E85 in a 5.0 Experiment
 

Normally, I detest ethanol in fuel. As a motorcycle rider, I've seen it destroy fuel systems. It's nasty stuff in power equipment too.

Since the 5.0 is a "Flex Fuel" engine, I decided to cruise up to my local E85 pump last night and fill up. I calculated about 5 gallons of gas still in the tank, so it's not pure E85 at this point. I know my mileage will decrease, and I'm seeing about 1mpg less so far. Too early to judge right now.

I did a lot of research on both sides of the E85 fence. Read the pros and cons. Yes, it's more expensive to run E85 even though it is about 10 cents cheaper than 87 octane gas. The 5.0 is supposed to adjust to the higher octane E85 and advance timing to add about 15hp. Can't tell it from the butt dyno. Can't really tell any difference yet.

Would love to hear from you folks out there who have experience with E85. I have some experience with running diesels, and did a lot of research into making biodiesel in my garage. Seems it would be AWFULLY easy to make ethanol. Don't know about the cost of the source material, but making a still is not difficult and here in the South it's fairly common knowledge. :D

Anyone tried making their own fuel?

I love E85 on my Ecoboosted Flex, had to do some fuel mods for the headroom to be able to make it happen but well worth it and the 80+ HP I picked up. :) Put some boost on that bad boy and E85 is AWESOME!!!

Yeah...if you put the squeeze on, the extra octane would be awesome. Sadly, my 5.0 is a sucker, not a blower, but it does have variable valve timing which can advance the timing and take advantage of the higher octane corn juice.

I tried E85 last fall and I was getting 15 MPG and it went down to 13 MPG, but the engine had around 10,000 miles on it. I have 20,000 now and might give it another go and see what it does. Only problem I have with it is there is only one place to get it around me and the pumps for it are fing slow to pump. It must of took me 10 minutes to fill it up.

I run E85 in my 2013 5.0, in fact that is all I run. I see about 1-2 miles less per gallon but at the price of E85 vs E10 it is a winner for me.

I've run it a ton on mine. 12' 5.0. It's about 60 cents cheaper/ gal. I normally get 14.5-15 mpg in town on 91. With e85 I get around 11.5-12 mpg in town. There is a pretty decent increase in power. Get on it a few times, and let it adjust and you'll feel it takes less throttle to move to the truck. It just feels more aggressive, and your exhaust smells like alcohol.

With the price differential I have seen in this thread you are either spending alot more money to travel the same distance with E85 as compared to regular gas or you are only saving pennies (yes, pennies) on each tank due to the loss of mileage. What good is E85 because it certainly is not for $$ saving reasons.

Its a thinly veiled scheme to funnel money to adm, cargill, and to a lesser degree, corn farmers, in the name of "energy independence", even though they won't allow U.S. natural gas-based ethanol to be used.

I'll have to check to bw sure but I'm almost certain ford says to run regular gas every so many(think it was 10) tanks of e85.

So far I'm seeing about a 2mpg drop in mixed driving. From mid 15's to mid 13's. The throttle response is noticeably better.

It is a losing proposition on cost. E85 is only about 10 cents cheaper a gallon. Just figured I'd give it a try.

I guess you looked over the park about more power, especially at part throttle? Or you were talking big picture/economy?

Anyway, I've noticed a little increase in WOT power but the main gain comes at part throttle under load (climbing a hill, towing, or both). The truck doesn't down shift as much compared to running 87-93 octane.

I've seen the same behavior. Like how the truck feels on E85.

I wonder how much feed stock I'd need to set up a still and make my own fuel. :)

Reason for the power increase is because it comes in around 105 octane. Higher compression motors will see a bigger bump in power.

My 2012 gt i traded in on my truck i have now i ran e85 in. That car loved it and it made me feel a lot better about having an aggressive tune with the higher octain of the e85. I put a set of gt500 injectors in it due to the duty cycle being almost maxed with the stock injectors. Mileage went to **** on e85 but then again i didnt drive it nice and it wasnt exactly stock.
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87 is 3.40 here and E85 is 2.70... With that big a difference I was thinking about giving it a try. I have the Flex Fuel 3.7 but have also seen mixed reviews. The gas station right next to my work has E85. I may give it a go.

Besides it's an ecological disaster--more pollution and costs more in energy than you get out of it.

Another quote from the big oil to keep the billions in profit coming. E85 is not the wonder fuel by no means but E85 has one great quality that 87 octane does not. For every gallon that is used it is that much less that goes back to big oit.

Just what is wrong with big oil? You dont like the millions of citizens that split the profits via retirement accounts, pension plans, etc..? What did you think they did with the "billions in profit"?

Do you really believe that? Do you really believe that you are paying the best price at the pump? I work for one of the big oil companies.

I've reviewed the financials in detail. But to answer your question, no. Way too much tax for not enough btu's, neither of which are the fault of "big oil".

It's about how e85 feels in your truck, not how it feels in your heart.

I have to agree to this reply.

87 is in the 3.40 range here right now. I planned to run 89 in my truck because I think 87 in a 10.5 compression engine is too low. 89 is about 3.50 here. I did a break in cruise with the new pickem up last week and saw one station about 10 miles south of here had E85 at 2.49 a gallon. Station about a mile from my house is 2.59. Once I drain the tank my dealer left me with I am running on corn.

I'm about half way through my tank of E85 and the power and response is still great. Probably better as the computer has compensated. I pulled out on to a busy highway yesterday and was surprised at how much grunt the thing had. Tossed me back in the seat. Fantastic!

The mileage is crappy. Around town I'm seeing about 13 (versys 15.5.to 16 on dino juice).

At this point, the responsiveness is very nice, but I didn't have any complaints on 87 RUG. The cost difference between E85 and RUG87 is only about 10 cents a gallon. Maybe $2.00 to $2.50 a tank less, but losing a lot of MPG. So much so that gas is the better deal.

Again, if I can fish around and figure out how to build a corn liquor still and make my own ethanol, that's a game changer. I would imagine the feed stock is not cheap, neither would the propane required to heat up the mash.

I love alternative fuels because I'm all about finding a better way. But so far, only biodiesel seems to make sense and be viable. Back when I drove diesels, I used to run B100 in them that a local guy made from restaurant grease. It was a simple chemical reaction using acid and lye. The byproduct was glycerine which he sold to a homemade soap shop.

I've posted pretty extensive reviews on running E85. I get 14 versus 17 in the city. That's nearly a 20% decrease in mileage drop. That means at $3.50 a gallon for regular, E85 needs to be $2.85 a gallon to break even. Those are rough numbers, but you get the point.

As far as performance, there isn't a huge HP gain, Ford states 15, but it feels like alot more because of the increase in low end torque. That's why you feel stronger performance when driving around normally. At WOT, there is an increase, but it's not as noticeable, because this engine revs up to peak RPMs fast.

The engine will idle even smoother, but will be even throatier when toed in.

With E85 versus regular at the pump right now, it's a free way to add a little enjoyability to the truck.

Just remember to run regular every third tank.

Anyone running the corn juice with a tune in their truck?

Finished the tank of E85. Averaged 14mpg with some full throttle runs for fun tossed in.

I filled up with 100% gas (no ethanol) 93 octane (for a whopping $4 a gallon! Yikes). Gonna see what sort of mileage I get. Fro $94 worth, it better be good!

I don't think I'll ever run e-85 again. Tried it about 6 years ago in my 99 flex fuel ranger and it just didn't run right. I'll stick with good ole 87 or put 93 if I want a slight increase in power.

Technology has come along way since then...

Yeah...my truck ran great, but the economics of E85 suck.

I tried out e85 for the first time in Thursday and have some results. First off I always run a minimum of 89 octane and usually run 91 as its the highest I can find around home. It is usually 3.71-3.89 a gallon lately and e85 is 2.59 at the only gas station with in 15 min of home. It took about 20-30 miles for me to really notice a switch via economy or power but I had about 3 gallons if 91 left in the tank. As soon as it switched I noticed a pretty significant drop in mpg. Usually I average 17.3 mpg city and highway mix about 50/50. I can't get about 20-21 average highway when I really try to. I have driven the tank how I normally dive which involves

I tried out e85 for the first time on Thursday and have some results. First off I always run a minimum of 89 octane and usually run 91 as its the highest I can find around home. It is usually 3.71-3.89 a gallon lately and e85 is 2.59 at the only gas station with in 15 min of home. It took about 20-30 miles for me to really notice a switch via economy or power but I had about 3 gallons if 91 left in the tank. As soon as it switched I noticed a pretty significant drop in mpg. Usually I average 17.3 mpg city and highway mix about 50/50. I can't get about 20-21 average highway when I really try to. I have driven the tank how I normally dive which involves some wot throttle runs on entrance ramps and such. I noticed a fairly big difference in throttle response and my wife confirmed. It seems a little more touchy when taking off and def seems to have a noticeable gain in power and performance. It also seems to ship quite differently for some reason. It seems to down shift more frequently and run smoother not shifting into 6th gear right away but holding in fifth longer for some reason and I am not sure why. I drive it exactly how I do everyday. My average mpg has dropped to 12.8mpg and it doesn't seem to get much better no matter how hard I try. If I were lucky i might be able to average 13 but I'm sure that would be it as I have been trying. On the highway cruising speed of 69-71 mph on e85 I average about 17 mpg versus my 20-21 before so it is a very consistent drop all the way around. I have put about 350 miles in since Thursday when I filled up and like how the truck runs and feels and especially the extra power not to mention the cost. $80.00 to fill vs $120.00 was nice to feel in the wallet that's for sure. I have yet to run the numbers but may try another tank to see if it makes any difference and then will see what its like going back to 91 octane and let everyone know. Just wanted to let everyone know my experiences. Let me know if anyone has any questions.

I've done the math for me. I still get 16ish MPG in mixed driving where I was getting 18.5 with regular gas. I had seen a drop in MPG with the summer blend ethanol but traced it down to my daughters need to hear the V8 rumble. 14.8% cost difference. 12.5% difference in MPG.

About 15 miles with 4 roundabouts and a stoplight each way.

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Mix it and tune it, you will be amazed!