this type of fuel in a daily driven car? Safer than a garage queen I'd say, right?

Zeke · 11-23-2006, 07:08 PM

Been doing it in CA for sometime now. Maybe there's some acceleration in the hardening of the rubber parts, but I'll bet this is more troublesome for earlier cars.

WydRyd · 11-23-2006, 07:34 PM

and you guys have 10% ethanol in your fuels, correct?

slodave · slodave's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by WydRyd
and you guys have 10% ethanol in your fuels, correct?

That sounds about right. Nobody thinks twice about it. Well, we don't really have a choice...

WPOZZZ · 11-23-2006, 09:44 PM

No choice in Hawaii either. Mileage on my cars have gone down @ 10% since the use of E10.

sus911 · sus911's Garage

check this out on the Aussie forum..
Which Petrol

Rick V · 11-24-2006, 02:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by WPOZZZ
No choice in Hawaii either. Mileage on my cars have gone down @ 10% since the use of E10.

You gotta love the thinking behind that. It is better for the environment than regular fuel in a gallon to gallon comparison. However, since you burn more of it, the polution goes up. It also has a good effect on the stage 1 weight reduction of the wallet. (since fillups are more frequent)
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH Progress.

Lukesportsman · 11-24-2006, 04:57 AM

I think there lies the problem with E85...It costs so much more to run in a commuter car. I think it could/does have great benefit in a specific designed hotrod, but for others it reduces mileage and costs more to run.

Attn. Saab drivers with variable compression: They actually do excellent mileage wise and increase hp substantially on Ethanol enhanced fuels.

Back to topic: So if a E10 has an octane of 89 is it really just some 85 octance gas with alcohol added?

Paulporsche · 11-24-2006, 05:10 AM

Milt/Zeke and others,

I've been running Sunoco 94 (up to 10% ethanol) in my 77 w/ hi-comp SC engine for 15 years w/o any problems I know of.

However, as WPOZZZ points out, I am pretty sure my mileage is something like 10% lower than it would be on conventional gas.

WPOZZZ · 11-24-2006, 09:12 AM

You know what's even worse? We have no ethanol manufacturing facilities in Hawaii so we have to bring it in from the mainland. So, we get lower MPG and pay even more for our E10 than if it were regular gas. Argh!

WydRyd · 11-26-2006, 08:06 PM

Well, if you guys have been running 10% Ethanol fuels for years without any issues, then our 5% should be safe. I'll give it a try anyway and see how it goes

sig_a · 11-27-2006, 06:21 PM

Ethyl alcohol or ethanol has approximately 11800 btu/pound vs somewhere around 19000 btu/pound for gasoline. I find it difficult to believe there is any economic or environmental benefit to ethanol in my 911. However, noisy politicians and corn farmers say otherwise.

WydRyd · 11-28-2006, 03:15 PM

I'm only planning to try it cause I run a boosted Carrera motor, and the upcoming months will be quite warm. Just an extra bit of safety margin with the higher octane levels. Once it cools down again, I'll go back to the 98 octane zero ethanol fuels.

defcon65 · 11-29-2006, 02:02 PM

It's almost all 5% ethanol here in Iowa. I run it in my 85 Carrera and get 25 mpg on average with no problems so far. You have to search around to find straight gas. Wait until they get all the new biofuels out of R&D and into the pumps, I'm sure there will be a lot more opinions on whether they're good or not.
Iowa has invested huge money in alternative fuels infrastructure, we want to become the new Texas!
The president of a major agriculture university which will remain unnamed because I'm a Hawkeye recently suggested that the state support accelerated research on fuels extracted from cellulose fiber...

Hemp, anyone?

Regards,