Burning E85 fuel boosts 5.0 engine power?
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From: Arizona
Burning E85 fuel boosts 5.0 engine power?
Has anyone here with a 2011 5.0 had a chance to run E85 fuel yet? and if so, did you notice any power increase?
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Want to add power to Ford's all-new 5.0-liter V-8 for the 2011 F-150 without making a single hardware or software change? Just burn E85 ethanol fuel.
The 5.0 is rated at 360 horsepower (at 5,500 rpm) and 380 pounds-feet of torque (at 4,250 rpm) running on regular unleaded gasoline. It's positioned as the midrange, high-volume engine choice for the F-150, below the more powerful 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 (365 hp and 420 pounds-feet of torque) and conventional large-displacement 6.2-liter V-8 (411 hp and 434 pounds-feet of torque).
But the 5.0 is also flex-fuel capable. Flexible-fuel vehicles are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85 percent ethanol (E85).
Burning E85 fuel boosts 5.0 engine power to 375 hp and 390 pounds-feet of torque, said Mike Harrison, Ford's program manager for V-8 engines.
Ethanol has a higher octane and heat-of-vaporization point than gasoline, meaning it combusts at a higher temperature and with greater force (higher compression) than gasoline, while also having a greater capacity to cool the fuel/air mix in the cylinder before combustion. This inherent efficiency is what enables the 5.0 to produce more power while burning E85 instead of regular unleaded fuel.
There's a trade-off, though. Even though E85 combusts with greater force, it has less energy per gallon than regular unleaded gasoline, so fuel economy is worse when burning E85.
Link to article
Want to add power to Ford's all-new 5.0-liter V-8 for the 2011 F-150 without making a single hardware or software change? Just burn E85 ethanol fuel.
The 5.0 is rated at 360 horsepower (at 5,500 rpm) and 380 pounds-feet of torque (at 4,250 rpm) running on regular unleaded gasoline. It's positioned as the midrange, high-volume engine choice for the F-150, below the more powerful 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 (365 hp and 420 pounds-feet of torque) and conventional large-displacement 6.2-liter V-8 (411 hp and 434 pounds-feet of torque).
But the 5.0 is also flex-fuel capable. Flexible-fuel vehicles are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85 percent ethanol (E85).
Burning E85 fuel boosts 5.0 engine power to 375 hp and 390 pounds-feet of torque, said Mike Harrison, Ford's program manager for V-8 engines.
Ethanol has a higher octane and heat-of-vaporization point than gasoline, meaning it combusts at a higher temperature and with greater force (higher compression) than gasoline, while also having a greater capacity to cool the fuel/air mix in the cylinder before combustion. This inherent efficiency is what enables the 5.0 to produce more power while burning E85 instead of regular unleaded fuel.
There's a trade-off, though. Even though E85 combusts with greater force, it has less energy per gallon than regular unleaded gasoline, so fuel economy is worse when burning E85.
Industry experts report that E85 will actually get you lower fuel economy. The ethanol performance content of E85 is negligible and the long term benefit is reported to be less expensive when E85 become readily available across the US.
The few place I've seen E85, it was actually a bit more expensive.
The few place I've seen E85, it was actually a bit more expensive.
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If gas prices go above $4.00 a gallon and E85 stays in the low $3.xx range, where (combined with the MPG loss) it is cheaper to go with that, maybe I'll go bother finding the two HEBs in central Texas that supply the stuff.
Elsewise, I'm not going to bother. Don't forget that it needs a tank of pure unleaded run occasionally, and that E85 requires the oil to be changed more often.
We'll see... gas prices rising might make E85 actually a bargain, even with factoring the costs for more frequent oil changes.
Elsewise, I'm not going to bother. Don't forget that it needs a tank of pure unleaded run occasionally, and that E85 requires the oil to be changed more often.
We'll see... gas prices rising might make E85 actually a bargain, even with factoring the costs for more frequent oil changes.
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 161
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From: Round Rock, Texas
If gas prices go above $4.00 a gallon and E85 stays in the low $3.xx range, where (combined with the MPG loss) it is cheaper to go with that, maybe I'll go bother finding the two HEBs in central Texas that supply the stuff.
Elsewise, I'm not going to bother. Don't forget that it needs a tank of pure unleaded run occasionally, and that E85 requires the oil to be changed more often.
We'll see... gas prices rising might make E85 actually a bargain, even with factoring the costs for more frequent oil changes.
Elsewise, I'm not going to bother. Don't forget that it needs a tank of pure unleaded run occasionally, and that E85 requires the oil to be changed more often.
We'll see... gas prices rising might make E85 actually a bargain, even with factoring the costs for more frequent oil changes.
HEB at I-35 and Parmer in North Austin has it! Just in case you wanted one place!