KHMRIDER450R

I heard a rumor that the flex fuel motors will detect E85 and then switch the way they run. But do they detect the E10 or are they still mapped for the standard gas?

NorCal-09

This excerpt from the E85 website may answer your questions.

The simple answer is yes to all of the above. Actually, E10 or E15 is just a replacement for other previous gasoline additives for air pollution control benefits at different times of the year.

Flex-fuel vehicles (ffv's) are designed to run on regular unleaded gasoline and an alcohol gasoline blended fuel, either ethanol or methanol, in any mixture. For example, FFV's can run on E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline), or M85 (85% methanol, 15% gasoline), 100% gasoline, or any combination of these fuels. Like other cars, a flexible fueled vehicle (FFV) has a fuel tank, fuel system, and a combustion engine but the connections between them are specialized. The vehicle is designed to run on either unleaded gasoline, or an alcohol based fuel (usually ethanol) in any mixture. The engine and fuel system in a flex-fuel vehicle must be adapted slightly to run on alcohol fuels because they are corrosive. FFV's also have a special sensor in the fuel line to analyze the fuel mixture and control the fuel injection and timing to adjust for different fuel ratios. The flex-fuel vehicle offers its owner an environmentally beneficial option whenever the alternative fuel is available. While most all cars are capable of running on E10 and or E15, that ability does not qualify them as being a Flexible Fuel Vehicle. E10 and E15 fuel blends are simply a replacement for the older, and possibly more widely known gasoline additive MTBE which was recently outlawed.

KHMRIDER450R

thank you for all the good informatiom and research.

johnwill

Thanks Norcalman, good info there.

mlts22

With the fact that Texas and other states may be upping the percentage of alcohol to 15% in fuel, having a Flex-Fuel vehicle is definitely a plus.

chunkee

i just tried a tank of e85. 2.29 a gallon.

e85=12mpg

its a wash..other than the environment thing, but how much fuel is wasted with the ethanol production.

4x4ford

Not even a wash as Ford suggests you change your oil twice as much if you run E85. Until there is a bigger difference in the price...it just does not make sense.

flguppie

No monetary advantage...and how can changing the oil twice as often be a benefit to the environment? I don't see any compelling reason to use E85. Can anyone enlighten me?

Punishher7

I will never put E-85 in my truck. I might as well pull that silly little badge off the tailgate!

bajaman

Only two relatively good reasons come to mind for using E85:

More power from alcohol (yeah, I know...10 whole ponies) and

Using a renewable resource rather than a finite one.


Personally, I am torn. We have a lot of corn fields around my neck of the woods, even more out in western KS, and if E85 really takes off, the corn growers will really go nuts, which just SUCKS the underground aquifers dry. The main aquifer here, the Ogallala has fallen several hundred feet in recent years, only really DEEP wells are capable of tapping it in some area. And corn production has been named as one of the #1 reasons.

I've yet to use E85, I wish I lived in some of those areas that had sub-$2 a gallon prices.