There's a gas station nearby selling 88 octane for $2.14 per gallon. The pump says it's for 2001 and newer vehicles only. Their E85 is $2.39 and 87 octane gas is $2.65. So I had to look it up when I got home. The internet says the 88 octane is an E15 blend. For the savings I'm considering running it in my 2016 ecoboost. Has anyone used it?

 

No reason to chance it in my opinion.

 

At 50 cents per gallon savings, there could be a couple hundred reasons to chance it over the course of a year.

 

You may want to read over your owner's guide before pumping anything other than pure gas or E10. My 2011 which is now old to many standards says to stay with E10 or pure gas. Not sure if Ford has revised this or not.

 

If your vehicle is specifically labeled as "Flex Fuel", then it is equipped for up to E85. If it is not rated as "Flex Fuel", then follow the instructions your owner's manual (which is where you should always look first for questions like this).

 

The '16 Expy owner's manual says not to use fuel with more than 15% ethanol, so if you're SURE that this 88 octane gas has a max of 15%, you are fine. Some current cars limit ethanol to 10%. The pump is legally require to have an ethanol content sticker on it, not just "88% octane".

 

 

Thank you for that. I haven't had the opportunity (haven't remembered) to check it myself.

 

In his footer above, projectSHO89 has a link to the FleetFord link where you can download owner's manuals. I have downloaded manuals for a number of Fords that I have looked at and contemplated buying (or have actually owned). Never bought an Expy but shopped them for a long while. Handy to have a manual in pdf form...

 

You destruction to the EcoBoost injectors and HPOP. That's the reason ford does not certify it as. FlexFuel vehicle. That HPOP has a hard enough time trying to stay lubed with 10% ethanol in reg gas.

 

Dry gas is 114,500 BTU and E85 is roughly 81,800 BTU. You will lose MPG and go through more fuel. The .50 a gallon isn't a savings.

 

The OP is talking about E15, not E85, which seems to be priced surprisingly cheaply at his station--less than E85. Makes no sense but if it's only 15% it meets the minimum of what the manual calls for and mileage should not be much less than mileage with E10.

 

I don't believe everything I read on the internet, but this page's section on fuel mileage sounds reasonable https://www.aa1car.com/library/e15.htm

So let's say worst case 2% loss in fuel mileage (E15 vs E10), but 18.9% savings ($0.50/$2.65). That's a win by my math.

I don't know why their E15 is so cheap. It's almost like they're trying to drive up use, build a market. I haven't seen E15 anywhere else in central Florida and from the bit I've read, it seems like a central US product. And E15 prices in central US are much closer E10, with E85 being the cheapest. Again, the E15 price here doesn't make sense. My parents have a 2011 Navigator that's flex fuel. They've filled up with it twice when visiting and said they noticed no difference, but that's a 5.4, not ecoboost.

There are lots of opinions on this whole ethanol blend topic, which is why I didn't ask for opinions. I asked if anyone has used it. I appreciate the input, I just don't want the thread to get derailed.

 

If its 5% more ethanol by volume how do you figure 2%? The drop from dry gas to E10 is 29% less BTU which directly results in lower MPG. I would suggest you run it and post the results for everyone after a few thousand miles and give a baseline. Posted below is from late 2012 when GM and Ford did industry testing on the subject.

• 

General Motors and Ford Motor Co. have made it official. New models vehicles are ready to run on E15. The endorsement is a little less than enthusiastic, however.

When contacted, GM spokesman, Sharon Basel, environment, energy and safety communications, made it clear that GM was not “approving” E15. “I can confirm that GM's 2012 and 2013 model-year vehicles can use fuel containing up to 15 percent ethanol and is stated as such in our new vehicle owners' manuals,” she replied in an email. “As EPA has changed its regulations to allow E15, we've designed our new vehicles to perform efficiently with this fuel in the event that it becomes more available. We are focused on securing a safe and trouble-free driving experience for our customers and this modification prepares our vehicles for the potential intro of an E15 blend.”

A spokesman for Ford Motor Co. replied to EPM’s inquiry, saying, “We have approved E15 for use in all 2013 Ford vehicles including hybrids and Ecoboost.” Richard Truett added, “We are not retesting any older vehicles to see if they are compatible with E15 and we’re not commenting on the performance of E15.”

Basel referred to earlier testing done on E15 as part of an industry group in her comments: “GM as part of an industry group has performed a multitude of tests on 2001 and newer vehicles that are included in the EPA regulations for E15 and have found that damage to the vehicle's engines resulted.

 

I didn't figure 2%. It's from the page I linked to. It says "you can expect to get about 1.5 to 2 percent FEWER miles per gallon with E15 compared to an E10 ethanol/gasoline blend".

Thank you for this. It further supports the ecoboost is good to run E15.