[The eaglenator]

I put ethanol in my tank by accident but now my car seems to have more power from the take off. Is that possible or is it in my head

[03 R Code]

I don't know if a car that isn't set up for ethanol will creat more power, but I do know that it might jack up a lot of components that come in contact with the ethanol.


by the way how do you put ethanol in your tank by accident? Just seems like it would be hard to mix that with gasoline.

[The eaglenator]

I got the gas at bp and they have 10% ethanol in their gas I did't notice it until I already started pumping

[MrMiracle]

Ethanol is a lot closer to racing gas than regular 87/91/93 octane. It actually has an equivalent octane rating closer to 105 or so. It burns pretty quickly. It also has a different air/fuel ratio than regular gas.

10% ethanol shouldn't hurt your car. I've heard you can go as high as 15% without adverse effects.

[232stang]

just about every where in houston the gas has ethanol in it up to 15% i havent seen anywhere without ethanol... i think we're turning into california lol
but we also have 100% ethanol but its like $0.20 cheaper.... and they have a list of what cars can and cant use it. i know the ford rangers and newer f-150's can use it.

[The eaglenator]

Originally Posted by MrMiracle Ethanol is a lot closer to racing gas than regular 87/91/93 octane. It actually has an equivalent octane rating closer to 105 or so. It burns pretty quickly. It also has a different air/fuel ratio than regular gas. 10% ethanol shouldn't hurt your car. I've heard you can go as high as 15% without adverse effects.

Thank you that helps.

[ChrisJ]

You should be fine with the gas at BP...

Its the older cars that have alot of issues with it...

[The eaglenator]

Yeah I'm getting a little better mpg. As far as take off it could be in my head. Who knows?

[ChrisJ]

It might have cleared off some carbon or something but it is prolly just your own head playing tricks...Mine does the same thing to me whenever I change the oil or rotate the tires...For a little bit it feels faster...Then I get used to it and realize it is still the same...

[The eaglenator]

Don't want to get use to it. Know what I mean.

[1slo5.0]

10% Ethanol won't hurt anything. Ethanol is cheaper but there are some common misconceptions. First off Ethanol will cause worse gas mileage, not better. This is because the engine needs to burn more of it to make the same energy as gasoline. E85 is on the market now and being 85% Ethanol the car you run it in must be a flex fuel vehicle. You can run it in non flex fuel vehicles but if they are not set up to run ethanol you are probably going to notice issues. Carbureted cars need to be jetted richer and EFI cars need to adjust for it as well. The octane rating of E85 is about 105 but that doesn't mean you are going to make more power with it. Octane has nothing to do with horsepower (another common misconception).

[The eaglenator]

The more power was in my head. Unfortunatly But I am getting better gas mileage. Those are facts priven by checking my miles compared to how many gallons of gas. My driving habits are just about the same all the time. Always getting on it. It probably wasn't the ethanol it might have been the higher octane.

[1slo5.0]

Originally Posted by EAGLE 1957 The more power was in my head. Unfortunatly But I am getting better gas mileage. Those are facts priven by checking my miles compared to how many gallons of gas. My driving habits are just about the same all the time. Always getting on it. It probably wasn't the ethanol it might have been the higher octane.

It wasn't the ethanol improving the mileage, that's for sure. If you run E85 (85% Ethanol) your mileage will drop considerably because you need to burn more of it to make the same amount of energy but E85 is much cheaper than regular gas so you actually end up saving money.

With the 10% blend that you ran, who knows why you got better mileage. Could be a change in weather or maybe the moons were lined up perfect.....

[The eaglenator]

Originally Posted by Darrell Originally Posted by EAGLE 1957 The more power was in my head. Unfortunatly But I am getting better gas mileage. Those are facts priven by checking my miles compared to how many gallons of gas. My driving habits are just about the same all the time. Always getting on it. It probably wasn't the ethanol it might have been the higher octane. It wasn't the ethanol improving the mileage, that's for sure. If you run E85 (85% Ethanol) your mileage will drop considerably because you need to burn more of it to make the same amount of energy but E85 is much cheaper than regular gas so you actually end up saving money. With the 10% blend that you ran, who knows why you got better mileage. Could be a change in weather or maybe the moons were lined up perfect.....

Yeah that's must of been what caused it. LOL

[MSO]

can u make a mustang an ethanol car?

and even if you do, wouldn't it be cheaper to burn regular gas? i mean, if your gas mileage goes down, wouldn't you just be buying more instead of paying more?