car: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5 inline 5 automatic 61,000 miles
hi scotty ive been wanting to try ethonal free gas in my car and not too sure how it will effect my car or if it is even bad for it? what is the worst that can happen to a modern engine?
No, E0 fuel will not damage your engine. That is all I buy for all my engines: Riding mower, push mower, car, truck, chain saw, weed beater, hedge trimmer, snow blower. In fact, ethanol free gasoline is suggested for seasonal engines because the alcohol and gasoline will separate over time. You will often see E0 available near bodies of water for marine engines. Alcohol attracts moisture and water will rust parts containing iron. You can buy a product called STA-BIL to prevent the gas from separating from the alcohol. To find a gas station that offers E0 fuel, go to https://www.pure-gas.org/
@jdavidm you're lucky you can still find it. Here in Canada it's been banned outright at fuel stations. So you have to buy expensive specialty fuel by the gallon jug.
hi scotty ive been wanting to try ethonal free gas in my car and not too sure how it will effect my car or if it is even bad for it? what is the worst that can happen to a modern engine?
Your gas mileage will improve, but not worth the probably $1 per gallon cost increase. Your engine will also develop carbon deposits galore if you use that regularly. Ethanol-free gas is intended for small, carbureted engines and boats that can't handle E10 gas.
I have a '79 Pontiac Catalina and I put regular E10 in it. It's been law since the mid-70s that automotive gasoline must have 10% ethanol in it, as it controls engine knock. The EPA phased out leaded gas in 1995, and the lead content had been what controlled engine knock.
I have a gas-powered ZTR, gas weed eater and lawn mower. I don't use ethanol-free gas in any of them. I've never had any issues with any of my lawn equipment, either.
Your car was designed with E10 in mind from the start, and the ethanol content in the gas helps to disperse carbon deposits. If you don't use E10, carbon will build up and you will eventually get engine knock. You can keep engine knock under control by using a fuel system clear that has PEA in it. It's not worth the increased cost.
@justin-shepherd gasoline has detergents to prevent deposits. I don't remember deposits being such a big deal on the engines I took apart, and have never experienced knock.
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Are you sure E10 was law since the 70's? Lead was replaced by oxygenates like MTBE to reduce knock (completed early 2000's). Maybe you're thinking of ETBE , which is derived from ethanol. USA didn't replace those with pure ethanol until around 2002, and then only because of environmental risks. Congress passed the Renewable Fuel Standard requirements in 2005 and 2007. I don't remember seeing any ethanol in there at all until around 2010.
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"Improvements to gasoline itself decrease the need for antiknock additives. Synthetic iso-octane and alkylate are examples of such blending stocks.... " (wiki)
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I'm sure it's no coincidence you live in the USA's densest corn producing region.
Seems I slightly misunderstood the laws. Ethanol was "encouraged" via tax exemptions starting in 1978. I guess actual ethanol was not required until 2005. I was thinking about ETBE, I guess. I always thought it was a clean transition from leaded gas to "gasohol", since ethanol is quite knock resistant and doesn't pollute the air nearly as badly as lead did. My having a car from the late-70s also led me to thinking ethanol was mandated earlier, because it says "unleaded fuel only" on the fuel guage. I also know that lead destroys catalytic converters, so I guess that was a double whammy.
Thornton's has a wide variety of fuels that you can choose from at the pump (where I get E85 from), but pretty much every other gas station around. Thornton's has Unleaded 88 with 15% ethanol in addition to the conventional E10 blends, regular, mid-grade and premium.
@justin-shepherd The main reason that lead was taken out of gasoline was due to catalytic converters being adopted in many cars starting in 1975 to meet emission standards, so leaded gas was gradually phased out at that time. (I was there!) Not to mention that tetraethyl lead is incredibly toxic.
At least in the areas I've lived in over the years there was no gasohol around until the mandate.
I knew TEL is toxic as heck. I wonder if somebody before me changed up the carburetor in my Catalina, then. My father-in-law just drove the heck out of it and didn't do any maintenance, other than changing oil. The guy who owned the car before him only had it for a few years, right around the time of the mandate. He sold that car to my father-in-law for like $500. He was going through a nasty divorce and he needed the money. Before that, the car belonged to the original owner. I think he/she died. That guy put another radio and sound system in the car. Maybe he also put in a new carburetor as well. I just adjusted the carburetor so it would run right, I've never rebuilt a carburetor before.
Thinking about it further, the government may have penalized refiners via more taxes if they stick to the old unleaded gasoline formulations, and the gas station is passing that on to the consumer in the form increased pump prices. 10% of the gas not being ethanol doesn't translate into a $0.75-$1 per-gallon increase in price.