Anyone noticed less fuel mileage this winter?
#47
Gasoline has 128,000 BTUs, where as E10 has only about 95,000 BTUs. The higher the BTU rating the more energy the fuel has. E10 has less energy so it requires more fuel to do the same amount of work as gasoline. It's also harder to ignite because it has less carbon atoms. The carbon atoms help carry the spark across the spark plug gap because carbon is conductive. So how is ethanol fuel better than gasoline? It's only good for the government, not the consumer.
#48
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Year: 1985
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 2.5L
There is only a vague relation between octane rating and BTU/gal of a fuel. I have seen people actually mix a little diesel fuel with gasoline to improve the octane rating which would seem impossible since the rating for diesel is so low. If you ever had to use Chainsaw gas to make it home from the woods you will know how it works, it may smoke like crazy but your engine will not knock at all. (Don't try that with newer vehicles with catalytic converters, it is not good for them)
#49
I wasn't saying it has higher octane because of less energy per unit. The guy I quoted said it is harder to ignite which I was elaborating on. I should have specified.
#50
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Year: 1997
Engine: 4.0
i got an avg of 18.1 mpg during a week of sub 0 temps. I used 4wd twice totaling about 30 miles and had roughly 3 hours of idle time that week. cold weather definitely affects mileage, but I think less of it is related to the ethanol content in the fuel and more of it is because we drive slower, it takes longer to warm an engine (and everything else mechanical holding oil etc) to operating ie most efficient temps.
e85 is a great example of don't hate the player, hate the game.
the only negatives it has as a fuel directly related to its use is fuel economy. looking at it from an enthusiast's point of view - it's awesome. I can now buy 100+ octane fuel out of the pump for less than 87 octane. my vehicle is now capable of making more power and burning MUCH MUCH cleaner. any of you ***** ever seen the combustion chamber/exhaust of a properly tuned e85 car? the spark plugs literally look new for thousands of miles, as does every part between the face of the valve to the tip of the exhaust. it is one of the best cleaners for fuel tanks and fuel lines on the planet. that's why it "clogs carbs". it is cleaning the built up gunk out of your fuel system.
e85 is a great example of don't hate the player, hate the game.
the only negatives it has as a fuel directly related to its use is fuel economy. looking at it from an enthusiast's point of view - it's awesome. I can now buy 100+ octane fuel out of the pump for less than 87 octane. my vehicle is now capable of making more power and burning MUCH MUCH cleaner. any of you ***** ever seen the combustion chamber/exhaust of a properly tuned e85 car? the spark plugs literally look new for thousands of miles, as does every part between the face of the valve to the tip of the exhaust. it is one of the best cleaners for fuel tanks and fuel lines on the planet. that's why it "clogs carbs". it is cleaning the built up gunk out of your fuel system.
#52
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Year: 1989
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
gas oh no
My 3 88/89 Xj's was doing about 430 to 380 miles on a full tank. Now when i drive each of them, now there getting 250 to 318. Per full tank. And there's nothing wrong with each of them. It has to be the gas!!!
#53
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Year: 1999
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Engine: 4.0L OBD-II
Has it occurred to anyone that maybe thicker fluids have some involvement... You know that gear oil is kinda thick below freezing. Oh and maybe it takes longer for the rings to completely seal when the pistons have cooled down to -10. And maybe the cold intake air temp tells the computer to dump more fuel in to meet the correct stochiometric A/F ratio on account of the denser air.
No... That can't have anything to do with it...
This thread cracks me up lol
No... That can't have anything to do with it...
This thread cracks me up lol
#54
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Year: 1993
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 Litre
Has it occurred to anyone that maybe thicker fluids have some involvement... You know that gear oil is kinda thick below freezing. Oh and maybe it takes longer for the rings to completely seal when the pistons have cooled down to -10. And maybe the cold intake air temp tells the computer to dump more fuel in to meet the correct stochiometric A/F ratio on account of the denser air.
No... That can't have anything to do with it...
This thread cracks me up lol
No... That can't have anything to do with it...
This thread cracks me up lol
#55
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Year: 1985
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 2.5L
Has it occurred to anyone that maybe thicker fluids have some involvement... You know that gear oil is kinda thick below freezing. Oh and maybe it takes longer for the rings to completely seal when the pistons have cooled down to -10. And maybe the cold intake air temp tells the computer to dump more fuel in to meet the correct stochiometric A/F ratio on account of the denser air.
No... That can't have anything to do with it...
This thread cracks me up lol
No... That can't have anything to do with it...
This thread cracks me up lol
There was however a drastic jump from one tank of fuel to the next, then another jump with the next tank of fuel and now it is holding steady again at the higher levels. If the mileage had steadily risen as the average temps rose then I would be inclined to attribute all of the loss to the weather, but it didn't. This also occurred on a carbureted Jeep and a fuel injected F150 so it was spread across different types of fuel management systems. This has been treated as much like any other experiment I would do in the lab by holding as many variables constant as possible(can't control the weather, yet) and watching to see what happened. Part of the problem has to be attributable to the different fuel blend, and it seems as that is a large percentage of the overall difference from what I can determine.
I would love to have an engine on a stand in an environment controlled room and run a test with a sample of fuel from each month to really see what the difference is, maybe one day I will have that setup
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