Engines burning Ethanol actually utilize their available fuel more efficiently. THAT is why I'm seing so little loss of gas mileage when burning E-85.

May I direct your attention to this study "ECONOMICAL,
HIGH-EFFICIENCY ENGINE TECHNOLOGIES FOR ALCOHOL FUELS" by Matthew Brusstar of EPA and Marco Bakenhus of
FEV Engine Technology, Inc. Auburn Hills, Michigan.
[ http://www.epa.gov/otaq/presentation...-isaf-no55.pdf ] in which you'll see that, like the exerpts pasted in my previous posts indicate, the 26% btu difference between Ethanol and 86 octane unleaded gasoline does not mean that you'll see anywhere the same percentage loss of fuel economy between the two fuels.

"The Auto Technicians Gasoline Quality Guide - changes in Gasoline III [ http://www.ethanolrfa.org/objects/pd...A/Gasoline.pdf ],
(copied in previous posts), indicates that the "projected fuel economy variations have been validated in numerous controlled tests and fleet studies. The most recent of these studies, done in 1995, include a fleet test by the State of Wisconsin and a fleet analysis by Lundberg Survey, Inc.

The Wisconsin Fleet Survey tested eight vehicles, ranging from 1979 to 1994 models, comparing their fuel economy on conventional gasoline to that achieved on reformulated gasolines containing MTBE, ethanol, and ETBE.

The average fuel economy loss for the reformulated gasoline was 2.09%."

The two (2)+% loss in fuel economy is a far cry from the 26% difference in the btu energy content of each fuel and as shown in the "High Efficiency . . " report I cited at the beginning of this post, the unexpectedly high Brake Thermal Efficiency of each Ethanol/Gasoline Oxygenated blend from E-10 to E-100 readily explains the smaller than expected loss of fuel economy when buring Ethanol.

__________________
George in
Santa Fe

'01 BMW X5 3.0i V-6
soon to be Converted to
a FFV capable of burning
E-85 Ethanol.

[ http://www.bmwcca.org/ ]