What's the story on ethanol and the Camaro? - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Fogey · 08-21-2010, 05:56 PM

What are the pros,if any, and the cons of using ethanol in the Camaro?

kunkelz28 · 08-21-2010, 05:59 PM

Higher octane, more horsepower and cheaper. The cons - harder to to find a station to fill up and less MPG. I am hoping to switch over soon

MikeZ28 · 08-21-2010, 06:14 PM

Is the OP talking about using E85? Or pump gas with 10% ethanol?

Fogey · 08-21-2010, 06:34 PM

I thought I read somewhere that you should avoid ethanol if possible but a lot of stations seem to have it

mpiper · 08-21-2010, 06:54 PM

Ethanol is not a good thing for gasoline engines. Ethanol artificially raises octane because it is harder to "explode" that gasoline. However, it does not burn as efficiently, therefore 1 gallon of ethanol produces about as much energy as 1/2 gallon of gasoline. In a 90/10 (normal pump blend these days), you lose around 12-15% gas mileage and lose around 4% total horsepower.

I've run the numbers and the reduced gas mileage compared to the reduced price means the 90/10 blend (which ran about 11 cents cheaper when I could get both) still costs more on a cost-per-per-mile basis. The numbers for a 4 cylinder Mitsubishi sedan that I tested (multiple times and then used the averages) came out as follows:
90/10: 21.9 MPG at $2.59 means 500 miles cost $59.13
100/0: 24 MPG at $2.70 means 500 miles costs $56.24

So it basically costs 3 dollars extra using the cheaper gas to actually travel.

It is my personal opinion that this is the reason we're seeing such wide ranges on the V6 mileages. If you use 95-100% gasoline (very rare, but some areas still have it, but most stations don't advertise it) you'll get measurable better gas mileage compared to the 90% crap, and E85 is worse. That's why the vehicle has to be specially designed to handle E85. Putting E85 in a regular engine will cause the engine to run so bad people would revolt.

Now, that being said, Ethanol is NOT bad for the engine, it just burns very poorly compared to gasoline. No knock or pinging, just low power and bad mileage. As far as better for the environment; it burns a bit cleaner, it's renewable (a BIG plus!), and it doesn't require drilling in areas that could be damaged by a spill or broken pipeline. (This all refers to corn ethanol, by the way, sugar cane ethanol has all the benefits of corn, but none of the bad. It has higher energy content compared to corn. The problem is Sugar Cane doesn't grow in the same environment Corn does, so it's not an option for the US gasoline industry.)

One of the major tweaks for engines to run well on Ethanol is higher compression (helps offset the smaller "explosion" of the ethanol compared to gasoline. So ethanol is actually Forced Induction friendly.

Unfortunately, 90/10 is the only thing available in San Antonio these days. So I (we) just have to live with it.

Fogey · 08-21-2010, 08:20 PM

Great info. Just what I wanted

08-21-2010, 05:56 PM	#1
Fogey Drives: 2011 2SS/RS A6, IOM Join Date: May 2009 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 1,236	What's the story on ethanol and the Camaro? What are the pros,if any, and the cons of using ethanol in the Camaro?

08-21-2010, 06:34 PM	#4
Fogey Drives: 2011 2SS/RS A6, IOM Join Date: May 2009 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 1,236	OP talking 10% ethanol I thought I read somewhere that you should avoid ethanol if possible but a lot of stations seem to have it

08-21-2010, 08:20 PM	#6
Fogey Drives: 2011 2SS/RS A6, IOM Join Date: May 2009 Location: West Los Angeles Posts: 1,236	Thanks much from OP Great info. Just what I wanted

08-21-2010, 05:59 PM	#2
kunkelz28 Drives: 2010 Camaro SS RS Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: St Cloud Minnesota Posts: 320	Higher octane, more horsepower and cheaper. The cons - harder to to find a station to fill up and less MPG. I am hoping to switch over soon

08-21-2010, 06:14 PM	#3
MikeZ28 Drives: '04 GTO, '00 Z28, '95 Z28 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 225	Is the OP talking about using E85? Or pump gas with 10% ethanol?

08-21-2010, 06:54 PM	#5
mpiper Drives: 2011 Black 1LT RS Join Date: May 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 496	Ethanol is not a good thing for gasoline engines. Ethanol artificially raises octane because it is harder to "explode" that gasoline. However, it does not burn as efficiently, therefore 1 gallon of ethanol produces about as much energy as 1/2 gallon of gasoline. In a 90/10 (normal pump blend these days), you lose around 12-15% gas mileage and lose around 4% total horsepower. I've run the numbers and the reduced gas mileage compared to the reduced price means the 90/10 blend (which ran about 11 cents cheaper when I could get both) still costs more on a cost-per-per-mile basis. The numbers for a 4 cylinder Mitsubishi sedan that I tested (multiple times and then used the averages) came out as follows: 90/10: 21.9 MPG at $2.59 means 500 miles cost $59.13 100/0: 24 MPG at $2.70 means 500 miles costs $56.24 So it basically costs 3 dollars extra using the cheaper gas to actually travel. It is my personal opinion that this is the reason we're seeing such wide ranges on the V6 mileages. If you use 95-100% gasoline (very rare, but some areas still have it, but most stations don't advertise it) you'll get measurable better gas mileage compared to the 90% crap, and E85 is worse. That's why the vehicle has to be specially designed to handle E85. Putting E85 in a regular engine will cause the engine to run so bad people would revolt. Now, that being said, Ethanol is NOT bad for the engine, it just burns very poorly compared to gasoline. No knock or pinging, just low power and bad mileage. As far as better for the environment; it burns a bit cleaner, it's renewable (a BIG plus!), and it doesn't require drilling in areas that could be damaged by a spill or broken pipeline. (This all refers to corn ethanol, by the way, sugar cane ethanol has all the benefits of corn, but none of the bad. It has higher energy content compared to corn. The problem is Sugar Cane doesn't grow in the same environment Corn does, so it's not an option for the US gasoline industry.) One of the major tweaks for engines to run well on Ethanol is higher compression (helps offset the smaller "explosion" of the ethanol compared to gasoline. So ethanol is actually Forced Induction friendly. Unfortunately, 90/10 is the only thing available in San Antonio these days. So I (we) just have to live with it.