I have a 2007 5.4L XLT 4X4 Supercab. I am about to turn 3K miles. It is an FFV, but there is no E85 fuel available down here in South Florida.
I am taking a trip to my property in Tennessee, and have the opportunity to stop in Georgia for E85.
Any thoughts about flex fuel? Any experience from which I may draw information? Should I even bother stopping?
Thanks.

 

Don't do it. My truck is FFV as well and I don't touch it even though there is a station that sells it 10 miles from my work. Re-check your window sticker...that part that says 14-18 mpg...it says below there in smaller print, E85: 10-12...so if the 14-18 is really 12-16, I'd imagine the E85 is really 9-11 or so...completely not worth the $.40 cents I'd save on a gallon of it in the first place.

You aren't going to notice anything special from it...we put it in our work trucks for a couple weeks just to see what happens. A couple of us swore we lost power and a couple of us swore we didn't notice anything at all...but in either event, I don't think I'd stop and get E85 just to stop and get E85. If I was on empty and that was all that was available, sure...or if they price is reduced substantially, I'll consider switching over for good...but I don't think one little tank of it can do anything good for you at all.

 

I'd run it if I had a FFV truck. I have run up to 43% in my 97' with slight tuning changes, but I haven't been able to run pure E85. My uncle runs it all the time in his Tahoe. He says he looses about 3mpg when running it.

It's a small gas station in Perry, Exit 135 I think. Stop in and try a tank. See if you like it or not. I did. My truck ran VERY smooth and much more quiet. It's usually $.30-$.35 a gallon cheaper than regular. This weekend it was $2.03/gallon or so....

 

It's not worth it economically either, E85 is some 30% less efficient and has less combustion energy than gasoline, so would get 2/3 the milage you normally get, making the 10-15% you would save per gallon, you would actually be paying more to run a fuel that is less efficient and has the same total CO2 emissions as gasoline refining, so stick it to the tree huggers and burn the good old fashioned crude stuff. Most of the articles I have read comparing gas to E85 say the same car has no ***** on E85 becuz of the ineffiecent combustion process. This E85 is all politcal bullcrap the less informed tend to believe, the real solution is a Hydrogen economy, but that seems at least 20 years farther into the future. Just information I thought I'd share, I have written a 5 page essay on E85 and full ethanol so I have a pretty good idea of the numbers, and the true story on Ethanol.

 

The numbers I have seen are E85 can give you anywhere from a 7% to a 33% gas mileage decrease, depending on vehicle. I have seen data showing it can improve, hurt, or not change performance. All this proves is you can't make blanket statements, it's individual vehicle dependent and you have to try it to get your own data.

 

what about the whole part where the ethanol comes from US farmers and the use of E85 will decrease our dependency on middleeastern oil? Is that part not a big deal to anyone? Probably all just political BS though eh.

 

So you haven't been able to run it but your truck ran smooth and quiet when you did???
Which is it?

 

It costs MORE crude oil to run E85 than it does to run normal fuel. In order to make a gallon of E85, a farmer has to cut down a section of corn-field large enough that it takes his tractor more than a gallon of gas to cut down. Then you factor in transportation. What do the big tanker trucks get that haul it...8 mpg?

I heard another weird statistic...in order for the US to make enough E85 for every car on the road, every square of the US would have to be a corn field.

 

Did that clarify it? I also neglected to mention the HUGE power difference as compared to regular 87 octane. But I don't know if it's just because of my tuning changes or not. I would imagine that the FFV's would optimize the high octane and do the same.

 

E85 is nothing more than a ploy to divert our attention from whats going on in the middle east
E85 will never be an answer.
Its less efficient so it takes more of the fuel to do the same jobs.
It only benefits farmers and the politicians that advocate it in congress
Just because it works, does not make it a viable solution.
Hydrogen works great in a ballon but we dont use it in blimps.....
Just dont smoke around it right?
In terms of a vehicle, hydrogen is the only answer. Electricity is great, but we do not currently have the technology to transmit electricity at 100% efficiency.
Hydrogen is where we should be investing. Stay the hell away from E85 and the *******s that are trying to sell it. You are just screwing your own country.

 

Dangit I was going to stay out of this...last post I thought I should put my opinion in this post. Truth be told it takes 2.2 gallons of regular fuel to create 1 gallon of flex fuel. Untill we get Farm Equipment that purely runs flex fuel and not diesel those numbers will stay. We are NOT in iraq for the fuel, check out the charts we get less than 2% of our fuel from Iraq, and the numbers will definately not increase after the conflict. E-85 is NOT a ploy, they are just trying to work out the kinks in the system it will take a while. I don't know about y'all but once all this new crap comes into the truck market I am going to run Gasoline, or Diesel it will take past my generation to get everyone changed to something else. I do believe that there should be more diesel vehicles especially in the advancements in diesel technology, its cleaner than ever. I would give it a shot...It shouldn't hurt anything might as well just try one tank see if ya like it
~Phil

 

try it for a lil bit, see how it handles, remember E-85 is 105 octane, In my moms 2000 minivan, 3.3Lv6 Runs it stock, big power difference, thats why you can catch her going 120 mph, Fuel mileage we didn't really notice much diff, Maybe a mile per gallon difference, That could be because its a 3.3 L who knows.

 

We ARE in Iraq for oil. Not Iraqi oil, but because our government and the powers that be do not believe the middle east is capable of maintaining a lasting peace. A civil war would bring unrest to the region impeding the supply of oil to the world. China and India are big players in this market as well. To keep their economies and infrastructure growing, they need the oil worse than we do! While I do not agree that it is our responsibility to police the actions of the world, I even more strongly disagree with our dependence on foriegn oil. The majority of our oil comes from middle east vendors. Period. Why we continue to support a population unwilling to join the civilized world is beyond me. The romans couldnt do it, the huns couldnt do it, the english couldnt do it....are you getting the picture everyone? Screw them! We are empowering these poeple by purchasing thier oil! Take away their power, quit paying them!
Now for diesel.......
Hell yes!!!!!! Its way more efficient and you are totally right, we have clean burning diesel technology RIGHT NOW. Its great as far as I am concerned. IF If could afford a diesel truck I would be driving one now!
And then there is bio diesel.....very cool, maybe a few steps above e-85 becuase you can recyle virtually any vegetable based oil. Thats for another discussion.

 

Correct that is another discussion. We are NOT in Iraq for oil.

 

True, but unless a motor warrants higher octane (forced induction, advanced timing, high compression) the higher octane isn't helping.