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I was looking at my MPG spreadsheet last night. In the beginning of the summer I was getting high 58's/low 59's. Now I'm getting 57's. That's about a 3% difference which means my favorite Shell gas has that crappy E10 in it. :(

Shell always has ethanol in the fuel. I was reading the Top Tier fuel specification last night and found that it requires no less than 8% and no more than 10% ethanol in the mix. I was surprised, but it's right there in black and white.

Check out section 1.3.1.2, item 1.
http://www.toptiergas.com/deposit_control.html

**EDIT**
I may have been wrong about that. Now that I read it again, I don't think that's the fuel composition at the pump but rather what they blend in the lab to see how the fuel performs. So they are basically adding gunk to it to see what sticks, and taking into account the maximum possible concentration of ethanol that might be added.

So you could well be right after all.

So I could be losing 2.5mpg?

I always thought that the pump had to have a sticker saying that the fuel contains up to 10% ethanol or that it must indicate that it contains MTBE. I'm not sure if they would mix the two oxygenates unless its a winter blend. MTBE has been banned in MA so all of our fuel is E10. GoNavy would know for sure.

Since the switch to E10 here in MA my mpg has dropped about 3% as well. When the colder weather moves in I'm sure it will drop even more. One interesting thing I've noticed is that when I first start up the HCH and back up, there is a slight alchohol aroma to the exhaust.

Oh, *that's* what I've been smelling on [relatively] cold
prius startup! Now that I think about it, that's gotta be it.
Sort of a sharp, pungent odor that isn't the typical rotten-eggs
catalytic thing, and doesn't last long.
.
_H*

Hi All:

___E10 is a year round addition, not just winter/summer for those that are stuck with it (northern IL. for one :(). The winter formulation (RFG and straight) switchover begins tomorrow for those in the upper ¾ of the country and then we will begin to see the hit as the refiners, distributors, and stations tanks are slowly diluted to 100% winter fuel(s). The smallish FE hits some are seeing today is more then likely due to the slightly lower fall temps.

___Good Luck

___Wayne