E85 is it worth it?

[YellowTruckMan25]

I've got a 2009 ram 1500 5.7 Hemi. I live in flordia, im looking for the most performance gains that come without boost or risking blowing my transmission or engine. Ive only got a CAI and a throttle controller, would E85 be worth it, if so what would the gains look like?

 

[HEMIMANN]

No. There is LESS energy per unit volume in alcohol than there is in gasoline. Both your power and mileage will suffer.

Unless you custom tune your PCM to advance ignition timing to make use of the higher octane rating of 85% ethanol.

 

[turkeybird56]

No. There is LESS energy per unit volume in alcohol than there is in gasoline. Both your power and mileage will suffer.

Unless you custom tune your PCM to advance ignition timing to make use of the higher octane rating of 85% ethanol.

^^^ Ditto ^^^

At one place I worked, we were "mandated" to use E85 in our Impala's to be green. Those V6's that got 24-30 mpg got 16 mpg with that corn crapola.

 

[HEMIMANN]

^^^ Ditto ^^^

At one place I worked, we were "mandated" to use E85 in our Impala's to be green. Those V6's that got 24-30 mpg got 16 mpg with that corn crapola.

Keep in mind top fuel dragsters run nitromethanol. But their engine is built to make max power off it - street engines are not.

 

[A_mod_too_far]

^^^ Ditto ^^^

At one place I worked, we were "mandated" to use E85 in our Impala's to be green. Those V6's that got 24-30 mpg got 16 mpg with that corn crapola.

I don’t believe that, I run 85 on and off and the mileage drop is almost unnoticeable, more noticable is the lack of power, but nothing Crazy

 

[HEMIMANN]

I don’t believe that, I run 85 on and off and the mileage drop is almost unnoticeable, more noticable is the lack of power, but nothing Crazy

Suggest you document. This is a well known chemical fact. Google it.

 

[A_mod_too_far]

Suggest you document. This is a well known chemical fact. Google it.

anecodtal but I track my mpg every fill up and usually get 13.5 to 14, never seen it drop below 12.5 since I’ve owned it and I’ve only ever done 85 or 87.
I did get 16 for a little while after I had done a bunch of maintenance like spark plugs and injectors and trans, but that only last a couple months

 

[star_deceiver]

anecodtal but I track my mpg every fill up and usually get 13.5 to 14, never seen it drop below 12.5 since I’ve owned it and I’ve only ever done 85 or 87.
I did get 16 for a little while after I had done a bunch of maintenance like spark plugs and injectors and trans, but that only last a couple months

85 octane gasoline and E85 are two very different things.

 

[turkeybird56]

I don’t believe that, I run 85 on and off and the mileage drop is almost unnoticeable, more noticable is the lack of power, but nothing Crazy

Not gonna get into debate, just post what happened. Not only did the Impala's go to chit on that corn junk, they burned a lot more also. They were run from new on 87 Octane regular gas, but then the Agency I was working for got on this "green" kick and all vehicles E85 capable were mandated to use. We could not even switch out because we had keys coded to gas pumps, and they gave all our Impala's the corn junk keys. Boy did they run lousy and burn fuel. We complained and were told, deal with it just fuel up more often. So the only time the cars got regular gas were when we were on a long trip and had a CC card for fuel. Just the facts Sgt Friday, just the facts. Only posting what I saw/experienced, no embellishment, not even garnish, lol.

 

[caulk04]

E85 is a great fuel when used properly. No hemi is factory ready for it.

Boosted applications and other instances where you can use the higher octane are great, but you're free to forget about it.

 

[Fatbob Frank]

My cousin's Silverado is rated for E85 and he ran a tank or 2 cause it was so much cheaper/gal.
But he said his mileage suffered so badly that it didn't save him anything so he quit...

 

[crash68]

E85 is a great fuel when used properly.

My neighbor who's a former Dodge mechanic would disagree, he's seen a lot of vehicles with burnt up fuel injectors from running E85

 

[Cummins diesel]

I don’t believe that, I run 85 on and off and the mileage drop is almost unnoticeable, more noticable is the lack of power, but nothing Crazy

I drop from about 18.5-20 mpg with regular to about 13-14 with the E85 in my Grand Cherokee. I can take pictures to prove it to.

 

[blue ghost]

I use the ethanol free gas and get a 2mpg increase.

 

[2Tallguy]

No. There is LESS energy per unit volume in alcohol than there is in gasoline. Both your power and mileage will suffer.

Unless you custom tune your PCM to advance ignition timing to make use of the higher octane rating of 85% ethanol.

Biden and his EPA want to increase the ethanol to 15% in refular gasoline which will render the older vehicles inoperable. Another chapter in the Great Reset.

 

[HEMIMANN]

Biden and his EPA want to increase the ethanol to 15% in refular gasoline which will render the older vehicles inoperable. Another chapter in the Great Reset.

State of Minnesota does because the legislators are bought-off by the agri corn lobby. The rich guys like Archer Daniels Midland and Cargill. Been fighting this for 25 years. It's illegal to fill an automotive gasoline engine in MN with raw gas. Only allowed are motorcycles, boats, and small engines.

Food isn't fuel, and it's energy losing. I'm ok with soybean squeezin's for biodiesel as it is mostly energy neutral to make compared to crude refined diesel, but you can't store it and it gels in the winter. They're pushing higher % on that here, too - until a bunch of trucks froze up the first winter they didn't lower their % mandate because they don't understand engines.

 

[rvance]

There is very little noticeable difference between the regular and E85 in the 3.6 in everyday driving, so for commuting it's good if you are saving 20 cents a gallon or more. Big difference while towing though. Ethanol free gas gets a little better performance and milage but not enough to justify the price. Note that I haven't tried towing on ethanol free.

 

[Gary Hill22]

EPA Mileage on my Flex fuel 3.6 l pentastar is 23 gasoline and16 E85. Not my numbers, a government agency number.

 

[Atcer2018]

I fill up with E85 every time I visit relatives in PA. It’s not sold in my area of VA. My 3.6L gets nearly identical mpg with E85 versus 10% ethanol 87 octane regular on a six hour highway drive. The E85 is 65 cents per gallon less and at 60 mph is a good deal on a long highway trip.

 

[frankherche]

When the price between E85 and gasoline in Illinois was $.70 to $1.00 and I needed gas to get home I would stop at Speedway and put E85 in my 3.6 Grand Caravan. Gas mileage went down to 18 or 19 MPG from 25. It also took a long time the get my gas mileage back. Seafoam and Marvel Mystery oil helped. The price gap is lot closer now, so I won't use E85.