Got Scanguage II & I am Dangerous- Gas Truth.

[am_fm_radio]

Let me introduce myself. I am dangerous, I push the limit. I am politically incorrect.. I'm strange...way too many hours in the basement of the science building. 43 years as a ham radio operator... you know those guys are really strange, stay away from them. They duct tape their shoes, drive clunkers and are the tightest people in the universe. A ham shot up a post office once and another invented microwave hamburgers goofing off at a military radar site. After all they all claim to talk to outer space and can prove it. I can boast to the unbelievable...I worked in the pentagon, beneath the pentagon, worked at NASA, been from the end of the Aleutian chain to Florida, and Maine to California. I don't trust the government, I don't trust you, or any of MY family. My closest relative is over 1000 miles away on purpose, my purpose. I've worked on things I still can't talk about. I've been a field engineer (electronics, computers) for over 35 years and travel, my 2003 tracker just turned 100K this week. I bought it new.

Now that you got past that BS... I don't need direction, reply's or at-a-boys. I may make 30 posts or none more. This is the first post.

START-
2003 bought new Chevrolet Tracker 4cyl. 5-speed 4x4 in New England. NOTE: I do not know how to drive an Automatic... I only own sticks. A slush box can vary mileage.
I needed a vehicle that would get me to and from clients "no matter what". They don't want excuses, they don't tolerate them, nor do I. In a nutshell I am hired to solve problems, not give lip service. I drive cars till they die or are killed. None have made it over 200k- close, and should of.. I buy new and drive till insurance companies declare them totaled, so far -all in not my fault accidents.

This vehicle can be push started. The tracker is reliable, economical and fits into Boston parking Garages (6'6" clearances). Both Trackers I bought new (1995 & 2003) NEVER went back to the dealer under warranty. Chevrolet dropped them for these reasons. Suzuki inside- Assembled in Canada (Great white north), by lumberjacks and not many were sold. Margins were small, and no warranty work, the dealers were not making money. So they were steering customers to Surburbans where the salesman made more money and the warranty department flourished. It's all about the $$$$, as usual.

Out of the box- I consistently got 29 mpg. Drove it 2-3 years up and down the East Coast..Maine to Virginia.., Ice snow, mountains. Never got it stuck, never flipped it, It would drive on days we got 36 inches of snow. I would pass 4x4 Ford explorers on their roofs and semi's in the ditch.
2006- Transfered- Drove it 1764mi from Boston through a February blizzard, the back filled to the brim with gear and trailering a 900# sidecar motorcycle to Wichita, KS. That trip was 17mpg.

After that- MPG was 25mpg...I tinkered and at my wits end, finally I took it to the largest Wichita Chevy dealer. It cost $107 to be told there was nothing wrong. It was immediately apparent, no scan codes means nothing wrong. What idiots. The service manager actually recommend trading it in "if you're not happy with it" Odo was about 60-70K at the time. The dealer's mechanic was a kid, and factually admitted "... don't see many trackers" -translated to competent speak that means "We never work on these, I could give a $h!t, when is lunch? when is payday?" My demands got me a compression check, catalytic converter check and they did spend 3 hours after, I quizzed them with printouts from GM regarding service bulletins they knew nothing of.. You can't loose a fight, when you use their documentation.

Live with it... I was bound and determined to return the mpg to 29. Moving from NH to KS doesn't cause your gas mileage to drop from 29 to 25 with no check engine light.. Well it did and does... only thing is the GOVERNMENT and the DEALERS (Gas and car) want you in the dark.

What did I find? What's this to do with Scanguage II? Well, in due time..

I'll cut to the chase, as documented on the internet, my research found- The Government changed the "EPA mileage highway" on the 2003 Tracker to 23mpg... The sticker when I bought the car states 27 highway. I was getting 29 why did the EPA change it?

Well they are dicking with the gasoline... 2003-2006 gas was $$$ less..1998 to 2005 in New England I was paying $0.88 to $1.25 a gallon. About that time the EPA started selling "oxygenated gas in the winter" within 50 miles of metro centers- like Boston. I was just living outside, in NH and everyone knew gas was cheeper outside of Boston. The change was to "clean the air" Boston is so dirty, versus Detroit or Cleveland or Pittsburg.. NOT!!! What maroons...these tree huggers are out of control.

Moving to Kansas I found "oxygenated" gas... Kansas is corn fields and oxygenated gas... 10% ethenol. Hence the gas mileage drop.. we're getting SCREWED even further...
since the cars were NOT designed to determine fuel blend...the manufacturers built them to EPA standards at the time. They locked down the computer code and the EPA is screwing with gas blends after the fact...America is no longer a government of the people.

I proved it by driving back east and boom my mileage returned to 29mpg for the time I was back east; then dropped when I returned to Kansas and the land of corn fields... only a few gas stations here state 10% ethenol, and QT stations guarantee gasoline 100%- whatever that means. Last Christmas went back East, my mileage returned to 29mpg a second time then dropped when I got to Kansas again. Proving it IS gas blends.

So now I know if I get 100% gasoline I get 29mpg, 10% ethanol it drops. Now it gets interesting... at KU- the University of Kansas in Lawrence there is a gas station. Gas- E85 and blends in between.. Plus biodiesel...Latest technology, a Couple of college professors involved... you get to pick your "shade of green" Kansas is a RED state few liberal pinko commies here, mostly the Governor and government workers.

Well I stopped in June and bought a 30% ethanol blend... and I found out I get 24mpg..
Well, if 100% gasoline gets me 29mpg, 10% ethanol gets me 25mpg and 30% gets me 24mpg... what did I get 4-5 tanks ago when I got 23mpg???... I drive Wichita to Kansas City Missouri (200mi) 2-3 times a month. Same route, same car, same speeds, same cruise control.

CONCLUSIONS-

Yes-- we are getting F***-ed. Not only by the Governemnt- EPA changing the blends, but also by the gas stations..

I will verify it my next trip to KC as I'm going to fill up with E85. It cost's less...but let's face it... these gas stations are trying to make it. They must be ordering and blending E85 then selling it as regular. If just to recover the loss of one drive off and survive. Why else is my gas mileage varying via fill-up at various stations, now knowing blends effect my mileage. Am I the victim of unscrupulous dealers? Asked and Answered.

Remember when a Buffalo, NY gas station near the Love canal was mixing solvent with Gas. The trucker was getting paid to haul off the solvent and dispose of it. The gas station was buying it. A back room deal. It was toxic and could not be dumped in the Love Canal.. They were near the Canadian boarder and the Canadians were shopping in the USA and filling up before going home. The give away was the Canadians figured it out when they could only go 55, in the US the limit was 55 then but 100 clicks in canada-(62mph US) USA driver were unaware their car couldn't go faster than 55 with the solvent blend. Plus exaust smelled funny. Of course, the trucker and gas station got it, but what about all the people screwed? The consumer is left holding the bag and paying for it.

Here we SUMMARIZE...
2003 Chevy Tracker, 4 door, 4x4, 5-speed, 4 cyl. This week 100K mi. Bought new.
100% gasoline (when gas was $.88 to $2.00) --29mpg
Sticker EPA highway mileage --27mpg
New EPA internet highway mileage --23mpg
Kansas 10% ethanol gas ($2.50- $4.25) --25mpg
Kansas 30% ethanol gas ($3.68 in 6/2008) --24mpg
What was the "blend" 5-4 tanks ago? --23mpg
First tank with scanguage II* --25mpg
another tank with Scanguage II* --25.86mpg
Last tank with Scanguage II* --28+mpg

*note- Have had the scanguage II for 2 weeks. Filled at the same station, I can go KCMO round trip on a tank, each trip was Wichita to KCMO, same route, same cruise.. The tracker turned 100k this week. BTW- the factory Uniroyals went 93K when I put them on the single mothers Pontiac next door for "around town" tires. Now BF Goodrich @36psi.

LAST TANK... I did DO something to "increase" my mileage...Stay Tuned...
Since the purchase of the scangauge II.. 2 changes total were made since the scanguage II. Actually 3 & 4. but 3 & 4 were backed out almost immediately, but are interesting.

The scan gauge was purchased so that I could get a better understanding of the engine and not base any conclusions simply on fill up mpg calculations. I also have a 5 year old Garmin IIplus GPS to verify, speed distance and altitude. The above mileage calculations are calculated off the odometer and gas pump not the scan guage.

Stay Tuned, same time and same channel.
The next episode will explore where I am going now that I am dangerous.. Plus we will divulge probably both of the things we did that did increase mileage these past 2 weeks.

This concludes the "baseline" we are working from.

OK here is a tidbit........4-5 tanks ago... oil change... Mobile 1 Green-0-30W. "Improves mileage". About $20 a gallon... NA-DA... Nothing, no improvement...All hype..
I have been using Mobile1 for over 20 years. It first was advertised as "the once a year oil change" and claim was it would go 25,000 between oil changes, as it never breaks down...

All those years using it.. I have found no oil leaks if I started the car on a diet of mobile 1 starting with the first oil change.. I do however because of research -airplane engines oil threads state part synthetic is best. I will throw in regular oil May to September, then synthetic oil over the winter. I'm too old to change oil in a gravel drive in the winter snow.

I always change my own oil...I saw sand filters and a pumping system at a quickie lube in new england once. When I asked they said" oh- the pump is to pump it into the waste truck. So I asked, "then why the sand filter??"... they quit talking, I left when they said they were all out of oil in cans. The claim of bulk oil translates in competence speak to "God only knows is it -name the brand- or recycled oil?" A decal on a 250 gallon refillable tank does not prove what's inside.

[FSUspectra]

Well, am_fm, welcome to CleanMPG. And, I gotta say, I agree with you wholeheartedly on many of your points (not trusting gov't, getting screwed by fuel blends, changing my own oil so i know what's actually going in there and i'm pretty un-pc myself). You seem to have a grasp on your vehicle's capabilities, and that's a good thing.
Thanks for being real. I look forward to more of your posts.

[Ophbalance]

Just a point, but I don't think the EPA has anything to do with setting the gas blends.

[rweatherford]

I probably wouldn't fill a full tank of E85. You will likely get a SES light and the engine could run lean. If you want to increase the percentage I would do it slowly on each tank. Watch the long term fuel trim. When it maxes out then that is as far as you can go without problems. Basically the ECU has run out of adjustment on fuel trim and will trigger that something is wrong.

I think on the scanguage is is "LTF".

[am_fm_radio]

The quick reply thing.... ala X-files and per area 51 rules and regs... Please feel free to interchange them, the "Government" and EPA. Also throw in the MIB, CIA, KGB, ICE, INS and probably everybody but the Boy Scouts...however don't trust a Boy Scout LEADER..

Having said that... unscrupulous gas station "owners" "agents" or whatever are obviously mixing gasoline with ethanol in greater than 10% mixes...

As a matter of fact, I ran yet another 400mile r/t to KCMO- Kansas City Mo. today.

I need to report this but ponder further.. left home at 5am and Input Air (IA) was 76 degrees, so I ran up to KCMO with the Air conditioning off. The last 4-5 tanks were run in up to 101 degree weather.

I was contemplating making a bi-zillion dollars selling a air conditioner cycler... as playing with my trackers air conditioners button when temp was 99-101 I found that I could run 30 seconds to 1 minute on and 1 to 2 minutes off but feel cool air coming out of the vents. The purpose was to mimic the Chevy AD wanting you to buy the new gas guzzler with "economy" air setting... After all when you "chill" the air conditioner exchanger coils in the air box, you have to blow air across it to bring it back to ambiant temperature even if you turn it off. So my experiment was to run one leg without air and one with air and see if total air on- versus total air off made much MPG difference. Then cycling the compressor , I can design a flip-flop 40-60 50-50 60-40 air on and off and make it flip 30 sec to 2 minutes... I'd be able to see if I got an improvement ....
BTW- this stuff comes to me because my moniker is am_fm_radio...I keep that off. and think... try it sometime...a trip with no radio...

Well, the trip up to KCMO with air off... it looks like I saved 1/10 of a mpg over last week when the temp was 99-101 and air was on 100%..

BTW- by cycling the compressor I thought would be viable to maintain the "cool" because the air conditioner temperature adjustment is to add heat...radiator heat. to adjust the temperature.. Cold is cold..you can regulate cold temp by, cycling on off, or adding heat...

Since my 2.0L 4cyl. tracker is no 396cu- you would think I'd see more than a 1/10 of a mpg difference. But that's a tailgate up-down.....am I going build my air flip-flop???..(sounds like something Nike would sell teenage girls for $20 a pair...) that is-
my air flip-flop controller... if at a 50-50 cycle I 'd save 1/2 of 1/10 mpg or 1/20 of a mpg... ...do the math $4.00 a gallon @20mpg... then 1 mpg is 20 cents, then 1/10mpg is 2 cents and 1/2 time is 1 cent...So a gas guzzling car that gets 20mpg would save 1 penny per gallon with my 50-50 air cycler.. so when you do the math...and follow the $$$$
it's not worth cycling the air conditioner...
That's why GM is selling it... because they can get the tree huggers to pay them $50 for the option...a 30 sec.-2 min. flip flop would cost GM $1 to build in mass...that's building many; not building in Mass... they're known as Mass-Holes in surrounding states for a reason. .. I've been there.

So----running without air in my 2003 chevy tracker saved me 1/10 of a mpg savings..
when it's 7am and 78 degrees that's fine but when 4pm and 99... I'll say to hell with AL GORE's temperature wacko theories. UNDENIABLE PROOF....changing the subject because only I can do it...but we'll return...
Temperature records have been kept for centuries... Right... centuries ago thermometers were hand blown glass filled with mercury and hand calibrated... The standards were to pack in ice and when it stopped it was 32 (is a bucket of ice really exactly32 degrees?) and boiling water was 212 (or factually more)... then they divided the distance and made marks...see where we are going???
So fine... well microscopically if the inside diameter of the tube changed, the mercury expanding linearly would not increase an equal distance as the inside walls fluctuated...

Bull droppings you say??? Antique thermometers are not accurate then or today ...and most importantly........ a FACT NEVER MENTIONED...
National Bureau of Standards, only created 50-60 years ago to provide a traceable standard of comparison for accuracy...time, distance etc...today you can buy a thermometers with accuracy traceable to the standards then make accurate measurements around the world You couldn't do that 100-200-300-400 years ago. So to say temperatures were 3 degrees lower or higher in the late 1600's is total Bull $h!t..

But the educated morons still worship Al Gore and I defy them to debunk that story.

Back to the tracker... Back to the scan gauge II..nack to air conditioner cycling ....

Todays R/T to KCMO started as a "duplicate" trip.. cool temperatures in the AM allowed me to experiment air off... I discovered the cost of cycling air on and off is a waste of money.because 1/10 of a mpg at 25 mpg is a penny more or less...recovery of a $20 flip-flop timer would be 2000 miles. It will be winter then...and we kind of cycle air then... instead of a minute on and a minute off we do a season on and a season off. So what do we save in a year??? GM is selling you some sort of intant savings ..no savings over a year. Like the scan gauge MPG when you see it on a Utube HHO project is the 58.8mpg... foot off the gas going down hill???? The SCAN GAUGE II MPG gauge calculates it for the time since last update you can set it for about 1-3 seconds...

But good news ...and a reason to tune in yet again....I found and installed a "FRAM AIR HOG" rechargable low restriction air filter. Frams answer to K&N I bought it a while back when a auto parts store left wichita...pepboys.. and sold off the store... not enough liberals and you can't fool these cow boys here. They fix cars with bailing wire, jump start them too...seen it done.

So I took it with me ...but I only perform 1 mod at a time...no air up to KCMO... and the new air filter on the return trip home... Sorry I didn't gas up... since crude is down again that means pump prices will drop in the AM.. So fillup is tomorrow AM...
However I believe my MAP numbers changed on the way home with the new filter, and it seemed to be smoother..run better... Yes a warm and fuzzy feeling...to be tainted or reinforced in the AM when MPG is calculated. ...but i want the glow of the new fancy $$$ air filter to last for the night...The Scangauge II mpg numbers looked better as well. But when calculating mileage it's the click of the pump gallons divided into the trip odometer period. The scan guage can be adjusted or off set.

BTW with cruise on and flat terrain.... my Garmin GPS 2plus said speedo at 55 was 55.1 but speedo at 80 was 77.7.
my odometer clicks past 20 mile posts on I35 and reports 20.2+. Experimenting with that last week, I'd call it 20 mile posts equals 20.25 on the odometer. So I may play with my scanguageII to adjust...but I want to think about it more...

Frankly I'll stick with gallons readout from the pump with a state of Kansas seal certifying the measure and the electronic odometer of the tracker. I can't tamper with either..moving on....

Now the air off or the AIR HOG rechargeable air filter are not the 2 things I've done to improve mileage I mentioned in my first post....Well talk about them on a day I have nothing to say...

Tune in next time... but before you do.. My gal pal blew a tire... it happened to be her birthday, so I bought her a round thing with a hole in the middle ... infact 2.. Yes 2 235/60-16's for her Vue... at the loco tire shop...the good old boys there said they now carry nitrogen... fill the tires for $5 each.. Of course my answer was...and Dayton readers will agree.. Tire stores in Dayton Ohio give it for free if you buy tires there...
They were ah gasp...but it is true...beat any deal and get N2 in your tires...They claim 2-3 mpg improvement...The semi's been using it and I'll trust a good old boy, God fearing, grit eating, gun toting trucker over Obama... hey OBAMA?!?!? (don't let me go there) oh- that's at highway speeds... well, should I spend $20 since I'm R/T ing to KCMO 1-2 times per week on business???? The tracker is light weight and has big baloney's for a 4-banger econo 4x4 want to be.

Well, before you write in to this station, let's do the math... how many 2mpg savings do we need when gas in Wichita is $3.49 to break even with the $20 bill the loco tire boys are trying to suck out of my deep pockets...

Stay tuned, I'm too tired to type or do math in my head... you see I lost my slide rule about 1978...

Humm.....

On the 100K+mi 2003 Chevy Tracker 4x4 4cyl, 5 speed. 4 door.
Monday we learned corroded battery posts will cause it not to start and the scan gauge to fluctuate VOLTS wildly 11-16 V at 55 cruise on.
today we learned air conditioning off saves 1/10 mpg or about $0.02 per gallon...
tomorrow we're going to learn if the FRAM AIR HOG filter got us any mpg improvement and if the math makes N2 in the tires worth it..

Why Fram Air hog? It was on the shelf and severely discounted as was the rest of the store going out of business. K&N is a special order for the Tracker and WAL*MART does not even stock any air filter for a Chevy tracker... rice burners you can get...

So tune in again boys and girls...
DISCLAIMER- anything tried on my 2003 Chevy Tracker may not work on your rust bucket and visa versa...So I don't want to hear about it..

When I took Ford Motors my 100mpg carburetor they told me, "come back when you're doing 150+mpg but here's a couple of oil change coupons for your trouble good at any dealer and sign this non-disclosure form." Then they'll tell you some kid from Roswell, NM in 1947 had a carb that did 110 mpg.. on a '38 Ford flathead V8, burned water and the exaust dripped 180 proof Scotch..Ford traded the kid for a new Mercury convertible with a push button radio then sold it to Ted Kennedy..Enough said..

See you later...stay tuned...

[Right Lane Cruiser]

One note... temperatures from centuries ago are not recorded from notes taken by people at the time.

[lamebums]

I see a 16% drop in FE when using the various blends of corn meth (E10 and E10 RFG). From 58 to 50 MPG.

The link is in my sig.

[am_fm_radio]

Originally Posted by Right Lane Cruiser

One note... temperatures from centuries ago are not recorded from notes taken by people at the time.

Ah-- Well, there's always one that shouts out... --- recorded from notes, I didn't say notes, I said thermometers... Before thermometers.. well, DUH I'm talking thermometers... Mans first temperature measuring device.... anything prior was waving your dick in the wind and guessing or the "new wave" Al gore scientific... "proxy measurements" - junk science claiming to be accurate. I feel like the old rooster in the cartoons talking to the young cock.

Let me restate in simplest terms "earlier temperature measurements taken by thermometer were inaccurate". or any 2 or more separate measurements not traceable to the national or international standard are inaccurate. That's why standards were created, only recently and only to the scientific accuracy to today.

To put in perspective, a measurement of the circumference of the earth to the inch... Accuracy would have to be greater than 1 inch over 25,000 miles (approx.) or 1 over (25000*5280(ft/mi)*12(in/ft)) or accuracy exceeding 6.313131e-10 using pi to the tenth decimal (3.1415926535) only approximates it. Prior to 1938, slide rules were state of the art....3 significant digits max. So you can't find the circumfrence of the earth measured to the inch..it is approximated albeit scientifically accurate. An 18th century thermometer can only be accurate to itself and during a short time period. Therefore impossible to make large empirical global measurements.

Stating any 1-3 percent global temperature change over centuries is impossible as and because its inaccurate by that amount or more.

Reference the year 1737....WHEN thermometers WERE in Use and debated EVEN then to their accuracy. I reference this article:

http://www.astro.uu.se/history/celsius_scale.html

in part it states" Of course also the freezing and boiling points of water were used, but it was not self-evident that they really were universal and e.g. independent of the geographic latitude." (and altitude-my addition) and goes on to cite examples of extensive scientific arguement over accuracy and method to standardize.

another reference:
http://www.cjhclocks.com/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=14
states:The first thermometer was an air thermometer used by Avicenna in the early 11th century.
and....the impetus for improving thermometry came largely from study of the weather -

What?!?!? WEATHER?!?!? would that have anything to do with AL GORES "GLOBAL WARMING"???

So... to agree with you...before the 11th century it was impossible to use a thermometer,
about the only measurement scientifically accurate (to some repeatable degree) prior to the 11th century was "we got water, ice or steam" anything else you can't buy.

After the 11th century till some point recent they were inaccurate. At what point can you say "proxy measurements" ARE VERIFIABLE and QUANTITATIVELY ACCURATE???


I am writing about "instrumental temperature record shows the fluctuations of the temperature of the atmosphere and the oceans as measured by temperature sensors. Currently, the longest-running temperature record is the Central England temperature data series, that starts in 1659. The longest-running quasi-global record starts in 1850." -from wikipedia.org

and finally I cite-The NOAA states "The 1997 Conference on the World Climate Research Programme to the Third Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change concluded that the ability to monitor the global climate was inadequate and deteriorating." found at url location:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrum...erature_record

See why I recommended no replies... I answered this one to show that there are kooks out there with their unsubstantiated one liners that cannot comprehend the English I write. Yet claim mastery of the English language; usually only as opposed to no working knowledge of any other language. We won't even go into logic, or scientific deduction.

I predict- Watch me be attacked as to my scan gauge II referenced improvements to my 2003 Chevy tracker as noted in this thread as inaccurate. Well, they are. My posting are ONLY relevant to my scanguageII and my car... no one else is identical, as there are no scientifically traceable standards of measurement used. Why ...it isn't worth it.. Remember -Follow the $$$$$

That is why, in another post I stated I use the car's odometer divided gas pump measure in gallons. As both are "tamper proof" by law, regulated by state and feds and out of my hands. If tampered with, it is a crime. Whereas, the scanguageII MPG readout can be user modified no crime, just ego boost.

So watching scanguageII readouts on Utube or reading my calculations... consider the source..

I bought the scangaugeII for one purpose, to be able to detect changes in my engine with traveling a large amount of mileage divided by a tank of gas to determine any change.

I will refer to this in later postings...

back to grinding out paperwork..

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Interesting and highly abrasive. I was pointing to the fact that temperature measurements are known in a relative way for many thousands of years before thermometers were created, and those temperatures were not recorded by anyone.

If there are no notes from those dates you were so happy to provide, I have to also ask, who cares if there were thermometers or not? Of course there were notes! If there were not, why would the question of accuracy come up at all?

If you are going to hand wave and discount a whole body of scientific knowledge based on careful study of sediments, ice, geologic formations, tree rings, and other such data then yes, there really isn't anything to discuss about global temperature trends. I'd have to also point out that you'll have to had wave away a whole lot of other knowledge acquired in a similar manner.

To be perfectly clear, I don't believe the data currently available for temperature trends in the last few centuries is sufficient to conclude either a global warming or cooling trend. This doesn't invalidate a reasonable concern about human impact on the environment, nor does it invalidate the longer term temperature fluxuations identified though history.

As for antique thermometers, a margin of error is reasonable. It could very well be that differences in thermometers were on the order of several degrees -- but that is why there are standards and multiple sources. Besides, I'm not that concerned about validity of a few degrees -- see my statements above.

More to the point, your attack of a simple statement was completely unwarranted and prompts the very relevant question of why you are here? This is a community open to discussion and based upon sharing -- a two way street. You have made a large number of assumptions and do not appear to be here for discussion at all -- if all you wish to do is publish your results perhaps a different venue that does not allow comments would be more your style?

[am_fm_radio]

RE: Ethanol blend...

I have knowingly run 10% to 30% Ethanol as advertised at the pump... it's what's not advertized I question... especially the fluctuation of mpg to as low as 20+ mpg to over 29mpg, simply by using cruise when ever possible, doing the speed limit or maybe a hair above. Traveling in Kansas a corn state and then simply refilling...and increasing my mpg from 20+mpg to 25+mpg because I filled up elsewhere.

It's not bumper to bumper, stop lights all the way when I travel Wichita, to KCMO or OKOK.. it's flat open Interstate 35...

Toss temperature... it's summer I drive 8-5pm...it's work.. Toss altitude.. All of Kansas varies about 1100 feet. these factors may not be the same every day but repeat over June July and August.

Same car...Same cruise control.. Same driver for cargo..windows closed air on (mostly) 90% of the time I fill local before proceeding out on a trip.

What differs...90 percent of the gas bought at the same station... but I have no control over repeated refillings from the same homogeneous tank. That is the variable..

The suckiest gas I got was from a "by the interstate" Shell gas station in Emporia, KS. I believe that was ethanol in excess of 30%. priced as real gasoline..

The best gas mileage from the afore mentioned 90% of my fillups local gas station...A Quick Pick... Local to Wichita (7-11 variant), owned by Dillions a local supermarket chain AKA KROGERS. they and a QT brand are biggest in Wichita.. There is no Mobile/Exxon to my knowledge.. all these cowboys drive old pickups and clunkers except for the pimps..

As I reported my 29.something MPG is always EAST of the Mississippi...Ohio- to New England...not here in the Corn state. I always fill-up in St. Louis heading east as IL and IN are high gas tax states.. I repeated my 29+mpg events during a move from Boston to Wichita and then returning this past Christmas for a visit.
Gas is Gas but it aint... QT advertises guaranteed gasoline, but what the hell does that mean?? their pumps say 10% ethanol some places..

My only conclusion is that those selling gas , somewhere up and down the supply chain, are screwing with us. the deviation of 20-29mpg and back and forth over and over does not match experiences of 10 years ago when gas mileage varied only when you hooked up the camper..Both real world conclusions.

I was raised by immigrant parents who settled in the coal mines went through the depression and WWII. We were saving gas, tracking mileage in the 50's. This is nothing new. I knew the gas mileage and tracked it in my first car, a 1957 chevy in 1967-68. I even found bought a 57 with a 265cu V8 and 3 speed stick to save gas instead of a 283 powerglide. The family teenager car was a 1962 chevyII 4cylinder powerglide. VW bugs could beat it off the line. but it got over 30mpg. I drove it, so did 4 sisters and a brother as it got handed down. In almost 10 years that gas mileage only varied maybe 1mpg the entire time... 6 drivers and my dad... BTW we lived in Detroit a mile from a Mobile refinery.


The only way to prove this gas ethanol fluctuation is to obtain a sample of gas at each pump at each fillup then have it analyzed each time and referenced to each mpg at the next fillup to correlate that fillup to that sample. Then have a second tank of reference gas to use before and after a period of tests to verify test results. That's quasi scientific study.

Car and Driver....any takers??