Ethanol Related Topics on our Help Page, and the Octane Rating in USA

[Jason Edge]

Since we have recently discussed Octane and Ethanol, I thought it would be good to remind everyon that we have 2 Ethanol related links on our Help Page. One is a link to a list of all Ethanol Free gas stations in the USA, and the other is an excellent overview of Ethanol in Gasoline for Collector Cars  by Jim O'Clair posted on the Hemmings site back in 2012.

Here are the links:

Ethanol Free Gas Stations in US and Canada
http://www.pure-gas.org/

Ethanol in Gasoline for Collector Cars Explained
https://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/11/14/tech-101-ethanol-in-...

There is also a link to info regarding the R+M/2 octane rating you see at the pumps in the USA. Here is that link:

Octane Rating
https://6364cadillac.ning.com/photo/octane?context=user

[Jason Edge]

Well, I decided to put the www.pure-gas.org list to use today and scoped out a couple of nearby stations with a minimum of 91 Octane.  The 02 Escalade will run on any octane with the computer assisted ignition, but I know I have been taking a "power hit" from the E10 Ethanol Gas since it produced 34% less energy than gasoline.  While the E10 is still 90% gasoline (and 10% Ethanol) studies show it significantly lessens MPG and power (HP). So. I went to two stations about 10 miles south of me, and both within 5 miles of each other and they both had the 91 Octane as noted on the pure-gas link. The first station had it for $3.49 per gallon and the second station at $3.39. I had let the tank run down to about 1/8 tank, and decided to fill up at the first station, not knowing I would find it at the 2nd location, much less find it any cheaper!

After fill up and driving a few miles I started to drive more aggressively and felt the difference. Some of you may remember I did some upgrades with my EXT (dual exhaust, reprogrammed power chip, air intake system, etc), and my 6,000 lb Brutus (who says they don't make big powerful Cadillacs anymore!), gained some noticeable power with the pure gas!  When you nail it at any mph, you hear the roar and push-you-back-in-the-seat acceleration that wasn't quite there with Ethanol.

Putting my best guess on power improvement I'll use this math:
According to the article ethanol produces 76,330 BTU of heat energy per gallon, gasoline produces 116,090 BTU per gallon. So Pure Gas produces 52% more energy than Pure Ethanol! But, we are only running 10% Ethanol, so dividing by 10 will give you approximately 5% difference.  Maybe that's not a lot to many of you but I will live and die with a bit of a hot rot heart, and am more bothered by the power reduction seen by mixing Ethanol with our gasoline than anything. Rubber hoses can be replaced, there are ways to deal with the water condensation issue, but if you put Ethanol in an internal combustion engine (or just strike a match to it) it does not and cannot produce the same power as gasoline. 

Now that I know there are 2 miles just south of me, I will be more prone to fill up the Escalade there. I may also run some in the 64 Cadillac, but will be prone to dump a double dose of Octane booster in to bring it up to the 95 to 96 Octane I am guessing I have been running it at.  I will continue to check out some of the other gas stations on the list that offer "Pure Gas" and report back.

Here are a couple of pictures I took at the pumps. (ps. It looks like NC tops out at 91 Octane for Pure Gas).