FE Turnaround: Disappointment to Satisfaction, 2010 Yaris. Almost +50 MPH. Thank You!

[BailOut]

Originally Posted by STC

I was not aware of this? I thought it was a Federal Ban on MTBE additive (2006) in reformulated gasoline that has not fully taken effect? Long legal process that was placed on the certain states? The petroleum company I buy gas from is CS Meyer in Son, Inc. They purchase Reformulated Blendstock for Oxygenate Blending (RBOB) gas... no additives like Ethanol... MBTE... or TATE. Just coventional gasoline. He said it meets emissions performance and benzene content standards of federal-program reformulated gasoline even though the gasoline may not meet all the requirements of federal-program reformulated gasoline. He said he would not like to take the incentive to add 10% Ethanol, because a lot of his customers like this conventional gas in operating their small engines (motorcycles, lawnmowers, tractors, etc) smoothly. It is nice that there is no sticker on their pumps telling you the gasoline may contain Ethanol

Cheers...

You're right, STC. Ethanol has only been mandated for population centers that have failed the EPA's clean air standards as part of their "Attainment" program. Some States have adopted 10% ethanol as a State-wide standard of their own accord but this has not been mandated across the nation by any means

Welcome to the forum, by the way. You're off to a great start in your fuel efficiency pursuits and I'm sure you'll be punching out 50+ MPG tanks in no time! And you've already caught onto the most important realization which is it's the driver, even more than the car, that makes efficiency happen.

(P.S. I'll say it as well: The proper use of paragraphs would have made your post much more readable, so please work on that in the future. )

[Yaris Hilton]

My understanding is that the MTBE ban is a state thing also, but is widespread enough that the U.S. fuel producers have dropped it altogether. I may be wrong. The knock against it is that it smells and tastes terrible at extremely low concentrations in water, and because of leaking tanks contaminating groundwater and boaters spilling gas in lakes and rivers, it was affecting municipal water supply quality.

The Federal government did pass a mandate (pushed by George W. Bush) for using ethanol that requires the sale of minimum quantities of it, supposedly to replace imported oil with "renewable alternative fuels," and the amount they have to sell now is hard to get rid of when they're limited to a 10% blend. That's the reason for the push to license E15 or E20, and why some folks who test what they get at the pump report finding ethanol levels approaching 20% already.

[STC]

Originally Posted by Yaris Hilton

My understanding is that the MTBE ban is a state thing also, but is widespread enough that the U.S. fuel producers have dropped it altogether. I may be wrong. The knock against it is that it smells and tastes terrible at extremely low concentrations in water, and because of leaking tanks contaminating groundwater and boaters spilling gas in lakes and rivers, it was affecting municipal water supply quality.

The Federal government did pass a mandate (pushed by George W. Bush) for using ethanol that requires the sale of minimum quantities of it, supposedly to replace imported oil with "renewable alternative fuels," and the amount they have to sell now is hard to get rid of when they're limited to a 10% blend. That's the reason for the push to license E15 or E20, and why some folks who test what they get at the pump report finding ethanol levels approaching 20% already.

In 2005 there was a large spill... leaking tank in a gas station chain, where MTBE contaminated local “Spring Creek”... It took over a year to clean up.

Yes, you are correct... a mandate was passed for requirement in minimum amounts of Ethanol during the Bush watch. I know there is a push to up the amount to 20% blend. My question is... doesn’t a vehicle have to be re-fitted to run this concentration?

Cheers...

[Yaris Hilton]

Originally Posted by STC

Yes, you are correct... a mandate was passed for requirement in minimum amounts of Ethanol during the Bush watch. I know there is a push to up the amount to 20% blend. My question is... doesn’t a vehicle have to be re-fitted to run this concentration?

I expect a new Yaris will run on anything up to E25 without problems. I doubt they make special fuel systems just for the ones they export to Brazil. The company doesn't currently approve of using anything over E10 at present in the U.S. The EPA recently sponsored tests indicating that any cars built since 2000 ought to do fine with E20. Last year I read a fellow's post here, on the Toyota Nation or Clean MPG boards, I forget which, about his experiments blending E85 with E10 in his Yaris. It ran fine up to something over 40% ethanol, when it began to set lean mixture codes. I know many people have an almost religious fervor against ethanol in gasoline and believe it will cause terrible automotive disaster, but I've used E10 much of the time since 1977 in cars and motorcycles old and new, and never had any problems. It's more of an issue for outboard motors, 2-stroke powered lawn equipment, chainsaws and such using premixed oil.

[talnlnky]

Originally Posted by Yaris Hilton

I expect a new Yaris will run on anything up to E25 without problems. I doubt they make special fuel systems just for the ones they export to Brazil. The company doesn't currently approve of using anything over E10 at present in the U.S. The EPA recently sponsored tests indicating that any cars built since 2000 ought to do fine with E20. Last year I read a fellow's post here, on the Toyota Nation or Clean MPG boards, I forget which, about his experiments blending E85 with E10 in his Yaris. It ran fine up to something over 40% ethanol, when it began to set lean mixture codes. I know many people have an almost religious fervor against ethanol in gasoline and believe it will cause terrible automotive disaster, but I've used E10 much of the time since 1977 in cars and motorcycles old and new, and never had any problems. It's more of an issue for outboard motors, 2-stroke powered lawn equipment, chainsaws and such using premixed oil.

agreed, i remember about a year or two back reading about a somebody who took a newer car (not sure if it was a yaris)... and found that doing a 50/50 mix of E85 and E10 gave no problems.

[Yaris Hilton]

Having mentioned Brazil, i went and took a look. They don't sell Yarises there. You can get a Corolla or a Camry, though.

[STC]

Originally Posted by BailOut

You're right, STC. Ethanol has only been mandated for population centers that have failed the EPA's clean air standards as part of their "Attainment" program. Some States have adopted 10% ethanol as a State-wide standard of their own accord but this has not been mandated across the nation by any means

Welcome to the forum, by the way. You're off to a great start in your fuel efficiency pursuits and I'm sure you'll be punching out 50+ MPG tanks in no time! And you've already caught onto the most important realization which is it's the driver, even more than the car, that makes efficiency happen.

(P.S. I'll say it as well: The proper use of paragraphs would have made your post much more readable, so please work on that in the future. )

Thank you, BailOut. I’ll keep the posts short and simple and make sure to separate the paragraphs for easier reading. The excitement of almost getting 50 MPG must have been a factor?

Yeah, it has been mandated only in certain population centers... Federal RFG is required in the Philadelphia area, summer and winter. I’m not sure what is required for the Pittsburgh area? Here in Central PA... no requirements as of now. It is pretty much a cow town where I live!

Cheers...