I wouldn't consider mine a "shit car." It has been well-maintained since I bought it new, probably a lot better than the average owner maintains their vehicles. But I've never seen a loss of only 1-2% on any blend that I've run, and since all the stations in this area (but the one) went to ethanol blends, almost everyone I know who tracks there mileage has complained of losses. The biggest losses seem to occur in vehicles more than 2 or 3 years old. Maybe the computer tuning in the newer cars allows for better compensation of running crap through their engines, I don't know. But no one has complained of only losing 1-2%. What, your 18mpg is now only 17.6? Who would notice?
And I could give a shit less about whether or not the subsidy issue is still around. All I want to see is the same mileage for the same cost at the pump. I thought part of the argument for ethanol blends was that it would lower the price at the pump. Yeah, right! I seem to remember reading in history class about a chicken in every pot. . . ?
SC Tom