it is i asked: Would it be helpful to put a gallon of
ethanol in my
tank each time I fill up?
There is a station near me that is selling E-85 for around a buck less than 87 octane gasoline.
Caffeinated Content
Tags:
E 85,
Ethanol,
Octane Rating Of Gasoline,
Tank
It decreases the octane rating. The benefit that everybody is always screaming about is that we’re not pulling carbon out of millions-of-years-old pockets in the ground and throwing it back into the atmosphere but rather uses carbon that’s already part of our ecosystem.
So, it wouldn’t help performance, but it will help the environment a bit.
You be the judge… Ethanol burns very hot and is not prone to preignition….. common to high octane numbers…. which is the ability to withstand higher compressions without knocking due to preignition.
E85 has an octane rating of 105 (compared to 89-93 for normal US gasolines) and ethanol by itself is rated at 116….
Most “octane boosters” are made of toluene or ethanol or xylene…..
Using a gasoline with too high an octane can cause stalling when cold and possible valve damage due to not seating to transfer heat.
A gallon of ethanol per 12-20 gallons should be fine. Back in the ‘old’ days we used to have this stuff called gasohol that was 5 to 10 percent ethanol or methanol (Carter started it during the fuel crunch, funny how we forget the past, to stretch US supplies of oil and gasoline). Don’t use methanol though, if the fuel system is not designed for it, it will eat the rubber and polymer fuel lines.
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It will increase your octane rating and it will reduce your fuel economy as well. Ethanol pure has an octane rating of 100 but only 80% of the energy of gasoline.
Putting more than about 10% ethanol into your gas might affect fuel system parts not designed to resist ethanol. And might also cause the engine to run lean if it does not automatically adjust mixture.
Im thinking a gallon of pure ethanol would cost a private citizen a bundle cuz its basically booze.
read this for more info