I decided to try a tank of E-85 after I noticed a local station had it for $1.99/gal. I've noticed two differences when comparing to gasoline. #1. When first starting the cold idle last longer then when first starting with gas. #2. Mileage on my daily commute went from 17mpg (truck computer reading) to 14 mpg.

 

well, we kept hearing about #2 the loss in mpg's when using it.

How about did you feel any power increase?

 

How much was regular gas at the time of filling up?

 

Yup, corn gas doesn't get the fuel economy.

 

I have run two tanks of E85 through my truck the last two weeks.
The first fill up was $1.849 a gal and I put 30.001 gal in. Tank avg mpg was 11.0 mpg. Note 87 was $2.159 at the time.
Second tank was $1.869 and I put 31.314 gal in. Tank avg mpg was 10.8. Note 87 was $2.199 at the time.

I can tell you the truck had a very noticeable increase in torque. So much of a difference in fact, that I feel I might have skewed my results because I was unable to drive like I normally do. It was nice having a truck with some ***** and I passed people on two lane roads a lot more than I would have normally.

My plan was to run two tanks of E85, two tanks of 93 (which I just filled up with the first tank Tuesday) then two tanks of 87. I then wanted to compare the price paid per mile of driving to see which is best.
Because my driving style on the first two tanks of E85 may have been a little more spirited than my normal trips to work I will now re-run two more tanks of E85 after the 87 tanks and use those numbers for my final comparison.

Final note, my normal mpg in the truck with a mix of 93 and 87 was 16.9 and that was an average of the first ~3200 miles which included a trip from GA to TX.

Johnie

 

Down here in Arkansas...we drink corn alcohol, we don't waste it in our trucks.

 

Oh yeah, I forgot to add when you start your truck and leave it running in the garage to run back in the house for something... as soon as you walk back out you WILL know your running E85 and not normal gas. The first time I did that it took me a while to find that smell and realize what it was... I had to laugh at myself afterwards.

Johnie

 

If you are getting 11 mpg with e85, you only need to get 12.8 mpg with regular gas to make it more ecomonical. Based on those dollars

 

Yes gpo however that 16.9mpg was with a mix of driving conditions over the first ~3200 miles on the truck which don't match my normal day to day driving. Like sitting in road construction for 2 hours on I-10, Houston Texas traffic for a week, 85mph for several hundred of those miles, and a day of off-road play that used up almost a full tank.

Now, I don't trust the computer yet so all my numbers are based off gallons used and amount of miles driven. The reason I am doing two tanks each now is because I have seen the trucks computer tell me 19+mpg on my round trip to work with a mix of 93 and 87 (~130 miles a day) but I haven't until now been able to run full tanks with just me driving to and from work to see what the true mpg of each type of fuel is.

I didn't reset the trucks computer for avg mpg since I started the first tank of E85 and if trusted (which I don't) this first tank of 93 is only getting 11.8 and I have driven ~270 miles on it already. It is slowly climbing up from the 10.7 it was showing on my last tank of E85 (which was wrong) and I am sure the true mpg is better. My second tank will be the one I trust and I hope gets me back to 18 to 19. Time will tell, I will update this thread if you guys care to know the results.

Johnie

 

I am very interested to know the true results! Keep posting.

I just don't have the slightest idea of where to go to get E85 should I ever chose to do so.

I work at an oil refinery, so all this is very interesting and intriguing.

 

Here are some E85 stations in Ontario.

http://www.upienergylp.com/mf_ep_gas.php

 

Thanks for posting. Not too many around then. The ethanol is made eight down the road from me too. Go figure.

 

what is the point though of running e85 if it is only 30cents less than gasoline and suffer from a gas mileage loss? Where are the consumer incentives in choosing e85?

 

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/locator/stations/