[ale] [OT] - Ethanol-free gas in the Atlanta area? - and gas saving tips
Ron Frazier (ALE)
atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com
Tue Sep 17 19:40:50 EDT 2013
Hi Scott, and all,
Prior to reading this discussion, and my tablet / car thread, and what I read about fuel economy, I hadn't given a 2nd thought to ethanol in the gas. Now I'm thinking I'd rather use plain gas at 87 octane if it was available - to get better mileage in the car and to be more compatible with yard equipment, etc. Based on the links quoted previously in the thread, it doesn't look like any non premium non ethanol gas is available in Cumming. I wouldn't be willing to pay the premium price for it.
Hi All,
I just experienced something fascinating in my car. We've got two car related threads going, but this one is also fuel related, so I'll put it here.
In the UltraGauge manual and in that Popular Mechanics article, I read that many cars occasionally turn their fuel injectors off to save fuel. I sort of said yea, yea, all well and good. But I also assumed that my 2005 Hyundai Santa Fe and my wife's 2007 Hyundai Sonata didn't have this feature. Surely, I would have noticed it.
So, I took the Santa Fe out to go have supper. I had torque running beside me on the android tablet. When I was cruising down a pretty steep hill, I took my foot totally off the gas pedal. I kept one eye on the fuel flow gauge on the tablet. Of course, you'd expect instant mpg to go up, which it did. What I DIDN'T expect, and could hardly believe, is that after a few seconds, the fuel flow went to ZERO. It didn't go down. It went AWAY! I was totally amazed. So my car does have this feature. There was NO discernable difference in the feel of the car versus when the injectors were on. The momentum of the car keeps the engine turning and the accessories running. I don't know if they have a way of removing cylinder compression or something. When I got to the bottom of the hill and tapped the gas pedal, the fuel flow resumed and I got power exactly like I expected to and went up the other side of the hill.
This was totally fascinating. Note that you have to be on a pretty steep hill and going at a decent speed for this to work, at least in my car. If the ECU thinks it's losing the ability to keep things running, it will re engage the fuel. Now that I know what to look for, though, I want to see how often I can make this happen while maintaining safety. Burning NO FUEL, and getting infinite MPG, even for a few seconds, is very enticing. I have a theory that touching the brake may make this happen sooner, but I haven't confirmed this. I have to research that.
If you have an addon gauge system for your car, either torque, scanguage, ultragauge, or other, definitely turn on the fuel flow gauge and watch it coasting down hills. Ultragauge has configuration screens specifically for dealing with injector cut off. I don't know about the others.
I thought this was way cooler than dirt, to paraphrase the cliche, so I'm passing it along.
Sincerely,
Ron
Scott Plante <splante at insightsys.com> wrote:
>Yeah, I bet they also didn't have manual transmissions in mind! Taking
>your foot off the gas is equivalent to moderate braking in my Miata;
>more so in lower gears.
>
>Ron, did you mean to say something about ethanol free gas? Are you
>looking for it?
>
>
>Scott
>
>----- Original Message -----
>
>From: "Allen Beddingfield" <allen at ua.edu>
>To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
>Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 3:51:34 PM
>Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] - Ethanol-free gas in the Atlanta area? - and
>gas saving tips
>
>If you have a vehicle with a CVT, "coasting" doesn't work well. I have
>one (probably won't buy another one with a CVT), and taking the foot
>off the gas to coast is about the equivalent of gradually downshifting
>as you slow. I almost got rear-ending a few times before I got the hang
>of that..lol
>Allen B.
>--
>Allen Beddingfield
>Systems Engineer
>The University of Alabama
>
>________________________________________
>From: ale-bounces at ale.org [ale-bounces at ale.org] on behalf of Ron
>Frazier (ALE) [atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com]
>Sent: Tuesday, September 17, 2013 2:44 PM
>To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] - Ethanol-free gas in the Atlanta area? - and
>gas saving tips
>
>Hi all,
>
>I thought you'd like to see these gas saving tips I found in a Popular
>Mechanics article while reading blogs about gauges. They are
>interesting and some are counter intuitive.
>
>http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/fuel-economy/6-driving-tactics-to-save-gas-this-weekend
>
>http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/news/fuel-economy/6-driving-tactics-to-save-gas-this-weekend-2
>
>
>1) Coast to a stop whenever possible and safe. The less you brake, the
>better your mileage.
>
>2) Don't accelerate too slowly or too quickly. Doing either keeps the
>transmission in lower less fuel efficient gears. Take about 15 seconds
>to get to 50 mph.
>
>3) Close windows and keep AC on to keep cool at 60 mph and over.
>Aerodynamic drag costs you otherwise.
>
>4) Cruise at lower speed, if safe. Test car - 40 MPH - 29 MPG; 60 MPH -
>
>26 MPG; 80 MPH - 21 MPG.
>
>5) Coast down and up hills if safe and don't try to maintain constant
>speed.
>
>6) When coasting down hill, leave the car in gear. Many cars will
>disable the fuel injectors. Idling in neutral burns more fuel.
>
>Other misc tips: monitor tire pressure, plan and combine errands, spend
>
>as much time as possible with engine warm - go to farthest of several
>small stops first, make right turns only so you spend less time waiting
>
>on traffic, avoid ethanol (relevant to this thread).
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Ron
>
>
>On 9/17/2013 3:29 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>> Nice sites. Thanks. Not much help to me though. No pure 87 octane
>> anywhere near me. Larger cities are most notably missing from the
>lists.
>>
>> Ron
>>
>>
>> On 9/16/2013 8:22 PM, Beddingfield, Allen wrote:
>>> Ah, the second one is exactly what I needed! I had been looking
>>> around on the first one, but as you noted, was not familiar enough
>>> with the little town names.
>>> The collective knowledge and usefulness of the info on this list
>once
>>> again is proven ;)
>>> Ethanol free is all I use in my mowers, tillers, etc..., and I have
>>> been trying to use it exclusively in my Jeep.
>>> I made an observation a few years back regarding this topic.
>>> Before the current vehicle, I had a 2008 Volvo S60 2.5T. At the
>>> time, I was dating someone near Pensacola. If I filled up the car
>>> with ethanol free gas, I could drive down, park my car at her
>>> place/ride with her for the weekend, get in the car, and drive back
>>> on one tank of gas. The light would come on just before I came into
>>> Tuscaloosa. If I used ethanol gas, that light would come on about
>>> 30-40 miles south of town. I repeated this experiment several times
>>> with near-identical results.
>>>
>>> Allen B.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Allen Beddingfield
>>> Systems Engineer
>>> The University of Alabama
>>>
>>> ________________________________________
>>> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [ale-bounces at ale.org] on behalf of William
>
>>> Bagwell [rb211 at tds.net]
>>> Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 6:34 PM
>>> To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>>> Subject: Re: [ale] [OT] - Ethanol-free gas in the Atlanta area?
>>>
>>> At least two different web sites track stations that sell real gas.
>>> http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=GA
>>> http://www.buyrealgas.com/Georgia.html
>>>
>>> Have used the first though the second may be more useful to an out
>of
>>> town'er
>>> not familiar with city names. Oh, anyone not aware of the
>difference.
>>> lawnmowers, weedeaters and chainsaws love real gas. And you can
>>> safely leave
>>> it in the tank at the end of the season unlike ethanol which will
>>> fill an
>>> aluminum carburetor full of white sludge.
>>> --
>>> William
>>>
>>> On Monday 16 September 2013, Beddingfield, Allen wrote:
>>>> I'm going to be coming over to Atlanta for a week (Sunday 22nd to
>>>> Friday
>>>> 27th), and I was wondering if anyone knows of a gas station in the
>>>> Atlanta
>>>> area with ethanol-free gasoline? From what I can find online, it
>looks
>>>> like there is one place in Douglasville and one place in Marietta,
>>>> but I
>>>> don't see anything listed any closer. My vehicle burns the ethanol
>>>> stuff
>>>> just fine, but I prefer to use non-ethanol when I can. I'll be
>>>> coming in
>>>> on 20 from the west, and taking 285 up to the Sandy
>Springs/Dunwoody
>>>> area.
>>>> I don't mind driving a bit out of the way if necessary.
--
Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity if I'm typing on the touch screen.
(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very quickly.)
Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com
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