E 85 vs. gasoline

M

mrvids

Forum Member
I am told that E 85 gets about 25 to 30% less MPG than gasoline, I should watch make sure the E 85 is priced accordingly. Is there other info about E 85 I should be aware of? We just bought an 2017 Equinox that has the E 85 option is why I am asking.
 
You have to burn 30% more E85 to make an engine run vs Gasoline. If your car gets 100 miles per tank on Gasoline, it will now get 70 miles per tank with E85.

If it costs 30% less than gasoline,then it would be similar out of pocket cost. BUT...you would have to fill up more often.

Some vehicles make more power on the corn juice.

It is 85% corn juice and 15% gasoline for a few reasons. . is so you dont drink it. 2. is because lighting off 100% corn juice takes a serious spark. Really high octane and a large quantity of liquid is hard to light in a small chamber?


The prices seem ok these days...

It is nice as an option i guess.
 
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The sixth gen Camaro guys are running on E85 and picking up 20 rwhp with just a tune and a little wiring. Plus you don't have to buy premium anymore, so it is almost always 30% cheaper. I used to put E85 in my truck every once in a while, but you don't get 30% cheaper very often.
 
As someone who just had to replace their leaky intake gaskets due in some part to ethanol, I'd say stay away from it. If it hits 50% of the price of gas, then maybe consider it.
(this coming from someone with a Flex Fuel vehicle that never used e85 and still needed to replace the gaskets due to e10).
 
I switched my Buick over to e-85. Wasn't for fuel economy though.

Hit 30 PSI with no knock. Should be fun.
 
I drove an SRT4 neon with just an E85 tune. It was able to run way more boost and became a monster. At that time E85 was $1.85 and premium was like $2.79. With the massive power increase I thought it was well worth it. It probably only got mid 20s mpg on the hwy but with traction I bet it's a low 12 second car. Traps like 112 mph.
 
I'm setting my marquis up to run E85 with its new engine 93 octane is $3 a gallon while E85 is 1.99 simple math
 
derbydad276 said:
I'm setting my marquis up to run E85 with its new engine 93 octane is $3 a gallon while E85 is 1.99 simple math
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Only that's not the case anymore.

E85 when it was introduced use to fluctuate mostly based on corn prices. At some point E85 prices were adjusted to be about 20% less than 87 octane prices and set to fluctuate with gas prices.

I rarely see E85 substantially less ($.75-$1 / gallon) than 87.
 
E85 is the way to go if your vehicle requires 93 octane and can run e85. I was paying $1.79 a gal for E85 in the fall time. Now its $2.09 vs $3.19 for 93. I do have to fill up more often which is an inconvenience and I need to make sure there are e85 stations in the area if I take my car out of town (not that I do that often). I wish I had a flex fuel sensor and tune but I cannot with the stock PCM.

I had my Mustang re-tuned back in November for E85 and with only changing out the pump, adding a Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump, and switching over to 60lb injectors, I made 50 more rwhp and 45 rwtq. Same 9psi and 2v engine as before.

My old 335i BMW loved the corn as well. I could definitely tell a difference on the butt dyno when I added a few gallons of e85 to a tank of 93 with the auto-tuning map on my JB4.
 
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jsxtreme said:
Only that's not the case anymore.

E85 when it was introduced use to fluctuate mostly based on corn prices. At some point E85 prices were adjusted to be about 20% less than 87 octane prices and set to fluctuate with gas prices.

I rarely see E85 substantially less ($.75-$1 / gallon) than 87.
Click to expand...

Right but if you're comparing to 93 which many are it is about $1/gallon less most of the time.
 
DeFormula said:
Right but if you're comparing to 93 which many are it is about $1/gallon less most of the time.
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:werd:

I just wish it had maintained a price point like it did back in '08. It was $1.50/gallon while everything else was $4+.
 
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