Ethanol and gasoline mix – good or bad?

So, fellow drivers – what do you think of the ethanol that’s being mixed in your gasoline by up to 10 percent? It’s a law, you know.

Still, we’ve been hearing mixed reviews of the stuff, and I, for one, can say it has made my riding lawn mower go crazy.

However, I haven’t seen a significant drop in my gas mileage on my car.  Although it’s still a drop.

What’s your experience been?

18 Responses to “Ethanol and gasoline mix – good or bad?”


  1. 1 Greg "The Brick Man" July 7, 2008 at 7:34 pm

    Does not seem to have much effect on my Mustang, but a couple friends have had harder starts on their cars, one is a Chevy HHR, the other is a Nissan Versa…

  2. 2 NEMissGirl July 8, 2008 at 1:14 pm

    I have had a bad experience. It is not always Ethanol they mix with your Gasoline. I purchased Premium from Kroger around Memorial Day and my car wouldn’t start 2 days later. The stuff they sold me they were calling Gasoline was not. I drive a BMW and had to replace the fuel pump. I am currently working with Kroger to get paid for the damages. The best advice I can give is do not go to high volume locations even if it is the best price in town! There may be a reason for that.

  3. 3 Margot July 15, 2008 at 10:03 am

    Yes, NEMiss Girl, I had the very same problem. Got gas at Kroger and had to replace the fuel pump on my BMW. How did you go about getting Kroger to agree to help pay for the repairs?

  4. 4 tupelobizbuzz July 15, 2008 at 10:51 am

    That’s crazy about the fuel pumps. I’ve heard another problem is if you run below 1/4 tank often, it will overheat the pump.

  5. 5 bigwoolymammoth July 15, 2008 at 10:51 am

    the ethanol 10% is nothing more than the gov’t trying to cover their rears for all the corn subsidizing they did……now they see that was hardly the right avenue….imagine that!!

  6. 6 jason July 15, 2008 at 11:32 am

    my car runs fine but my mpg has fell some. i have only used name brand gas and i will keep doing so. i know a lot of boaters have had problems with the E10 fuel.

  7. 7 batman2 July 28, 2008 at 5:51 am

    2008 Taurus was getting 23 MPG. When it dropped to less than 20 MPG I thought something was wrong with car. Filled up in Tennessee and got 24 MPG on regular gasoline. Not only has the Congress caused us more in food prices by their mandates and billion dollar subsidy, they have compounded the gasoline price problem by having a fuel that has less energy and gets fewer MPG! VOTE AGAINST ALL INCUMBENT CONGRESSMEN/CONGRESSWOMEN!

  8. 8 Greg "The Brick Man" July 28, 2008 at 5:56 am

    The WOCO stations – like the one in Saltillo do not currently have ethanol in their gas, and it’s posted on the pumps. Costs a bit more, but the HHR runs a little better, but I am afraid the damage has already been done…slow starts, and hesitation when you give it the gas…

  9. 9 tupelobizbuzz July 28, 2008 at 8:49 am

    I’ve been logging my mileage the past couple of months, using the ethanol blend for the first six weeks and the non-ethanol blend the past two. It’s not scientific, but here are the results of combined driving:

    • Week 1: 26.3
    • Week 2: 27.5
    • Week 3: 24.5
    • Week 4: 27.8
    • Week 5: 27.1
    • Week 6: 26.7
    • Week 7: 29.8
    • Week 8: 30.2

    Note that the last two weeks have seen a boost in my mpg. Seems to me that ethanol is 10 percent or more less efficient is true.

    Meanwhile, my riding lawn more and push mower are kaput, thanks to what I believe is the use of ethanol-blended fuel that began at the start of summer.

  10. 10 AngelWired July 28, 2008 at 10:26 pm

    There is also a WOCO in Mooreville right off the 371 exit to the left.

  11. 11 Billy August 26, 2008 at 1:59 am

    My milage has dropped off some too. I can tell it. I can tell it in my wife’s car. She has a little mustang lx and was getting great gas milage but now it is lagging a bit. Greg the little gas station across from the Sprint Mart at the corner of Briar Ridge and Eason also does not use ethanol. They even have a sign that shows their pride about not using it.

  12. 12 Krazd September 1, 2008 at 11:47 pm

    When did this 10% mix start?

    Seems like they’re watering down gasoline to increase profits

  13. 13 tupelobizbuzz September 2, 2008 at 11:03 am

    Interesting mileage, Dennis. I’ve been logging my mileage the past few months and I’m getting about 22 mpg now. I usually get 29 – 30 with my Camry. Either I’m doing some gas hog driving or something is wrong with my car.

  14. 14 Bill Nettles September 15, 2008 at 1:28 pm

    I had been using Kroger gas in my Avalon, regular, and getting better than 29 mpg on the highway. This past weekend I took a trip (with a full tank of Kroger gas) and got 26.5 under the same weather, route, speed conditions. Filled with Chevron (at 1/4 left) and the mileage climbed to 29.5. Then filled with Chevron again and the mileage went to 32 mpg!

    A 10% difference in gas mileage (3 mpg) is equivalent to 35 cents per gallon. So, bye-bye Kroger!

    I tried the Chevron because it was $3.75 per gallon and Kroger was $3.99….go figure ??

    I failed to notice whether the Chevron had ethanol, but something bad has definitely happened to Kroger.

  15. 15 the mail November 19, 2008 at 12:25 pm

    it is the stuff fo sho

  16. 16 Erin September 1, 2009 at 11:55 pm

    I guess we’re pretty lucky in Oklahoma. We have a choice, and it is a state law that you have to disclose on every pump if your gas contains ethanol.

  17. 17 Cope September 19, 2009 at 11:13 pm

    I am pretty sure E10 gas is not very good gas. My car has lost power & MPG,s I have been trying to figure out why and now I know. I started using the mid grade gas instead of REG. In a short time I noticed a big difference more power & much better mileage. I have A truck that sits for a long time between fill ups. I drove it about 35 miles after sitting for more then a month. It ran fine till I filled it up with reg gas. Then it started acting like it was out of gas. I had replaced the Mech Fuel pump and lines and filters with new. Thinking it was a bad Pump I replaced it. A friend that was with me said it was the E10 gas. He said that Ethanol has water in it and the gas /water seperates after sitting long enought. Two days later he used his truck that also sits for long times between using it. The very same thing happened to him. They add Ethanol to gas We pay more and use more. WHO IS BENIFITTING? Not US It can also be very bad for 2 Cycle engines. Wish there were something we could do to make them get rid of the ETHANOL in our gas

  18. 18 matt November 10, 2009 at 10:05 pm

    on the fuel pumps for bmw most likely you got water from Kroger’s tanks and u shouldn’t go past a quarter tank. because the fuel pump is no longer submerged at that point. since water is more dense than gas the pump works harder and in contaminates it


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