[Jeb114]

Be aware this can be dangerous to your car.

The new fuel is called E15 and contains 15 percent ethanol, compared to the 10 percent in regular unleaded.

Though E15 is sold at the same pump consumers are used to, government warnings say it's not safe to use in every engine.

Joe Strazishar noticed the new fuel at an Oconomowoc KwikTrip earlier this summer and was confused.

"Number one, the name is very misleading," he said.

KwikTrip markets E15 under the name "Unleaded 88," a reference to the octane level of this blend of fuel.

On the pumps at KwikTrip, E15 is sold in the space that used to dispense 89 octane gas.

But "Unleaded 88" actually sells for a few cents less than the 87 octane fuel that comes out of the same pump.

The only thing explaining all this is a little orange sticker identifying "Unleaded 88" as E15.

"Their sign for 29 cent bananas is 100 times bigger than that 15 sticker," Strazishar said.

That warning label was created by the renewable fuel industry, which pushed for gas with a higher ethanol content.

The label was needed because E15 is not for everyone.

Nick Jarmusz from AAA Wisconsin said drivers need to do their homework before choosing the new fuel.

"You want to make sure you do your research and find out if it's approved for your vehicle. If it's not approved, you could be looking at some damage to your engine," Jarmusz said.

The orange warning label clearly states E15 is only for cars made after 2001.

But a warning letter from the Wisconsin DNR goes further, telling consumers to "consult the vehicle's owner manual to determine whether using E15 will affect its warranty."

Adding to the confusion is a federal law makes it flat-out illegal to use E15 gas in a list of engines.

E15 is off limits to motorcycles, buses and delivery trucks, off road vehicles, boats and snowmobiles, as well as yard tools like chainsaws, snowblowers and lawnmowers.

Joe Strazishar wishes KwikTrip had done a little more to help people like him understand the change.

While the company has been selling E15 for weeks under the name "Unleaded 88," it's still not ready to talk about it.

A spokesperson responded to a request for an interview by declining to talk about E15.

"We are still in the evaluation/testing phase, but feel like mid-September would be a good time to circle back."

To a confused consumer like Joe Strazishar, that's putting the cart before the horse.

"Consumers need to be prepared for that. They would have done a great service in actually doing it the other way around and say it's coming, it's coming," he said.

KwikTrip is not the only gas station rolling out E15 in Wisconsin, right now they're just the biggest.

The I-TEAM told KwikTrip when our story would air and asked for a chance to talk.

We never heard back.

Best advice: if you want to know if E15 is right for your car, call your dealer or mechanic.

[jdasnt3]

It is dangerous for my car, I'd lose some serious HP using that versus the 51%+! LOL

[parish8]

Dangerous for me too. Going from e85 all the way to lowly e15 it would probabbly blow up. I love ethanol. $1.75/gallon for race fuel.

I don't understand why our cars don't come from the factory flex fuel.

[nicktechla]

That's what you get for getting gas at a place called KwikTrip haha

[Zodiac]

Originally Posted by nicktechla

That's what you get for getting gas at a place called KwikTrip haha

Can't tell if serious or just stupid?

OP Sheetz has E-15 also listed as 88 at the pumps around here as well.

[SSDanny]

Originally Posted by nicktechla

That's what you get for getting gas at a place called KwikTrip haha

Haha, being from LA myself, I've yet to hear this name either.

[cellsafemode]

Fuel already has up to 10% ethanol, the extra 5 will just work to lower mileage a little bit. No doom and gloom or damage to your car.

This sounds like a post that is about 15 years too late

[Dethsupp0rt]

It's not going to hurt anything.

Maybe if you posted this in the Gen 1 forum it would apply, but pretty much any modern car is fine with up to E20 or so.

[STYLO LT1]

We also have these in New Joisey. Funny name, but damn they make some good sandwiches.

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by nicktechla

That's what you get for getting gas at a place called KwikTrip haha

Kwik Trip is a Top Tier gasoline retailer, FYI.


As for the E15, we've known it's been coming for a while. As always, pay attention to what you put in your tank. If any one of you have owned a Diesel vehicle you know how critical this is.

[Megahurtz]

I wouldn't run 88 octane in my car anyhow. Fortunately we can convert our cars to flex fuel pretty easily if the government forced more than 10% ethanol on us. Then the manufacturers would have to honor warranty claims still and provide a solution.

[cellsafemode]

the octane doesn't mean anything in regards to whether or not it's got ethanol mixed in. Neither does the tier of fuel.

Usually stations that have ethanol mixed in (nearly all of them) will have a sticker on the pump somewhere saying that it might have ethanol. If you have a problem with that for whatever reason, you'll have to hunt around to find fuel that isn't if it's even an option where you live.

It wont do anything to any cars covered by any still active warranties. So manufacturers dont have to worry about claims.

I'm surprised they're still pushing ethanol, i figured the policy makers would have been educated enough to realize that it doesn't have a real net positive effect to anyone except corn farmers/companies. Wonder what their yearly political bribes/lobbying has been lately.

https://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/cl...?id=D000027833

Hrm.. big surprise.

edit: also just an fyi, ethanol is somewhat below the national avg of current gasoline prices (though this index includes gasoline with ethanol mixed in too). So mixing more in is just going to net more profits to the fuel suppliers since they're not going to pass any sort of savings on to customers. This combines with how more ethanol lowers mileage so you end up buying more fuel. Exxon is pleased.

[mlee]

You might want to stay away from the pumps we have here then...

[Martinjlm]

Originally Posted by cellsafemode

Fuel already has up to 10% ethanol, the extra 5 will just work to lower mileage a little bit. No doom and gloom or damage to your car.

This sounds like a post that is about 15 years too late

Originally Posted by DethSupp0rt

It's not going to hurt anything.

Maybe if you posted this in the Gen 1 forum it would apply, but pretty much any modern car is fine with up to E20 or so.

Mostly true but not totally. When ethanol first started to be implemented, some, but not all gasoline engines in production at the time had to have valves stems and valve seats hardened to accommodate E10. There were also issues with fuel pumps and fuel lines that had to be handled on a product by product basis..Those that didn't need to be, weren't. Nobody has gone back and tested those that didn't need to be hardened for E10 to see if they needed it for E15. Chances are they will be okay, but no guarantees.

When E85 came into play, some manufacturers decided to harden any product families that would have E85 applications. In other words, since some GM trucks with small block V8 were among the first to use E85, all engines with those RPO codes got the hardened components, whether they were calibrated for E85 or not. It was easier in the manufacturing process. But a lot of the car V8s did not. At the point in time this was occurring I was in a position to be heavily involved in the discussions of which were hardened for E85 and which were not. Fast forwarding to today, I think all small blocks are hardened, but I cannot be totally certain. And I am not certain about the status of other long term GM engine families, though I would expect the more modern families (HFV6, most EcoTec products) to be E85 hardened. Other manufacturers were making similar decisions at the same time and I am sure that not all made decisions with the same criteria in mind. Point is, there is a chance that some gasoline engines that are E10 capable but not E85 capable may not be E15 or E20 capable, because they were never tested to that. Ford could be an exception because I recall that they were alone among automakers in telling EPA that E15 is fine. GM, Toyota, Honda, FCA, Nissan, etc were all saying E15 is a disaster, especially for past model products that were never tested with it.

The important part of that statement is that if the engines were not tested for E15 or E20 durability, they will not be warranted for any potential damage done by E15 or E20.