The show I'm working on will be in Dallas for a couple of weeks in mid-July, and instead of flying down I'm driving my Cabrio down. I'll be staying at a hotel downtown and commuting back 'n forth to the Music Hall at Fair Park...
Can you get decent gas in the area, or do you have to put up with E85 or some other ethanol-diluted fuel?
Burning fuel with less than 10% ethanol will not hurt your car. More of us are burning it than we realize. Not all states require pump labeling for all purposes. With the renewable energy act it can be added in many states without any mention on the pump.
There may be other reasons to leave your car at home. E85 is kinda hard to find, there are not that many stations that offer it and you need a car set up to use it. That does not include our smarts.
karl
You won’t have any problems. E85 pumps and/or nozzles should be well marked (yellow I believe), and the smart can burn anything between 0% ethanol to 10% (E10) – but no more than 10%.
That said, we recently have had an incident in this area with numerous stations pumping 20% ethanol, causing serious vehicle problems. It is still under investigation by the state authorities. But not as bad as a couple of years ago when one station had their gasoline storage tank half filled with kerosene – instant JP-4!
I'm so happy the Chevron by my house states 100% gasoline on the pump. I pay less than Shell AND I get minimal risk of corroding the fuel system.
Just to clarify in case Rigger's confused like a lot of people, E85 is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. That can only be used in flex-fuel vehicles. The national standard is to accept up to 10% and some people have confirmed damage with higher percentages in various non-flex cars. 15%, 20%, it depends on the engine.
I would really be willing to pay an extra $500 for a Smart engine that's E85 capable just so I know it can handle 20%. It's so computerized anyway, I can't imagine it being that hard to do at the factory.
Of course, if we get an electric Smart, we eliminate the whole bad-fuel, combustion carbon, emissions control nightmares. I swear, half the equipment on a car nowadays is just compensating for the bad aspects of liquid fuel.
There may be other reasons to leave your car at home. E85 is kinda hard to find, there are not that many stations that offer it and you need a car set up to use it. That does not include our smarts.
That's all well and good, but it doesn't address the question. I don't want to *find* E85, I want to *AVOID* it.
You won’t have any problems. E85 pumps and/or nozzles should be well marked (yellow I believe), and the smart can burn anything between 0% ethanol to 10% (E10) – but no more than 10%.
Yes, I understand that. But I'd like to avoid even 10% if possible, for the sake of maxxing my fuel economy and performance. Plus there's that whole thing about being 1,300 miles from home; not the best situation to be in if you're having to feed your car less than the best...
I know many locales still have real, honest-to-goodness 100% gasoline; I was just wondering if the Dallas Metroplex might be one of 'em (although I doubt it).
Yes, I understand that. But I'd like to avoid even 10% if possible, for the sake of maxxing my fuel economy and performance. Plus there's that whole thing about being 1,300 miles from home; not the best situation to be in if you're having to feed your car less than the best...
I know many locales still have real, honest-to-goodness 100% gasoline; I was just wondering if the Dallas Metroplex might be one of 'em (although I doubt it).
This is an issue for my 2008 Z06 Vette (and the smart), so I use only "TOP TIER" fuels. Search top tier on google and it will tell you which fuels are meeting this stringent qualification.
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