I've decided to try e85 in my 2018 Taurus. It is flex fuel. What are the pros and cons of doing this? Does it effect engine life, motor oil, etc? I know you'll experience a drop in fuel economy. I have notice the engine seems quiter and smoother.
Running e85?
- Thread starter mpack88
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Found quite a few recent threads on "E85" using the search function. The newly revamped site does a much better job on searches.
I wanted a clean slate.
Kestas
Staff member
I really can't think of a good reason to run E85. I came here hoping someone could find a good reason.
If you're curious, I do recommend running three tanks of E85 and three tanks of E10, each in succession, and check your gas mileage. Though E85 has less BTU, the engine may process it differently. Compare the $ per mile for each fuel.
If you're curious, I do recommend running three tanks of E85 and three tanks of E10, each in succession, and check your gas mileage. Though E85 has less BTU, the engine may process it differently. Compare the $ per mile for each fuel.
One reason why I'm curious about it is ethanol being a alternative fuel from corn is that's its carbon neutral cause the next crop pulls the carbon out if the air.
Corn production may be "carbon neutral" but the totality of EtOH production is not. Especially when it subsequently undergoes combustion.
Uh, NO. The fermentation process alone puts more CO2 into the air than "growing corn" can absorb. Then get into the fertilizer runoff issues, Gov't subsidies, transportation (you can't ship ethanol via pipeline), and Storage, and Ethanol is TERRIBLE for the environment.
It is added for one reason only, as an OXYGENATE, reducing tailpipe emmisions, NOT to help the environment.
Check your owners manual, too. Some cars call for severe service oil change intervals with E85.
E85 has several pros and cons. A positive is that ethanol makes a decent solvent so it can help clean out the fuel system. However, if left to sit for too long, it can draw moisture out of the air, creating the opposite effect. While many people over dramatize this issue, it's still an issue nonetheless.
E85 has more power potential than E10. Some people say it has less because they only look at the BTU per lb of fuel, but combustion takes place with an air/fuel mixture. In order to properly determine BTU and power potential, you need to compare the BTU of the fuel to a pound of air. There's also the high heat of vaporization with ethanol that draws more heat out of the surrounding air in the cylinders.
Due to the high amount of oxygen in the fuel, there's no way around the loss in mpg. Your mpg will suffer by 25-30%.
With that additional fuel comes increased fuel dilution so oil changes will need to be more frequent.
For a daily driver that will see normal commuter driving, I see no reason to use E85. Now if you were going to take it out for a day at the race track, E85 all the way.
E85 has more power potential than E10. Some people say it has less because they only look at the BTU per lb of fuel, but combustion takes place with an air/fuel mixture. In order to properly determine BTU and power potential, you need to compare the BTU of the fuel to a pound of air. There's also the high heat of vaporization with ethanol that draws more heat out of the surrounding air in the cylinders.
Due to the high amount of oxygen in the fuel, there's no way around the loss in mpg. Your mpg will suffer by 25-30%.
With that additional fuel comes increased fuel dilution so oil changes will need to be more frequent.
For a daily driver that will see normal commuter driving, I see no reason to use E85. Now if you were going to take it out for a day at the race track, E85 all the way.
We are also having a chat about this in another thread. e85 can make lots of power if the car is tuned for it or flex fuel capable.
'16 Big Turbo Golf R running Ethanol Blend
Hi BITOG Members, First post on BITOG, but I'm a long time/occasional lurker over the past 15+ yrs. I see there was a recent post for a '19 Golf R with some recommendations, but that car sounds like it is stock and the factory fill oil is a different, lighter weight on the newer gen Golf R's vs...
bobistheoilguy.com
Mine only mentioned to full with regular gas once during each oil change.
I’ve used it once or twice on my 2017 Frontier. Fuel economy was about 16mpg vs the normal 19-21 I get with similar driving on those tanks. The cost was not that much cheaper (I think maybe 20/30 cents per gallon). Didn’t notice any performance bump but that being said I wouldn’t trust an Ass dyno anyways. I know it used to be way way way cheaper back in the late 00s (faint memory of it being half price of e15 in New York). Only reason I’d use it now for normal driving is the fill up the tank of a flex fuel rental right before returning it.
Mine only mentioned to full with regular gas once
Theres definitely an improvement in performance. It takes off a lot smoother and I find myself stepping on the gas pedal too hard at times. Fuel economy has dropped from 25 to 20.
Definitely is higher octane. In my car you could practically feel the engine ratcheting down the knock sensor. Ran very well.
I assume it has some solvent characteristics so it might be useful to run a tankful immediately in advance of an oil change.
But basically, I think it’s immoral to put food in a gas tank.
I assume it has some solvent characteristics so it might be useful to run a tankful immediately in advance of an oil change.
But basically, I think it’s immoral to put food in a gas tank.
This is a little off topic, but here in Eastern Iowa it doesn't make sense to me to run E85. In my wife's 2014 T&C the mileage goes down a noticeable amount (~20%) but for some reason for the last several months E15 (88 Octane) is cheaper than E85. This makes no sense to me but also makes running E85 prohibitive. We run E15 in our vehicles and have noticed no noticeable fuel mileage degradation over E10.
Just my $0.02
Just my $0.02
Expect about a 20% decrease in gas mileage so it would have to be at least 20% cheaper than the gas you normally use. About the only advantage is for high performance cars requiring premium. E85 will have higher octane than any pump premium gas does and will be close to race gas.
E85 vs E10 wont net a performance increase on a stock vehicle UNLESS your motor is built to take advantages of that fuel. If you are running a large amount of boost E85 can make a huge amount of power BUT you must have way bigger injectors ( and the supporting mods) and a substationally different tune. The drawback is decreased fuel economy and higher maintenece but folks running that type of set up usually dont care about those things anyway.
Speaking of clean, I “think” I recall reading a while back that ethanol runs cleaner than gasoline and leaves less deposits inside the engine. I don’t know but wonder if motor oil has less contaminants when running E85?
