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Old Oct 28, 2004 | 05:04 PM
  #16  
Superchips_Distributor's Avatar
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From: Virginia
I strongly recommend steering clear of *ANY* type of alcohol (ethanol, methanol, etc.) in the gas tank of ANY EFI vehicle - including "gasohol," unless your only other choice is walking (and in some states, particularly in the mid-west, gasohol is in widespread use).

Not only is alcohol highly corrosive above about 10% by volume, but it's always extremely low in BTU content compared to any pump gasoline. Alcohol-based fuels have anywhere from maybe 70% (at best) to only 50% (more typical) of the BTU's per gallon compared to "normal" pump gasoline.

Alcohol-based additives make a poor octane-raising agent due to the vastly lower BTU content & resultant overall fuel formulation.

However - even with all of that being said, I'd like to see us get rid of gasoline and go to alcohol fuels - we'd need a somewhat larger gas tank (due to the lower BTU content) to maintain current cruising ranges, and more rugged fuel system components to stand up to the corrosive aspect, but that's not hard to do. And when it's tuned & configured correctly, switching to alcohol-based fuel yields about a 20% raw power gain and significantly fewer harmful emissions.

Henry Ford felt so strongly about the need to get away from gasoline and the resultant pollution, byproducts, oil company lobbyists, etc., that all Ford vehicles were dual-fuel (gasoline and alcohol) for years back in the "early days." He even went so far as to research what biomass grew the quickest/fastest so as to be the most efficient source for making alcohol - know what it was? The hemp plant - which he grew on his spread for some years before it was outlawed.

Just trivia..................
 
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