Gas and Ethanol Content

KizashiSLS11 · Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:32 pm

Does anyone know how well the Kizashi is suited for ethanol fuels?

Also is there a preference in your brand of gas. I typically use Shell gas, but used Chevron the other day and it seemed as if my car started driving more sluggish. Any thoughts?

gaww · Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:01 pm

KizashiSLS11 wrote:Does anyone know how well the Kizashi is suited for ethanol fuels?

Also is there a preference in your brand of gas. I typically use Shell gas, but used Chevron the other day and it seemed as if my car started driving more sluggish. Any thoughts?

Check owners manual. Most (possible) all new cars can handle it, but generally 10% or less. I avoid it when possible - as it does no good - a political boondoggle that no one needed.

Hawkzilla · Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:51 pm

I have used ethanol blend and would not suggest it. There is a very noticeable drop in performance and fuel efficiency. Not worth it.

~tc~ · Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:57 pm

Book says not to uses it.

It will eat the hoses and fittings.

Hawkzilla · Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:39 pm

lol... 10% ethanol will not eat the hoses and fittings, I promise you that. But I still would not recommend, I think with the fuel efficiency you lose you actually end up spending more on the ethanol blend.

Blackbelt · Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:48 pm

Yep, the energy content in a gallon of gasoline is 116,000BTU while the energy content of a gallon of ethanol is 76,000 BTU, resulting in fewer MPG with ethanol blends.

Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:41 pm

manual states up to 10% is OK....even thought the stuff is counter productive. My brother has been using a Lucas additive to counter the ethanol effects in his 350 V8 1997 Tahoe. He's conviced it runs better using the additive versus not.

KizashiSLS11 · Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:32 pm

How do I avoid ethanol fuel? My Kizashi has been running sluggish for a week. Normally when I hit about 3K RPM the revs raise and it produces good power.

Now it just feels sluggish and my gas mileage has been like 18-19 in city and got only 23 Hwy on a 100 mile trip the other day.

I normally use Shell Gas but used Chevron a week ago. Could the engine ECU be cutting power?

I gased up last night at Shell and gas milege seems to be returning but power has not. Any suggestions?

Hawkzilla · Fri Apr 15, 2011 3:46 pm

KizashiSLS11 wrote:How do I avoid ethanol fuel? My Kizashi has been running sluggish for a week. Normally when I hit about 3K RPM the revs raise and it produces good power.

Now it just feels sluggish and my gas mileage has been like 18-19 in city and got only 23 Hwy on a 100 mile trip the other day.

I normally use Shell Gas but used Chevron a week ago. Could the engine ECU be cutting power?

I gased up last night at Shell and gas milege seems to be returning but power has not. Any suggestions?

I believe it is required by law that gas stations state on the pump if there is an ethanol blend. I would just stick the the reg unleaded 87 octane. Where I live it says 10% Ethanol right on the pump, so it's pretty easy to avoid.

I too have noticed that I get better results from certain stations, so the Kiz must just be one sensitive little gas eater... or some stations provide questionable fuel. Now I only fill up at a certain station when at all possible.

KizashiSLS11 · Wed Apr 20, 2011 5:56 pm

Has anyone tried Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner in their Kizashi to improve gas mileage or performance? Is the Kizashi's compression ratio considered high at 10:01 or is that normal for today and still using regular gas. Has anyone tried higher octanes?