E85 - Anyone running it?

[jrfarrar]

I did a search on E85 and didn't come up with anything.

Anyone running this fuel in their Titan yet? How is it doing? Perf? Mileage? Cost?

http://e85fuel.com/

Site has a map to locations that have the fuel.

[RxZ]

I ran it for awhile. Might do it again after I get out of grad school.

Performance: I couldn't tell a difference. I did not get the chance to tow anything while I was using E85, so I do not know if the extra weight would have affected performance or not. Under normal driving I could not tell a difference.

Milage: My mpg average about 13.

Cost: I went a little deeper than mpg though and found that per mile, E85 cost about 17 cents, while normal 87 octane is about 13 cents per mile. Obviously, that's a difference of 15 dollars every 300 miles.

It was the last part that nessesitates (sp?) that I use regular gas. I do drive a bit for being in school, and being in school I do not make a lot of money. While a tank of gas cost less with E85, I was filling up more often, so the net cost was more for E85. This is expected though since it takes 1.4 times the amount of E85 to get the same amount of energy as regular gas. So unless E85 is considerably cheaper it will not be cost efficient.

I do hope that in the future E85 becomes more available and its price either stays the same (with normal gas going up) or that E85 would be cheaper itself. I really like the concept of E85, and I definately like giving my money to some corn huskers rather than some oil barons.

Bottom line: If you do not mind paying the difference, then use E85. The more the demand, the more that's produced, and hopefully that would drive the price down and availabilty up until an equilibrium is reached that is beneficial for everybody.

[Wiscdave]

Anyone know gas mpg towing with E85? Because of the higher octane # does it come close to gas mpg when towing? My towing mpg number sucks but if I could run e85 and get closer to the same mpg that would be awesome. This could be something to consider when filling up if you tow and the e85 stuff is a little cheaper.

[DocData757]

Don't know the REAL mpg but this might help as a reference...

The sticker on my new 06 C/C LE said mileage was 19 and 14. In the small print, it said mileage for E85 was 14 and 10.

Dave

[Dacotah]

I burn a lot of it, probably 90% of my fills are E85.

I think the truck feels peppier on it. My milage sucks, sucks with dino, sucks with E85. I get about 10 with dino, about 9 with E85. The highest I've ever gotten was 12.5 on the highway with cruise set burning dino. On the highway with E85 I get about 11. So with my truck I figure I'm ahead if I can save $.40/gal or more, and it has been running about $.60/gal less here. Plus I get the added bonus of giving my cash to the American farmer, vs a Saudi Sheik.

[TitanFan59]

No thanks, I like the hot stuff.

[Dacotah]

Originally Posted by TitanFan59

No thanks, I like the hot stuff.

Have you burned E85? I doubt it. It really does feel like it has more power.

Here is a bit of E85 info:

"E85 has been repeatedly shown to produce more power than a comparable gasoline fuel. Especially in engines that need high octane fuels to avoid detonation.[6] Ford Motor company found typically power increased approximately 5% with the switch to E85 [7]. Researchers working on the E85 equivalent fuel for general aviation aircraft AGE-85 have seen the same results with an aircraft engine jumping from 600 hp on conventional 100LL av gas to 650 hp on the AGE-85. Recorded power increases ranging from 5% - 9% depending on the engine. "

[DocData757]

I want to burn E85. Until that is the predominate fuel source, we will forever be in political situation like we are now! The government needs to get their collective butts in gear and 'get er done'!

Now, I live in FL and there are only 2 source in this state for E85 and both are 'private.'

Dave