Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 14:50:16 -0500
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: E15 Coming & the Wasserboxer
In-Reply-To: <1334602848.3984.YahooMailNeo@web39404.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
This is another result of the oil and agriculture industries getting what they want, no questions asked. I have been not looking forward to this, though I knew it was coming. Locally, ethanol free fuel is generally available, though one might have to search a bit. When I travel, I try to find it, but haven't been insistent. When E15 becomes the norm, I definitely will be more diligent.
this web site lists outlets that have ethanol free fuel, but it depends on consumer and dealer input, and may not be up to date. I have been surprised at how rapidly gas stations switch brands, presumably because either ownership or contracts have changed. Recently, Valero has made a big push here.
http://pure-gas.org/
For what it is worth, I have generally found that I get better mileage with ethanol free than with E10 (which makes sense in terms of energy content of the fuels), but on a trip to Texas this week, I had to use some E10, and actually got better mileage on those tanks than I did the ethanol free fuel that I left home with. Of course, one can't make a comparison like that without controlling for other variables and reach any valid conclusions. Probably, the roads were a bit different, and so on. Well, for one, I drove an interstate and a toll road going down, then switched to state highways in Texas. Probably drove 5 mph slower on those roads.
mcneely
---- Anthony Egeln <regnsuzanne@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
> The following is a quote from an email I received from the Environmental Working
Group (EWG):
"Gasoline stations will soon begin selling E15, a blend of conventional
gasoline with up to 15 percent ethanol
from corn. The Environmental
Protection Agency approved the E15 blend for use in vehicles
manufactured
after 2000. It runs hotter and is more corrosive than pure
gasoline or E10 - gasoline plus 10 percent ethanol.
Using E15 could void some vehicle and off-road engine warranties."
Will anyone running a stock wasserboxer be affected by this change in our fuel? Obvously the stock wasserboxer
was built/designed before 2000.
Apparently Congress will soon vote on a bill that will relieve the oil companies from liability in damages
caused by the use of E15. I suppose that is inevitable if it was Congress that allowed the production of
this fuel.
If it will damage the wasserboxer and the fuel management system, what can we do? I can't imagine that
there will be a separate pump with E10 or straight gas; except at the neighborhood marina perhaps.
Cheers, Anthony
'89 Syncro GL (Hidalgo)
--
David McNeely
