E85?

02suburbanZ71 · January 26, 2015

Why do you say that?

Because of the stages of production. How they convert the the corn into e85 fuel

KARNUT · January 26, 2015

The environment part will work it self out. I run it for more power, its that simple for me. I use to spend a lot of money for 25HP. Its cheaper then 93 gas, I feel it, and its cleaner for my engine, and they use it in Nascar. As far as gas mileage, 15 in town 18 on the HWY if I don't warm it up too long. I didn't get that with my last gas powered truck

kstruckcountry · January 26, 2015

The environment part will work it self out.

and they use it in Nascar.

Please explain how the environmental part will work itself out.

Also not true. Ethanol content in NASCAR is only E15 currently. Around 100 octane I believe.

KARNUT · January 26, 2015

Please explain how the environmental part will work itself out.

Also not true. Ethanol content in NASCAR is only E15 currently. Around 100 octane I believe.

Its apparent to me that the people in the know change their minds every decade or so. 1, cooling in the 70s, then warming later now climate change. Butter, eggs bad, now good. Fake butter good, now worse then butter. The so called experts most of the time don't know what they are talking about, should be taking with a grain of salt. I could go on with the examples, been around long enough to be wary of everything. Best advice I every got from my Grandfather was believe nothing you hear and half what you see.

kstruckcountry · January 26, 2015

I agree with you there. But using excessive water is always bad, no matter what the "eco trend" is at the moment.

calgator73 · January 28, 2015

Around here E85 is rated up to 105 octane

Ryan

Different ways of calculating octane. 105 isn't necessarily wrong but consumers have no idea what they are getting. Wish retailers would post current alcohol content. I won't run e85 in the winter because the alcohol % goes way down.

mjj · January 29, 2015

Different ways of calculating octane. 105 isn't necessarily wrong but consumers have no idea what they are getting. Wish retailers would post current alcohol content. I won't run e85 in the winter because the alcohol % goes way down.

I agree current/actual % would be nice but why not use in the winter? It is posted minimum E70 on the pumps in MI. I figure at least I'm only getting 30% crappy winter gas instead of 100%. Unless there is also an E85 "winter blend" that is different than more than just the ethanol percentage. My truck has been running great on it.

MikeNH · January 29, 2015

Different ways of calculating octane. 105 isn't necessarily wrong but consumers have no idea what they are getting. Wish retailers would post current alcohol content. I won't run e85 in the winter because the alcohol % goes way down.

Ethanol content drops to help ensure the engine starts in cold weather.

mjj · January 29, 2015

The biggest use of water is during turning the grain to alcohol.

There is more energy expended in planting/harvesting/processing corn than you ever get out of it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G730A using Tapatalk

I dont think this is the case anymore. Much closer to gasoline then it used to be with better processes and I've also read a dry process vs the old wet process is now being used reducing the amount of water needed.

Brian S. · January 29, 2015

The environment part will work it self out. I run it for more power, its that simple for me. I use to spend a lot of money for 25HP. Its cheaper then 93 gas, I feel it, and its cleaner for my engine, and they use it in Nascar. As far as gas mileage, 15 in town 18 on the HWY if I don't warm it up too long. I didn't get that with my last gas powered truck

The fact that it's warranted performance GM builds into the truck is reason enough to run it for me.

I have the 4.3 engine that has 285hp and 305ft lbs on E10, my last 5.3l had 315hp/335ft lbs. Can I tell the difference? Not often, but sometimes I can.

On E85, the 4.3l is at 297hp, 330lbs torque. Can I tell the difference using E85? Sometimes, and it actually seems faster than the 5.3 was. (I might have had the 3.08 or 3.23 gears in my last truck, don't remember)

When you add in that E85 is all American, no chance I'm buying from Canada/Opec/Venezuala and sending our wealth out of the country, I like E85 on multiple levels. If I cared about gas mileage I wouldn't drive a Silverado, because none of them have ever gotten great mpg.

calgator73 · January 30, 2015

Ethanol content drops to help ensure the engine starts in cold weather

Now here's one for you:

As we know these vehicles have horrible cold fuel economy. Biggest reason is that extra fuel has to be dumped to make sure the cats get up to temp quickly.

Given:

E-85 has worse fuel economy 15-25%

E-85 (depending on actual blend: see page 18 http://www.ethanolretailer.com/images/uploads/Ethanol_Retailer.pdf) has between 15 and 25% gasoline.

FFV vehicles tested with E-85 had much reduced cold start emissions (http://www.afdc.energy.gov/pdfs/technical_paper_feb09.pdf)

http://www.utep.edu/eafrl/pc99/99utep_evc.pdf

Will running winter blend E-85 have the same cold start fuel economy as E-10?

MikeNH · January 30, 2015

Not really important to me. E85 is an easy power adder. I could care less about emissions.

sdeeter19555 · January 30, 2015

There is still more energy placed in creating the end product, than the energy you receive from it. The amount of diesel burnt to prep, plant, harvest a bushel of corn is more than the energy that bushel of corn yields. The only reason it is cheaper than gasoline is that it is subsidized. This is a well known fact and has been documented many times.

We should be looking at a different biomass than corn...switch grass, sugar beets, etc.. Isn't Venezuala making all their own fuel from sugar beets at this point? I know the local farms grow a lot of switcn grass for ethanol.

I dont think this is the case anymore. Much closer to gasoline then it used to be with better processes and I've also read a dry process vs the old wet process is now being used reducing the amount of water needed.

mjj · January 30, 2015

On a lighter note, check out my mpg after my 30 mile drive to work this morning. Icing snowy roads, 4x4 Hi, Trans in M5, using E85. Truck drove like a champ and with impressive mpg. To be fair it was all 35-55mph driving. But none the less made me smile.

mjj · January 30, 2015

Now here's one for you:

As we know these vehicles have horrible cold fuel economy. Biggest reason is that extra fuel has to be dumped to make sure the cats get up to temp quickly.

Given:

E-85 has worse fuel economy 15-25%

E-85 (depending on actual blend: see page 18 http://www.ethanolretailer.com/images/uploads/Ethanol_Retailer.pdf) has between 15 and 25% gasoline.

FFV vehicles tested with E-85 had much reduced cold start emissions (http://www.afdc.energy.gov/pdfs/technical_paper_feb09.pdf)

http://www.utep.edu/eafrl/pc99/99utep_evc.pdf

Will running winter blend E-85 have the same cold start fuel economy as E-10?

That is some serious reading. So me being in Michigan I'm only ever gonna see true E85 for at most 3 months a year with the rest being a lower percentage. That is surprising.