I am driving from Tennessee to Texas in a few weeks taking a boat down and bringing a bigger one back. I have a 2018 super cab with a 5.0. I am curious I know you should be using premium gas when towing. It is also approved for E85 and have used that occasionally around town the truck likes it

I know your mileage would suffer but would it hurt the truck towing using it? Tuners get more horsepower using it as well as racers so assuming would be acceptable to use for towing?

Anyone have thoughts or experience with it while towing? I would be curious to try it if okay to see what the results are.

 

I ran it in a high mileage 6.2 f250 when it was hooked to trailers for extended periods. It liked higher octane fuel especially when working. The E85 made it feel like it had higher octane fuel.

The economy was so bad out of it I didn’t really notice the difference in burn rate. Saved a decent amount on fillups.

Try pulling it with 87 and then top it off with premium and you can do your own experiment real quick.

The problem you may have is running it down to nearly zero fuel between fillups and not having e85 as an option on a road trip.

 

E85 is around 106 octane rating so naturally your truck would love it. Most people say to run anything BUT high octane fuel in the 5.0 is a crime against humanity...er, well at least the engine, lol. As is well documented, E85 doesn't have anywhere near the BTUs of gasoline, so you'll use around 20% more whilst towing but it shouldn't be an issue other than the poor fuel mileage.

 

Thanks, this is what I figured but wanted to get others opinions

 

I have it locally so will probably start the trip with it then a tank of premium. I can then calculate the cost comparisons between the cheaper E85 less mileage and using premium. I have a 36 gallon tank so should get a good comparison and decent range

 

Since it's a 5.0 on those years, might want to carry a 6 pack of oil with you on the trip.

 

Mine does not use oil. Will see while towing long distance

 

The realities of using E85 is that it gets about 30% less MPG, so you don't buy it unless it's 30% less expensive.

Given when you tow your MPG drops dramatically, take 30% off that number and your gas gauge will be dropping so fast it will be a blur. And, as stated, you need to find E85 at each stop.

Now, refer to the manual and the realities of using E85. Several things you mentioned don't line up with that (see below).

Flex fuel vehicles are designed to use unleaded gasoline or an ethanol fuel blend that contain up to 85% ethanol. It is also acceptable to use any mixture of unleaded gasoline and ethanol fuel that contains up to 85% ethanol. An ethanol fuel blend that contains 85% ethanol is labeled
as E85 at the service station. It is best not to alternate repeatedly between gasoline and E85. If you do switch fuels, it is recommended that you add as much fuel as possible—at least half a tank. Do not add less than five gallons (18.9 liters) when refueling. You should drive the vehicle immediately after refueling for at least 5 miles (8 kilometers) to allow the vehicle to adapt to the change in ethanol concentration. If you exclusively use E85 fuel, it is recommended to fill the fuel tank with regular unleaded gasoline at each scheduled oil change.

 

The 2018 5.0 engines with direct injection could certainly benefit from E85. It has a pretty healthy 12:1 compression ratio. You might find it pulls a bit stronger from the extra timing the higher octane gets you.

That said, I bet you would get all the benefit you can get from an E30 or E50 blend with 93 octane.

 

This is just over thinking it. Just use whatever premium you can get. I've ran regular by accident last weekend while towing 6000lbs and honestly, didn't notice any difference in performance.