What is in the gas? My son said when he uses this gas he gets much less gas mileage. Why is that?

Question

I am referring to the gas used by the Murphey USA stations. And no, it is not my sons driving habits, he gets less mileage driving the same distance and speed when he uses this station.

Answer 1

No one but you and your son know what "this gas" refers to.  If you expect an answer above the quality of "because", include enough detail that someone could answer.

Added:  Now that you have said what he is using, I'd suggest he not buy fuel there, or any other 'off brand' station.  The difference between stations is primarily the additives they add to their fuel, which could include octane boosters giving the better bargain.

Answer 2

maybe it has 10% ethanol.

That would reduce mileage.

It would also explain why it is cheaper as Murphy usually is.

Answer 3

FROM JUST THE LITTLE THAT YOU ARE GIVING US I WOULD SAY THAT MAYBE THE PROBLEM MIGHT BE YOUR SONS DRIVING HABITS ?????

OTHER THAN THAT I WOULD NEED MORE INFORMATION.

Answer 4

Sounds like me might be using E85 (Ethanol)

It's cheaper, but gas mileage will suffer greatly even in a car designed to run it.   Whether or not it's worth it to use e85 depends on the gas mileage you receive versus the cost of regular gasoline and mileage you receive from it.

Sometimes it's actually more expensive to run the cheaper e85.  Always depends on price.

Answer 5

Not enough details (type/brand of gas), but I'll try.  If his car specifies a certain octane level it will almost always worsen mileage if you use a lower level.  Some--not all--"non-branded" fuels are a mix of leftover/excess supplies from more than one distributor and there can be some quality issues.  I'd stay with the gasoline that delivers the best economy, even if I had to pay a little more at the pump.  Over the long haul it's worth it.

Answer 6

If you're talking about E85, then, you should expect about 25% less mileage according to the latest tests that I saw.

E85 has a lot less BTU's per gallon than normal gas due to the addition of alcohol which has very low BTU per gallon compared to gas, and his combination dilutes the power available in E85 fuel.