Flex fuel savings ??

[dretired]

My local television station ,had a story about saving money using flex fuels .It was reported that if you fill up at the 1/2 way mark , switching from reg unleaded, to E85 and back . you would still get the mpgs that reg unleaded would give , and save some cash every 1/2 a tank fillup

[F and E Damp]

Don't think so. Ethanol has a lower calorific value than gasoline, and I think also has a lower specific gravity. The number of BTUs per gallon will be quite a bit less than gasoline, so you'll get less miles per gallon from the ethanol mixed in your tank, assuming similar combustion efficiency.

[dretired]

Seems to me i saw somewhere octane rating for E85 was 100-105. I filled my 2010 F150 with E 85 and got 17mpg at 60 mph.. not too bad..saving about 80 cents a gallon

[crocus]

dretired, what kind of mileage do you get with regular 10% ethanol?
There has to be a savings using E85, otherwise there would be no point.

[dretired]

crocos, around 18-20 mpg with 10% ethanol

[donjuanss]

Had my local Service Manger at my dealer ship tell me he tried it on his 1500 Silverado and it dropped his mpg 5-6 mpg not much savings in my book.

[dretired]

When i filled my 2010 Ford f150with E85 the diffrence was 80 cents ($3.05 ) a gallon vs regular unleaded (3.85 ),on the way home i did 55-60 mph and got 17 miles per gallon

[trailraider]

You can't just run E85 in a normal engine. It has to be rated and set up to run the flex fuels.

[dretired]

yes, my 2010 F150 is flex fuel ready

[trailraider]

what would your truck normally get for milage?of it is close to the 17 it might be worth calculating to see if it is worth running E85. I have never run E85 so I have no comparison.

[dretired]

Thats what i am trying to say.. I filled my 2010 F150 with E85 .. and got 17 miles per gallon , doing 50-60 miles per hour , It would be a little better using un-leaded regular maybe 20 -21 mpg,, but cost 80 cents more per gallon ,,

[trailraider]

I guess saving the environment comes at cost to the consumer, not the producer. the gas companies are only making billions a year. I think we should help them get to trillions. they are like the government for me, I love giving them money.

[jimh]

ur lower price for ethonal is due to the 50 cent/gal subsity along with no road tax (in the US).
octane rating is the amt of ping (explosive nature) of the fuel. C8 (octane) tends to burn slower. lower octane tends to release energy quicker...giving a ping in high compression engines.
using higher octane fuel in an engine designed for reg, doesn't harm anything but u don't get the benifit that u would in an engine that needed the higher octane rating.

[LadyWindrider]

Time to do some math.

400 mile trip, 17 miles per gallon, equals 23.5 gallons at #3.20/gallon equals $75.30 (E85)

400 mile trip, 20 miles per gallon equals 20 gallon, at $4.00 per gallon equals $80.00 (regular unleaded)

400 mile trip, 22 miles per gallon equals 18.2 gallons at $4.00 per gallon equals $72.72 (regular unleaded)


In this example, looks like about 4 miles per gallon for E85 is about the same cost as using real gas

[maytom]

I have tried flex fuel in my Chev HHr and the mileage drops 4 to 5 mpg

[crocus]

I wouldn't use E85 just as a matter of principle.
Taxpayers have to subsidize it, then they have to pay more for food as the price of corn is forced higher. The higher price of corn then drives up all other grain prices.
Ethanol is nothing more than another burden on the people.

[trailraider]

I am a big firm beleiver electric technology is the way to go.some will argue it's not because prices for electricity will go up. which I think once they invest in the system(years away I am sure). the use of the coal burning will be reduced to a renewable energy. wind water solar etc. But how do they build a truck to pull our trailers?

[dretired]

Hydrogen.. for the replacement of gasoline... Is being devolped as we speak for our tow vehicles..This is from an article in the latest Trailer Life Magazine..

[dretired]

There are several countries( in south America ) that have gone to E100 fuel for their vehicles. I heard they grow sugar cane for it. Does that mean the price of sugar AND rum are going up ??

[trailraider]

[QUOTE= Does that mean the price of sugar AND rum are going up ??[/QUOTE]


NOT THE RUM!!!