First Tank of E85

[clemsonfor]

I had a fex fuel v8 Dakota for work. I fueled up 2x with e85. One time I paid the exact same as e10 fuel. the first tank I got 8ish mpg the second time I got 10mpg. On tanks of e10 I routinely got 15-16ish on the same type trips. so I got 2/3 the mileage and the time I actually paid less I think I only saved $0.15/gallon on like a $3.30/gallon of fuel.

 

[clemsonfor]

Oh along what bucktaker said. This truck already bad on fuel. At 275miles per tank you better be looking for fuel or your about out in that 21ish gallon tank. With the E85 once you hit 200miles you better find gas somewhere!

 

[crazyal]

How much different was your fuel economy? I think to get the most performance a vehicle should have a special tune for e10 but the fuel economy will be worse than gas. I think a lot of e10 has more than 10% ethanol.

With straight gas I was able to get 34 mpg tank after tank driving back and forth to work. With e10 it drops to 30.5 mpg. I can very it a little. If I take off from an intersection with no traffic I can accelerate much slower (less throttle) and I can get it a little closer to 31 mpg but it's hard because you don't always have the option of taking your time.

 

[clemsonfor]

i use to get real gas vs e10 in my saturn and ranger all the time, i mean i would usually buy gas as my cheapest station just sold that. When in town or somewhere else all they would have would be e 10. I usually never saw much of a difference or enough to notice. And i check MPG at every tankfull, i dont log it but do do the math. A variation of 1-3mpg is not uncommon based on how and where you drove that tankfull so i never really noticed anything?

In my work truck (2012 colorado) i used real gas on a trip on the highway. I averaged about 20.5mpg, with e10 the same trip avgs 19.5 on the high side. This almost duplicates what i saw in the 90 ranger or 97saturn when i really pay attention.

 

[busy dad]

e85 i would believe makes less power..Alcohol has a lower heat content, it takes approx 2 times as much alcohol to make the same power..The electronics in your truck should adjust timing and such to compensate for lower power.

 

[clemsonfor]

Also think that the alcohol in e85 makes it burn hotter, which is why its melting pistons in some things?

 

[crashz]

By the time I get home tonight, I'll have 1/2 tank left of that E58 blend. I'm at about 200 miles in this tank so rough estimate is 11 mpg! Yep, right on target with the numbers that you guys have quoted. I religously get 15 mpg in this truck, so I should be in the 270-290 mile range at half a tank.

I have to admit, I like the way the truck runs with this stuff though. Its quieted down, has good midrange power and idles silky smooth. Also injector tick is gone.

By Friday I'll have to fill up again, so its back to E10 again, but it was at least fun to see what E85 can do.

 

[Diamondpilot]

By the time I get home tonight, I'll have 1/2 tank left of that E58 blend. I'm at about 200 miles in this tank so rough estimate is 11 mpg! Yep, right on target with the numbers that you guys have quoted. I religously get 15 mpg in this truck, so I should be in the 270-290 mile range at half a tank.

I have to admit, I like the way the truck runs with this stuff though. Its quieted down, has good midrange power and idles silky smooth. Also injector tick is gone.

By Friday I'll have to fill up again, so its back to E10 again, but it was at least fun to see what E85 can do.

You are spot on what my F150 and my co pilots Yukon did on the stuff.

I did not notice any driveability or sound change.

Chris

 

[crashz]

I was able to run one more tank of E85, and again mileage was terrible but power and smoothness of the truck was incredible. The tank only lasted for the weekend due to a long highway trip.

This week I have been traveling for work, and am half way through a tank of regular (E10) and mileage is even worse! It has been cold though. I hope it gets better soon though.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I havent ran E85 and dont plan to even though my truck is rated for E85 Flexfuel. I dont support the government policy of subsidies for alcohol production so we can pay more taxes and pay more money for the fuel. Only way I will burn it is if that is all I can get when the Feds. take the real gas from us.
With the E10 vs non-ethanol fuel, I get better mileage with pure gasoline. Last summer the station I used had it for the same price as E10, but he had a dispute with his distributor and didnt sell anything for about 3 months, now his price is 30 cents per gallon higher. This may be due to the time he filled his tanks as gas spurted up along about then and now is back down.
In cold weather my truck gets better fuel mileage than hot or even mild conditions. I know when in summer, I loose mileage due to AC running but cold air induction will give more power than hot air induction and thus you should get better fuel economy in winter than in summer regardless of the accessories being used.