Doe anyone run E-85 on a Regular basis?

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in our area it is very hard to find, and it is only like 10¢ cheaper, and if rumour is right it yields about 30% less MPG.

The GF's Mariner can use it but we have passed. It gets horrible mileage anyway with regular unleaded.
 
I run it at times, but not exclusively. If the price spread is above .30 cents per gallon I usually run it. A lot of the Meijer gas stations around here carry it.

When I do fill up on E-85, I have noted a mpg hit of about 3 mpg...or roughly 10%. But I also pick up a few HP and TQ.
 
Yep.

Use it every fill up on the flex Suburban and a 50/50 mix in the non-flex Silverado. My total must be over 1,100 gallons by now, as there are 2 stations near me. Think dollars per mile, not miles per gallon.

Although E-85 is hated by many on this site, I can report no operational issues at all. I am neither a tree hugger, nor a corn farmer, but the US is now using gasoline at a rate of 3.7 million gallons per DAY, I figure an alternative has to be found sooner or later. I dunno' if this is that alternative, but it works for me.

Many engines optimized for GASOLINE are being run on ethanol. Imagine if the engines were optimized for ethanol (i.e. higher compression, more agressive spark timing, modified valve timing, etc). There are many reports of the turbo and supercharger guys just loving this stuff.
 
Originally Posted By: beechcraftted
Yep.

Use it every fill up on the flex Suburban and a 50/50 mix in the non-flex Silverado. My total must be over 1,100 gallons by now, as there are 2 stations near me. Think dollars per mile, not miles per gallon.

Although E-85 is hated by many on this site, I can report no operational issues at all. I am neither a tree hugger, nor a corn farmer, but the US is now using gasoline at a rate of 3.7 million gallons per DAY, I figure an alternative has to be found sooner or later. I dunno' if this is that alternative, but it works for me.

Many engines optimized for GASOLINE are being run on ethanol. Imagine if the engines were optimized for ethanol (i.e. higher compression, more agressive spark timing, modified valve timing, etc). There are many reports of the turbo and supercharger guys just loving this stuff.



I never had any engine or mechanical trouble running it,,now i will say if I ran it half and half the mileage did improve, but not enough to make me switch,,but it did not harm my engine or gas tank,,but I run 2 cycle oil all the time in the gas. one oz to 5 gallons of gas and no issues there either.
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
I run it at times, but not exclusively. If the price spread is above .30 cents per gallon I usually run it. A lot of the Meijer gas stations around here carry it.

When I do fill up on E-85, I have noted a mpg hit of about 3 mpg...or roughly 10%. But I also pick up a few HP and TQ.


Same here, mileage takes a decent hit, but the big girl will really get up and run on it. Unfortunatly, for the mileage hit, the price has been eeking-up too close to that of 89oct, so I havn't got any in a while
frown.gif
 
As I mentioned in my other thread, my 2009 F150 5.4L Flex Fuel pickup loves the stuff. No operational issues and plenty of additional performance. Especially during the hot season (where the knock sensor pulls timing and power on reg gas).

I use it from time to time, when I need gas and am by the E-85 pump.
 
I use it on and off, mostly when the price spread makes it a worth while. The best mix for me seems to be about 50/50 E10 and E85 in my 98 Jeep and 96 Dodge 5.2.
 
I'm planning on giving it a shot at some point in the Jeep, particularly if the increase in gas prices opens up the price spread a bit more. If it likes it, I'll probably do it a good bit (when I'm up at school, no E-85 stations at home).
 
Soon to have an escape FFV in the family: my thoughts...feel free to discuss!

I feel ethanol, sadly, is viewed by people as something that needs to be cheaper than gasoline. While it does need to be somewhat economically reasonable, the benefits of ethanol are not to just go green/cheap. Ethanol, regardless of wether or not it costs more, provides, believe it or not, some form of protection and national security against the unstable world of the middle east and its oil. The world is getting turbulent, and do you really want the other countries to have the US by the balls over oil? Sure we could go to war for oil, (like we kinda sort of did), but you must ask yourself as an american: am I willing to kill young men and women, and have them maimed, and leave their families missing a member, JUST so that I can have my cheap gasoline? Answer yes, and well....good luck to you. But I think ethanol should be viewed as worth it, even if it costs more, just for the economic security. Additionally, we are humans, engineers.We can do almost anything we put our minds to. Im sure when the airplane came out, it was not seen as an efficient mode of transportation. Add some human ingenuity and look at that, we can send 350 people across the country doing 550 mph in 777 using only a tad bit more of fuel in the grand sceem of things as it would take a car.I plan on filling up with ethanol when I can, because although it may be inefficient now, if there is support for the development of technology, it will be made efficient. Changing fuel sources is hard work; it is not going to happen over night. But the benefits, I assure you, will be worth it. Think of all the money that would be saved future conflicts/current conflicts we werent addicted to oil. Thats a lot of rebates to be had for farmers producing ethanol....feel free to comment! discussion and compromise are key to the progress of civilization ;-)
 
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Originally Posted By: rangerfan24
Soon to have an escape FFV in the family: my thoughts...feel free to discuss!

1) {ethanol provides some} protection and national security against the unstable world of the middle east and its oil.

2) it may be inefficient now, if there is support for the development of technology, it will be made efficient.

3) we can send 350 people across the country doing 550 mph in 777 using only a tad bit more of fuel


1) I think this is a possibility, especially as we produce more and more.

2) It's not inefficient anymore. Crop yields are much higher now, GM crops perform better and better enzymes are helping too. I suspect sugar and sugar beets are going to make inroads.

3) Large airliners are often better than 50 passenger miles per gallon. That's better than the typical car with 2 aboard, and compares very well with 3 in a typical car. (except for the wasted time in said car) The reason is that flying covers 25% fewer miles on average. The very same comparison applies to trains. Aircraft travel 25% fewer miles.
 
I also wanted to add that E85 works very well in direct injected, very high compression, turbocharged engines. In fact, there are some experimental engines that are equaling the diesel's thermal efficiency on E85! This translates into much smaller engines, with high output and acceptable E85 MPG's, said to be on par with gasoline.
 
Been filling up my 2006 Turbo Scion tC for about 2 years now, boost comes in about 350 rpm sooner and much more linear. For those that keet annoyed by turbo lag, it's a nice plus. She put down 303whp/298tq on 93 pump with about 11-11.5psi. With E85 she nailed 305.7whp/307tq on only 8-8.5psi. She loves this stuff and I have the peace of mind of keeping detonation accidents to a minimum. All said and done I lost about 3mpg, down to 22 from 25 on average. It's about 40 to 50 cents cheaper over here.
 
I have never ever seen it for sale here in VA. I would like to try it on my wifes FF T&C just for curiosity. That van is super slow and I would like to give it a little more kick. That said I would only continue to use it if economically it made sense.
 
There are several places in Va that sell E85 one is in Charlottesville and one is in Norfolk and I think there is one in Northern Va.
 
I did a 50/50 fill of E85/92 Octane gas today in my non-FFV '00 GTI 1.8L Turbo. Could be all in my head, but Little Red seems a little "peppier" with the 50/50 ethanol/gas brew.
 
I have tried it at least half dozen times in my old dodge 318 v8, the results were all the same, poor mileage, dont waste ur money. It ran ok, it just used more gas.
 
I agreee with Cujet. It appears that in newer direct injection, higher compression, turbo/super charged engines, E-85 can be very competitive. But in some older lower compression designs, it does not fare as well. Imagine if the engine were optimized at manufacture for E-85, instead of gasoline. Think dollars per mile, not miles per gallon.

I am neither a tree hugger nor a farmer, but we are using 3.7 million gallons of gasoline per day. Given the politics of the day, some alternative will have to be added. Don't know if ethanol is it, but it works for me.
 
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