Quote:
Originally Posted by iff2mastamatt
Ethanol is the worst! It vastly decreases fuel efficiency, and it raises the price of corn for no reason. We have it in our fuel because the commodity traders can manipulate the price of corn with sleazy government deals. 30% of all corn in the US goes towards ethanol, which is an amazing amount considering that it is only 10% of our fuel.
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No it doesn't decrease fuel efficiency. It has lower energy density but permits more thermally efficient engine operation. If you could convert gasoline to ethanol with no chemical energy loss, you'd be using less.
It's not that hard to upgrade the fuel system for ethanol, but it is a cost that isn't necessary if the car is never going to see ethanol fuel.
@ Allch Chcar I think POS econoboxes ARE the solution. You can only go so far with technology and whatever. In poorer countries people don't even really care about performance, they just want something that moves, and doesn't break. For the majority of drivers around the world even in rich countries this is how it is. People want some degree of comfort, reliability, and utility. Which is why I think car companies should start cutting down engine size and implementing something like what the Geo Metro had, a fuel efficient cam with lower intake duration. Less cost, less weight, less power. Can't have everything. Besides with the green movement, less and less people are asking for power and instead are being careful with the gas pedal. Those people certainly won't notice a difference from cutting max torque by like 20%. While it's good to see stuff like GM and Ford moving to smaller displacement + turbo, cutting power on everything that really doesn't need it is necessary for fuel efficiency gains that don't hurt the wallet at purchase.