Decreased fuel economy

**restituto** · February 23rd, 2012 10:25 PM

Since I got my car 8 years ago, I my fuel economy for city driving is between 10 - 11 km/liter but lately I noticed that I can barely reached 10 km/li. What seemed to be the problem? I have my car maintenance done regularly (at CASA). Is there a possibility that some fuel or engine system parts have deteriorated that affected the fuel economy? All conditions still the same like..daily route, driving habits, normal tire inflation (manufacturers recommended). Hope you can share your insights guys...thanks...

**non-vtec** · February 24th, 2012 08:31 AM

Try asking your SA to check/clean the intake sensors (MAF, MAP) and the throttle body as well. Its not part of the PMS but they can do it upon the customer's request. Also I don't know if its just me but I noticed an increase in FC since the introduction of E10.

**restituto** · February 24th, 2012 10:13 PM

Thanks for the suggestion. By the way what is MAF and MAP?

**yebo** · February 24th, 2012 11:30 PM

it's just the ethanol in the gas. ethanol has less energy compared to gasoline so your fc will naturally increase when you switched from leaded gasoline to ethanol blended fuel. also, ethanol costs more than tetra-ethyl lead additive, kaya mas mahal ang ethnaol blended fuel. the good side of course is you and your children breathe cleaner air.

**restituto** · February 26th, 2012 12:40 AM

okay. the good aspect of ethanol could not be realized if the clean air act is not fully implemented. Still there are lots of smoke belcher on the road..

more bad side... increase in fuel consumption + increase in fuel price = increase in operating cost. ....hahaha

**vinj** · February 27th, 2012 09:16 AM

What's your car?

Take note also that traffic continues to get worse and as parts wear down, this will also affect your FC.

**ghosthunter** · February 27th, 2012 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by yebo

it's just the ethanol in the gas. ethanol has less energy compared to gasoline so your fc will naturally increase when you switched from leaded gasoline to ethanol blended fuel. also, ethanol costs more than tetra-ethyl lead additive, kaya mas mahal ang ethnaol blended fuel. the good side of course is you and your children breathe cleaner air.

Er... depends.

"Cleaner air" is a subjective thing. Having to need to burn 10% more fuel to go the same distance also means 10% more exhaust emissions including soot, carbon dioxide, nitrides of combustion, carbon monoxide, etc. from ALL the cars running on E10 blended gasolines.

**restituto** · February 28th, 2012 09:59 PM

Got an opinion from the consultant of one of the big gas company:

You are very right in your observation - decrease in fuel economy. E10 tends to be more volatile and has less heat content than the conventional gasoline. On the other positive outlook, ethanol burns more readily and has cleaner combustion property, thus, would produce less air pollutant (i.e. helps in keeping a cleaner environment). As per the Biofuels Act of 2006, biofuels (such as bioethanol ) are considered renewable & using such would lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuels and help boost the productivity of local farmers.

**ghosthunter** · February 28th, 2012 11:59 PM

Originally Posted by restituto

Got an opinion from the consultant of one of the big gas company:

You are very right in your observation - decrease in fuel economy. E10 tends to be more volatile and has less heat content than the conventional gasoline. On the other positive outlook, ethanol burns more readily and has cleaner combustion property, thus, would produce less air pollutant (i.e. helps in keeping a cleaner environment). As per the Biofuels Act of 2006, biofuels (such as bioethanol ) are considered renewable & using such would lessen our dependence on imported fossil fuels and help boost the productivity of local farmers.

Lessen our dependence on imported fuels? Who said so? 99% of the ethanol used to make E10 gasoline is imported from abroad.

If we burn 10% more E10 gasoline to travel the same distance, how does that equate to cleaner air? It just means you are burning 10% the fuel you would need to cover the same distance as compared to regular unleaded gasoline. Assuming we are using 1 liter of regular gasoline, you would need 1.1 liters of E10 to go the same distance. So if you get 90% of 1.1 liters... that is 0.99 liters, which is the equivalent volume of regular gasoline you are burning. The 0.11 liters is the amount of ethanol. Where is the savings? Where is the supposed cleaner air if we are just burning 99% (plus 11% more in ethanol) of the fuel to go the same distance? Think about it... we are just ending up paying 10% more in our fuel bills. In the end, we are just making the oil companies and tax collectors happy.

The bio-fuels law was made in 2006. It's 2012. Six years later, we are still importing 99% of the ethanol we use as fuel. Note: expensive fuel that gives less fuel mileage in our cars.

Do the math. If ethanol is more expensive than gasoline and if you mix ethanol in gasoline to make E10, that means E10 is a more expensive product to use. So why is E10 not sold more expensive at the pump? Government subsidies. Yet you have to remember, all that money comes from our taxes and if we are just subsidizing the cost of fuel, it's just like burning money.

So where is that miracle plant they said would be used to produce bio-ethanol? Nowhere because it requires just as much water, care and good farmland to grow properly. So at the end of it all, it will be a matter of farmland for food or fuel. If you use more farmland to grow fuel-crops, fuel prices will go higher because of limited supply vs demand.

We are all screwed by the bio-fuels law.

**zap.FREEDOM** · February 29th, 2012 09:32 AM

that's why I'm wondering why does my gas gauge rapidly drop its needle to Empty Level everytime I drive it with the same distance unlike those recent years, my 300 pesos worth of fuel can take me 20kms++ with still have a reserve when I got home, but now 300php ko saktuhan na lang,

nowadays, is there some gas station who still sell a pure unleaded fuel?