acdii

Thats average speed over given time. It is not that far off though. My Garmin Nuvi records MPH, distance, time, etc. and it is showing that my average speed, since day one is 51 MPH. I drive 5 days a week 120 miles on state highways with speed limit posted @ 55, and do 60-62. In the middle of my drive is about 5 miles of 30-45 MPH areas with a few lights. I would say that the 48 MPH average is pretty close to Non Interstate driving. What I always thought would be for an Interstate rating for speeds averaging 65 MPH over a given time.

I should note that is over 90K+ miles.

Mark Miller

If you have a XLT it doesn't have a boost gauge only on Lariats models and up like someone mentioned!!!

ZeroTX

I am sure you were just pointing out that Regular Unleaded 87 or better is recommended, but hopefully you realize that E85 is a MUCH higher octane than regular gasoline... 105.

idrive

iTrader: (3)

News to me.

Some have suggested that requiring more production of higher ethanol-blend fuels like E15 and E85 can satisfy RFS mandates but these measures are expensive, temporary at best, and could have serious impacts on consumers and the broader economy.
E85 has several limitations. For starters, only flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) can use it, which becomes a logistical issue because there is a lack of E85 pumps across the country – only about 3,000 retail stations out of more than 150,000 offer it. It is clear that there is a lack of customer demand for this fuel (see chart). Second, there is a mismatch between pump locations and FFVs, illustrated by a recent Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General’s report that found DOE has been fueling its FFVs with regular gasoline instead of E85. This eliminates any supposed benefits of having a fleet of cars that can use fuel containing up to 83 percent ethanol. And finally, E85 has not been cost-competitive – according to AAA’s website that tracks retail E85 prices.
A lot of these problems simply come down to the amount of energy in E85. According to the Energy Information Administration, the energy content of ethanol is about 33% less than pure gasoline, and E85 contains 51-83% ethanol, lowering gas mileage and forcing consumers to fill up more frequently. That is why there is so little demand for the product.

Tom_with_a_Truck

I don't think Octane is the issue with E85. It has a lot less energy per gallon than pure gasoline.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasoli...lon_equivalent

According to the chart, E85 has about 81,800 BTU/Gallon versus pure gasoline that has about 114,000 BTU/Gallon. So all things being equal (and they seldom are), you would use a lot more E85 to do the same work as a gallon of gas.

schmenke

Correct. So per kilometer (or mile for you lot) driven you are actually consuming more of it than regular gasoline (or diesel), so it somewhat defeats the purpose.

sdmartin65

E85 is not cost affective in the US, just another government boondoggle. It literally takes food away from the lowest income earners in the US. In areas of Latin and South America it is cost affective and more widely used. No tree hugger here just speaking the truth.

ZeroTX

How does it take away food from anyone? We have hundreds of millions of acres of abandoned farm land.... we're not bordering on any starvation crisis here.

Also, Brazil uses sugar cane for their ethanol, which last I checked represents more than 40% of all fuel used in the country. All cars sold are compatible with gasoline up to pure ethanol E100. New technology even lets them make ethanol from farm waste, e.g. the parts of the plants that they usually strip and throw away.

Ricktwuhk

The reality is that it takes more energy to produce ethanol than we "save" by using corn. And, the usage of corn in this country to produce fuel, which is subsidized by the government, artificially raises the price of corn.

ZeroTX

If that's true, then why do economically challenged countries like Brazil make and use so much ethanol instead of gasoline? I have to think it's because of HOW we do it, not because there's any inherent flaw in using ethanol. What's dumb is implying that corn is the only way to make ethanol, which we know is untrue.