Who has tried it and how much did your mileage suffer? Trying to determine if it’s worth shot.

 

I got 9-10 mpg using E85 when my car had about 2000 miles on it. I assume part of that was due to the fact the car is still relatively new. It was .30 cheaper and I gave it a shot.

 

same here....but around here depending on where you buy it its anywhere from .30 to 1.15 a gallon cheaper. So when i can get it 1.15 cheaper its worth it....otherwise i'm just helping farmers instead of the middle east

 

Our 2006 F150, XLT, 5.4L flex fuel, 4x4, Super Crew, 3.55:1 gearing...

In town / short trips:
14-15mpg gas,
12-13mpg E85.

Highway:
14-16mpg gas,
12-14mpg E85.

I also notice a difference in the way it runs. The throttle response seems to improve on E85, as does power. The wide variation in highway mileage depends on speed. It will be toward the upper end of the range if the speed is held down to 55-60mph. Up around 70mph it really takes a nosedive no matter what you're running for fuel.

Today we fueled up with E85. The price of gasoline was $3.099, whereas $2.509. Considering the price difference, it's a no brainer.

 

Is it 85E and 15gas, or 85gas and 15E. We have 85gas and 15E, but that is still 3.459 a gallon and 100gas is the same price. What do you expect, CALIFORNIA.

 

E85 is 85% Ethanol and 15% Unleaded Gas. Here in the south all of our "Regular Unleaded" now contains 10-15% Ethanol as well...hence the crappy gas mileage no matter which pump you pull up to. I've been trying to get/find info on the blend requirements in and around Houston to see if there might be a station in one of the surrounding counties that doesn't use as much ethanol in the mix.

 

I don't have E85 anywhere and only like one gas station uses the mix and thats 76.

 

Being that you are in Cali I'll bet all the gas stations use ethanol as an oxygenation additive. They probably just haven't bothered to put the "This gas containes at lease 10% ETOH by volume" sticker on the pumps. To cut down on emissions the only other additive is MTBE...and thats a bad word in Cali.

 

You are gonna have to go several counties over. Harris, Fort Bend, Waller, Chambers, Galveston, liberty, brazoria and montgomery all are required to use it. Then once you get out of those counties, you start paying more per gallon.

 

Bunch 'o suck

 

all the stations in my area run the 10% ethanol additive except a chevron and a 76...I can see a huge difference when I don't use the Chevron...of course I also pay $0.10 to $0.20 more per gallon, but IMO it's worth it for the better MPG

btw, truck didn't like the E-85...but I think that was more of a thing in my head, than in real life. MPG sucked big time though, and the price was only ~$0.30 difference

 

Are you running the E85 with a programmer? How does it effect a programmer and will I need to shut it off if I decide to try E85? I will try anything to get at these oil company doush bags!

 

Well I’m giving it a try, so far in town seems promising, I’ve only lost a few tenths in mileage. The highway is bad… but being I do mostly in town driving this might work out well. Of course these numbers are from the computer. There is a slight power loss it seems, but otherwise it runs fine.

 

Wife's car is an '03 Grand Caravan Flex Fuel. We have done lots of tests and have lost anywhere from 10 to 15% mileage when usine E85. I think the E85 refineries around here know that also...E85 is usually 10-20% cheaper- they aren't stupid...

Your best bet is to try a couple tanks for yourself... document your mileage and start comparing.

good luck- jim

 

I remember reading in car and driver magazine that the octane on E85 was like 100-105 because ethanol is an alcohol, wouldn't it get more power