I found a place that sells flex fuel.

[Dangulo]

This isn't E85... it's some mystery mix. The flex fuel trucks will run it, but I wouldn't go about trying to tune for it... you never know what you'll get from one tank to the next.

While that may be true anythinggreater than 50% ethanol will raise the octane level allowing more ignition timing for more power

 

[NCRaineman]

While that may be true anythinggreater than 50% ethanol will raise the octane level allowing more ignition timing for more power

This is true. But how do you tune for a fuel that may be different each time you fill up? The amount of timing you could safely add would vary with what was in the tank.

 

[tidefan1967]

Yeah since I'm sure that the amount of RAM's with HEMI's far exceeds those with Pentastars and Ecodiesels by a very large margin I always found it odd that they aren't flex fuel. I've often thought about mixing a couple gallons of E85 in a tank of 87 to get the desired 89 octane and save quite a bit of money in the process but of course since they aren't I haven't tried it. I have filled up with the E0 87 a few times and did get better mileage but not to the point where its worth the extra .50 cents a gallon. On another note I have rebuilt many carburetors that were ****** up due to ethanol and that's why I use the E0 in my small equipment. If you tear a carb. down and its full of hard slightly sticky brown **** then thats all due to ethanol in the fuel. Instead of messing with additives and stabilizers I'll just buy the E0 and not worry about it as the gas station that sells it is literally right across the street from my house so its not like I got to go out of my way to buy it.

 

[Black W900]

No E85....Not ever in anything I own.
It's garbage.

 

[Tangent]

Thanks guys! Very informative. I have the Pentastar V6. I was intrigued by flex fuel but I'm over it. A few of you said you get more power but most of you say the opposite.

 

[jasonw]

Its not just timing, unfortunately.

Some engines already have high enough compression, and just need to be tuned for ethanol, so to speak (timing or whatever else). This is why some car owners report excellent power from E85 after just a tune.

Ethanol runs better with higher compression engines than what ours use. I cannot speak for the Pentastar, as I have not researched it in that engine, but as far as the Hemi and 4.7 V8s go, they don't have the right compression from the factory. If you increase timing and compression, yes, E85 will deliver more power.

 

[Dangulo]

This is true. But how do you tune for a fuel that may be different each time you fill up? The amount of timing you could safely add would vary with what was in the tank.

Good question. Since this is hypothetical because the hemi Ram doesn't have the flex fuel sensor I'll refer to another vehicle where I've seen it work.

On newer Mustang when E85 is present you can see the ignition timing advance once 91 octane is out of the system. Common knowledge is when advancing ignition timing power will increase before diminishing returns.

 

[NCRaineman]

Good question. Since this is hypothetical because the hemi Ram doesn't have the flex fuel sensor I'll refer to another vehicle where I've seen it work.

On newer Mustang when E85 is present you can see the ignition timing advance once 91 octane is out of the system. Common knowledge is when advancing ignition timing power will increase before diminishing returns.

Right. I've seen lots of performance vehicles pick up a good bit of power when tuned for E85. BUT my point is, this isn't E85... it's some mystery mix.

 

[Dangulo]

Right. I've seen lots of performance vehicles pick up a good bit of power when tuned for E85. BUT my point is, this isn't E85... it's some mystery mix.

With a flex fuel sensor the tune adjusts itself on the fly based on the ethanol content of said mystery mix.
As long as it's over 50% ethanol timing will automatically increase making more power.

Sadly we don't have this available to the Hemi Ram. Only Fords get to enjoy this technology that I'm aware of from the factory.

 

[noupf]

Thanks guys! Very informative. I have the Pentastar V6. I was intrigued by flex fuel but I'm over it. A few of you said you get more power but most of you say the opposite.

i suggest you look up more info on e85. I'm not going to call anybody out, but half the comments i'm reading here, clearly know very little about it. I had it on my 2010 silverado and it was great. I was saving on average, $1 a gallon at the time and my mpgs were only slipping by about 1.5-2 mpg's. As long as the price per gallon was 15% or more cheaper than gasoline ( because i was losing about 15% in mpg's when using e85 ) at the time, i would buy the e85. If a motor is tuned for ethanol ( E85 ), you will get a little more power and better tourque out of the burning of the fuel. Problem is, it requires a tiny bit more fuel to do so.......so thats where the mpgs drop. However, the cost savings, especailly now, is great. I see it here in NY for about $1.49 a gallon and i'm paying 2.99 +for my 89 octane for my ram. If the hemi was flex fuel capable...i'd be all over it.

we could talk about the economic and enviornmental downfalls of this fuel, but thats not what you ( the OP ) was asking about.

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

e85 is garbage

 

[Beerwolf]

It amazes me how much misinformation is repeated on E85. If you research it the current Blender tax credit is a maximum of .08 per gallon only if the retailer meets goals of 23% biofuels in 2018, percent of biofuels increasing in future years. I have been using E85 in my 2018 Ram 1500 for the last year and here is what I experienced.

1. Smoother idle, better throttle response on E85, 3.6L produces approx. 15 more horsepower on E85. Saw the on Ram's website at one point, could not find the link anymore.
2. In the Midwest current price spread makes E85 a viable option. Here are my MPG averages over the last 16k miles, about 60% on E85.

City - Mostly short trips < 5 miles during the week
Highway - Long Trips - usually cruise set at 70 mph
Towing - Winnebago Travel Trailer, weight approx. 6800 lbs with 600 lbs of motorcycle in the bed.


Cost per mile calculated at today's prices


MPG Price Cost Per Mile
City
11.9 2.14 $0.18
13.7 2.94 $0.21
Highway - Empty
17.1 2.14 $0.13
23.6 2.94 $0.12
Towing - 7200 lbs
7.9 2.14 $0.27
8.9 2.94 $0.33

Outside the Midwest I generally can't find the price spread to make E85 break even or cheaper. Towing I prefer the performance of the E85 regardless of the price. I usually tow with cruise set at 65 mph and on gasoline, it stays 1 gear lower at about 3200 rpm, on e85 it settles in at about 2800 rpm. On steep grades E85 will maintain 65 mph most of the time, on Regular it struggles a bit more and redlines if I leave the cruise on.

So there are advantages and disadvantages to any fuel. Armed with some solid data I can check the prices when I fill up and decide which fuel I need at the time, that is the great thing about flex fuel is it is flexible.

 

[ram1500rsm]

This is true. But how do you tune for a fuel that may be different each time you fill up? The amount of timing you could safely add would vary with what was in the tank.

Flex fuel ready vehicles have alcohol sensors and built in timing tables to use depending on the alcohol mix, my 2010 Silverado crew cab 5.3L is Flex fuel ready, i can pump whatever gas i want with any alcohol content in it, and i don't need to worry about tuning for it.

You can also use a WB to tune for it if there is no sensor, but you have to adjust your PCM stoich ratio to a value that matches the stoich present in the fuel, correct your airflow model if you had mods, then fuel trims will do the rest providing you're not going from e85 to e15 on the next tank, this will work, https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Fuel-Technology-36-E85-Sample/dp/B007ZJ749O

You have to account for timing, you have to account for other little things in the tune, you have to have enough injectors, and depending on mods, a fuel pump capable of providing enough fuel at WOT, the rest is intenet BS. i ran e85 in a 09 Pontiac G8GT for a couple of years as a daily driver, that car had enough injectors from the factory to run the gas, and never ever had an issues with it, i used e85 to turn up the timing on the cheap side, i had long tubes and a healty camshaft, 100 octane gas is about $9-$11 a gallon over here, e85 is a tad more expensinve than the POS 91 octane we get in Socal, sometimes is cheaper too. Alcohol burns cleaner than gas, you just need to tune for it if your calibration is not ready for it. e85 is good stuff if you want to crank some more power, ask the Supercharged/turbocharged folks about e85, way different of course if you want to win hypermilling competitions with it. e85 is not for everybody.

 

[78Staff]

meh I'll stick to Ethanol FREE - 2-3 more mpg and only about a $1 more per fill-up. #Winning.

 

[dav8388]

I tried E85 in my 3.6 and didn't see an advantage. Ya it was cheeper but I got worse milage, so it equaled it self out. I have been just using regular e10 87. I found a station that sells ethanol free, and tried it in my Saturn I had before the Ram I picked up 3-4 mpg extra and it felt peppier. I only use ethanol free in my Camaro, but with it being the same price as 93 octane I can't bring myself to spend what it would take to fill a 32 gal tank with it.

 

[Ramnewbie]

Although I wouldn't use e85 a word of caution for those that do. Get ready to change you're oil more often. Apparently the high concentration of ethanol does something to foul you're oil. I don't know if it's blowby or what. But at any rate this is stated in you're owners manual plus most oil companies even state this.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[2010 Infantry Vet]

The ethanol also guns up fuel lines and injectors, not to mention makes less power than 91.

 

[69GWC]

It wont gum anything up unless it sets in there for 3 or 4 months. Ethanol is alcohol mostly a solvent and cleaner its just if it set a long time you can run into problem.

 

[McBroom]

But I want to make sure it's E85. The pump doesn't say. My gas cap is yellow and says E85/gasoline, but the pump I found just says flex fuel with an ear of corn on it.

What does your engine do on flex fuel? Is it worse for your engine, but better for the environment? Will my fuel mileage be the same? Anyone ever run flex fuel?

View attachment 135773 View attachment 135774 View attachment 135775

You can use either regular or ethanol fuel. Using ethanol your going to loose mpg,HP(15%)and pulling power.


I Love my 18 Ram 2500HD 4x4 CC
Blue Streak Pearl off-road

 

[LeesEvoX]

e85 is garbage

Although I wouldn't use e85 a word of caution for those that do. Get ready to change you're oil more often. Apparently the high concentration of ethanol does something to foul you're oil. I don't know if it's blowby or what. But at any rate this is stated in you're owners manual plus most oil companies even state this.

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The ethanol also guns up fuel lines and injectors, not to mention makes less power than 91.

You guys are all crazy. For a factory flex fuel car it may be worthless.

But when I switched from 93 pump gas to E85 on my evo... oh boy!

From simply a fuel change my car made over 80+ whp. (Makes you lose power you say?)

Yes I get 10mpg. And yes I have to change oil sooner. Because ethanol is a solvent basically.

But I would never go back to running pump gas in my evo.

Gunks up stuff you say? Only if you let it sit. There is no better cleaner out the for carbon build up than ethanol. After 1000 miles on my newest built engine. The piston tops still look BRAND NEW

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