Ethanol/gasoline blend for UZJ-100? (1 Viewer)

[drexx]

17Aug2005 (UTC +8)

I'm kinda on the fence on this one, but leaning towards the use of 90% petrol + 10%ethanol blend.

Pros:
It supposedly gives higher octane ratings, which is goood as I have a TRD supercharger on the UZJ-100.
It's more environmentally friendly than pure gasoline.
It lessens our dependecy on foreign oil, and helps the national agricultural economy.
Pro-ethanol people have quoted Toyota (among other car makers) to have said: "Toyota allows the use of oxygenate blended gasoline where the oxygenate content is up to 10% ethanol…Toyota recommends the use of cleaner burning gasoline and appropriately blended reformulated gasoline. These types of gasoline provide excellent vehicle performance, reduce vehicle emissions, and improve air quality."
Governments worldwide (USA, Brazil and now the Philippines is getting into it as well) encourage the 90/10 gas/ethanol blend.

Cons:
Ethanol has been critized for being more expensive to produce than gasoline.
I don't know the long-term effects of ethanol on my engines seals and gaskets. I'm more inclined to believe they're more harmful until proven otherwise.


What do you al l think?

 

[drexx]

17Aug2005 (UTC +8)

A few links to the what's ethanol blend, and pros and cons:
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Alcohol-fuel
http://www.ethanolfacts.com/quickfacts.html
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Ethanol/
http://www.ethanol.org/
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel_library/ethanol_motherearth/me1.html
http://www.e10unleaded.com/whosays.htm

 

[Jim_Chow]

Don't forget..much worse fuel economy w/ ethanol (gasoline has over 50% more btu's), so figure about 8mpg instead of 15mpg in the LC. Here are some issues about ethanol, like difficulty to ignite when cold, increased use of fertilizers to grow the grains, absorbs water, corrosive to metal/plastics/rubber: http://www.leeric.lsu.edu/bgbb/7/ecep/auto/k/k.htm

 

[NMuzj100]

We have to use this stuff every winter and the cars run fine no problem with seals ect... at 10%. All manufacturers approve their vehicles for 10% ethanol. You have reduced power output and lower gas milage since it has fewer BTU's per gallon. When gas was cheap this mandated dilution was a sop to farmers and big agribuisness. With oil prices on the rise it may eventually make some economic sense.

My $.02 - Biodiesel is a better "alternative" fuel. Ran it 50% in my GM diesel with no issues.