Is Bio Ethanol Gas bad for your vehicle?

[VFX]

I have 2 vehicles that are recommended to run higher octane gas so I run Octane 92 (recommends 92 min.) for one & Octane 94 (recommend 93 min.) for the other.

With the 'better for the environment' thing, along with getting BCAA points, I decided to use Bio Ethanol enhanced fuel from Husky & have been using it for the past 3 yrs.

Now I read on a BMW forum that 'corn gas' is bad for the engine & will lead to quicker degradation & engine failure

They say that using something like Shell 91 Octane would be better than Husky 94 Octane (better performance, better additives & detergents etc.).

Can anyone chime in & shed the light on the myths regarding bio fuel?

Link to Husky

As an aside, does anyone know any 94 or higher octane gas in lower mainland that isn't Husky?

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[intarsiabox]

I am no expert by any means but countries like Brazil have been almost soling using ethnol based fuels for many years before north america without problems (with the exception of cutting down the rain forest to grow sugar cane for fuel). Ethanol is supposed to burn hotter for a more complete combustion with less residue so I doubt that it would harm your engine any more than any other fuel. As far as being "greener" I read an article in National Geographic not too long ago that the process for creating ethanol in N.A. uses about a gallon of fossil fuel to create a gallon of ethanol because of the plant types we use. Places like Brazil use sugar cane that has a much higher ethanol yield compared to corn that has a very low yield. So well your car may be polluting less the ethanol factories are making up for it. My 2 cents!

[Funky_Fish14]

In terms of performance... I used to drive a VW Golf. Premium(90 or 91+) was recommended for the car. I tried tons of gas types in there (performance-wise)... domo, safeway, superstore... that kind of stuff... car runs like crap. They are all watered down gasses (particularly the safeway/superstore stuff). Petro canada is bleh... its ok. By far my favorite gasses to run in the car were Shell premium and Husky premium. Shell premium ran very nicely, but I noticed the absolute best performance with Husky 94 Octane Ethanol enhanced. The Octane rating is for OCTANE (Which cannot be including Ethane or Ethanol, etc... any other type of hydrocarbon)... It has to be for the octane(C8H18) content. If it is not being accurately represented by Husky they are breaking the law IMO.

I found my car to run much smoother and be peppy with the husky gas... I even had noticeable improvement in power (HP/Tq.) when I pushed on it. The husky did the same (its premium gas right?) but the husky stuff was very nice. I try to run only husky or shell gas in any vehicle I drive now... I've also had less engine nasty ness (read dirt) and smoother running since getting picky with these fuels.

I dont know anything about wrecking the engine but I HAVE heard talk of what you mentioned before... but my golf ran like a champ with that gas, and so does any other vehicle I've owned.

Cheers,

Chris

[andestang]

So are your vehicles FFV's (Flex-fuel vehicles) ? They are designed to properly run on ethanol (E85). The PCM (powertrain control module) and related sensors perform the correct fuel to air ratio, the fuel sytem & engine is designed to withstand the alcohol (gaskets, seals, fuel lines etc ). While Ethanol may have a higher octane rating than regular gas, which is good for higher compression engines, it also has a smaller energy density than gasoline. This means that you will have lower MPG than if you are using regular fuel (need more fuel to perform the same engine demand) and this can be as bad as 30 % less in fuel economy. Most newer cars should be able to withstand the use of ethanol (its the alcohol in it that can cause problems is older vehicles) but I wouldn't use it unless the vehicle is designed for it.

[Funky_Fish14]

Ethanol cant have a higher octane rating.... They are different chemical compounds? That does not make sense?

The mileage difference with the husky(ethanol containing) stuff though is still better MPG (or I prefer L/100K) on mid-grade or premium than with other regular gasses. Just tossing that out there. I dont think there is enough ethanol in it to make that much of a mileage difference.

But it is absolutely correct to say that per molecule the energy density is higher in octane than in ethanol.

[Edmonton newbie]

these high octane engines are starting debates just like when we started taking lead out of the gas. personally i only run esso or shell in my cars. Every other gas that i have tried in my car makes her ping and knock.

[Seamazter]

I don't know what kind of gas i use, depends on what kind of car i siphon it from.
Guess ill look for more Vw and BMW's to suck gas out of.
U think a mouthful of saltwater is bad....
Cheers all.
8-)

[andestang]

This doesn't make sense. Octane is not a compound, it's a measurement. The octane rating is "a measurement of the resistance of petrol fuels to auto-ignition in spark-ignition internal combustion engines". Octane rating does not relate to the energy content of the fuel, it is only a measurement of the fuel's tendency to burn in a controlled manner, rather than exploding in an uncontrolled manner. Ethanol is basically an alcohol ( biologically produced)and by itself can have an octane rating of 110 or higher, but its heating value lacks (the energy released as heat). And for fuel economy you will not get the mileage that FFV's will get running on Ethanol. Hope this makes more sense.

Originally Posted by Funky_Fish14

Ethanol cant have a higher octane rating.... They are different chemical compounds? That does not make sense?

The mileage difference with the husky(ethanol containing) stuff though is still better MPG (or I prefer L/100K) on mid-grade or premium than with other regular gasses. Just tossing that out there. I dont think there is enough ethanol in it to make that much of a mileage difference.

But it is absolutely correct to say that per molecule the energy density is higher in octane than in ethanol.

[ElGuappo]

I have used the huskey 94 in my honda rc51 since i bought it new in 04....i do all my reg maintanence and it still runs awsome..... just had it fully serviced this month and it runs like a dream.....

Love the husky 94 and would reccomend it...

[Funky_Fish14]

Originally Posted by andestang

This doesn't make sense. Octane is not a compound, it's a measurement. The octane rating is "a measurement of the resistance of petrol fuels to auto-ignition in spark-ignition internal combustion engines". Octane rating does not relate to the energy content of the fuel, it is only a measurement of the fuel's tendency to burn in a controlled manner, rather than exploding in an uncontrolled manner. Ethanol is basically an alcohol ( biologically produced)and by itself can have an octane rating of 110 or higher, but its heating value lacks (the energy released as heat). And for fuel economy you will not get the mileage that FFV's will get running on Ethanol. Hope this makes more sense.

Ahh, well I understood the 'Octane Rating' incorrectly then... however, "Octane Rating" is obviously not a compound, but "Octane" IS a molecular compound. C8H18... Ethane, C2H6, is the hydrocarbon comparable to Ethanol (an alcoholized Ethane Molecule), Ethanol > C2H5OH. (Note the addition of 1 oxygen molecule between a hydrogen and the carbon bases). Anyways... that doesnt matter about the octane rating... since I didnt understand that part... but the energy contained per unit (in combustion) is higher in a molecule of true "Octane"(C8H18) which IS a component in gasoline, than it is in Ethanol (C2H5OH), the reason being that there are more available C-H bonds to break in octane (per molecule, so more energy released per mole), than in Ethanol.

Yeah, the control of energy release is more ordered (I remember learning about that now), but im simply stating that (as you stated) the amount of heat energy released is lower because of the lesser bonds.

Cheers,

Chris

(and thanks for the info about octane rating!)