E85?

[Gmcant33]

In the year that Ive been following this forum, most tuners have said our trucks don't perform well on 87 gas, some use 89 gas. I was hesitant to use E85, at first. Now I only use it, the trucks performs very good on it.

 

So in my completely stock truck using a higher would be better than e 85 sorry just trying to get the best fuel recommendation that is best for our engine blocks.(long term) just curious would and e85 live up to 250k miles or would an 87 ,89 and etc get better life for truck.

[KARNUT]

So in my completely stock truck using a higher would be better than e 85 sorry just trying to get the best fuel recommendation that is best for our engine blocks.(long term) just curious would and e85 live up to 250k miles or would an 87 ,89 and etc get better life for truck.

E85 burns cleaner, I don't think any of the fuel would make that much differents in engine life other than using name brand gas at popular gas stations. I use E85 just for the performance gain, and I don't use 87 gas because of the knock retard. But I run a tune so I have to use E85 or 93 gas anyway.

[RyanbabZ71]

I have run E85 in my truck for close to 50K miles now. Knock on wood no issues

 

 

Ryan

[POS VETT]

I like using E85 in my '15. The truck becomes comparatively sluggish when using 93. No idea how it behaves with 87 & 89.

[Gmcant33]

E85 burns cleaner, I don't think any of the fuel would make that much differents in engine life other than using name brand gas at popular gas stations. I use E85 just for the performance gain, and I don't use 87 gas because of the knock retard. But I run a tune so I have to use E85 or 93 gas anyway.

I see here in south Texas e85 is about .20 cheaper but I was skeptical since I heard other having issues but I might try it. U recommend i empty my full tank then use e85 or i can go right ahead proceed ? I would think flusing the tank would be better.

[KARNUT]

I see here in south Texas e85 is about .20 cheaper but I was skeptical since I heard other having issues but I might try it. U recommend i empty my full tank then use e85 or i can go right ahead proceed ? I would think flusing the tank would be better.

I was the same way, but couldn't find any one having problems. You don't need to wait till empty but you wouldn't get the full effect for a couple of tanks. I don't compare with 87 gas, I wouldn't run it anyway.

[Northside]

I see here in south Texas e85 is about .20 cheaper but I was skeptical since I heard other having issues but I might try it. U recommend i empty my full tank then use e85 or i can go right ahead proceed ? I would think flusing the tank would be better.

I wouldn't worry about flushing or running it out of gas first. Fuel labeled E-85 is actually usually less than 85% ethanol. It will be a maximum of 85%. They mix ethanol with gasoline before you pump it, so the percentage varies a bit. I buy it at two different places and haven't noticed any difference. Our engines have 11:1 compression so they need a lot of octane to avoid detonation. The only way they will run properly on low octane gas is to retard the timing, killing performance. E-85 is 100 octane or better, which is what a high compression engine runs best with. If you have a couple of gallons of straight gas in your tank and fill with E-85 you will still have plenty of octane.

 

I've been running it exclusively for about nine months. My friends have commented on how snappy my truck is. It's worth the extra couple of miles I have to go to get E-85.

[Gmcant33]

I wouldn't worry about flushing or running it out of gas first. Fuel labeled E-85 is actually usually less than 85% ethanol. It will be a maximum of 85%. They mix ethanol with gasoline before you pump it, so the percentage varies a bit. I buy it at two different places and haven't noticed any difference. Our engines have 11:1 compression so they need a lot of octane to avoid detonation. The only way they will run properly on low octane gas is to retard the timing, killing performance. E-85 is 100 octane or better, which is what a high compression engine runs best with. If you have a couple of gallons of straight gas in your tank and fill with E-85 you will still have plenty of octane.

 

I've been running it exclusively for about nine months. My friends have commented on how snappy my truck is. It's worth the extra couple of miles I have to go to get E-85.

 

 

Nice good to know yea I guess I'll empty then fill up and see it how it runs thanks for the info.

[Yamiryder]

i wish i had E85 closely available to me, however the closest E85 station is almost 2 hours away. E85 has an octane rating of around 104, which is the reason for the performance increase.

[nards444]

So in my completely stock truck using a higher would be better than e 85 sorry just trying to get the best fuel recommendation that is best for our engine blocks.(long term) just curious would and e85 live up to 250k miles or would an 87 ,89 and etc get better life for truck.

Depends on what you want. If you want the possibility of up to a 25hp than E85. As I said earlier E85 is going cost you 25% or so in MPG loss. So if money is the concern than E85 has to be at least 25% cheaper than gasoline to make it worth your while. As for engine longevtity I dont know if the word is really out yet. I really dont have an opinion but a few things make we wonder. We worry about E10 or E15 the blended stuff we see not at most pumps being corosive to engines and so forth, so if 10% of the Fuel is alocohol is bad why wouldnt 85% be. Second I have read the issue with E85 is getting gas stations to mix it correctly as from what I have read mixture rates are all over the board reducing the fact that most guys think they are getting 25hp.

 

For me I would buy it, as I dont care about the life the engine Im not keeping it that long. Issue is around here its few and far between and the price difference doesnt offset the fact I lose 25% fuel efficiency. And on a normal day of driving to work or going to home depot I dont care about maybe getting 25 hp.

[KARNUT]

Depends on what you want. If you want the possibility of up to a 25hp than E85. As I said earlier E85 is going cost you 25% or so in MPG loss. So if money is the concern than E85 has to be at least 25% cheaper than gasoline to make it worth your while. As for engine longevtity I dont know if the word is really out yet. I really dont have an opinion but a few things make we wonder. We worry about E10 or E15 the blended stuff we see not at most pumps being corosive to engines and so forth, so if 10% of the Fuel is alocohol is bad why wouldnt 85% be. Second I have read the issue with E85 is getting gas stations to mix it correctly as from what I have read mixture rates are all over the board reducing the fact that most guys think they are getting 25hp.

 

For me I would buy it, as I dont care about the life the engine Im not keeping it that long. Issue is around here its few and far between and the price difference doesnt offset the fact I lose 25% fuel efficiency. And on a normal day of driving to work or going to home depot I dont care about maybe getting 25 hp.

There you go messing in my fantasy world, I really though I was feeling the power. LOL

[Northside]

Depends on what you want. If you want the possibility of up to a 25hp than E85. As I said earlier E85 is going cost you 25% or so in MPG loss. So if money is the concern than E85 has to be at least 25% cheaper than gasoline to make it worth your while. As for engine longevtity I dont know if the word is really out yet. I really dont have an opinion but a few things make we wonder. We worry about E10 or E15 the blended stuff we see not at most pumps being corosive to engines and so forth, so if 10% of the Fuel is alocohol is bad why wouldnt 85% be. Second I have read the issue with E85 is getting gas stations to mix it correctly as from what I have read mixture rates are all over the board reducing the fact that most guys think they are getting 25hp.

 

For me I would buy it, as I dont care about the life the engine Im not keeping it that long. Issue is around here its few and far between and the price difference doesnt offset the fact I lose 25% fuel efficiency. And on a normal day of driving to work or going to home depot I dont care about maybe getting 25 hp.

 

I really don't think I have lost 25% of my m.p.g. running E-85 compared to E-10 gasoline. Last weekend I ran about 100 miles around town with my grandkids. Last 50 miles read 16.1 on E-85. On a 60 mile drive at 75-80 m.p.h. I get over 18. The real benefit isn't 25 h.p. at 5800 r.p.m. (where I never go), it's the better throttle response and all around snappier performance. The price difference varies around here. I filled up yesterday for $2.49 per gallon. I think running regular at 85 octane is not a good option as I have 11:1 compression. The E-85 was about 20% cheaper than premium so it's cheaper per mile to run E-85. But c'mon, at current gas prices who's counting pennies. My truck is more fun to drive on E-85 and I'll gladly take a 2 to 3 mpg hit for that benefit. Life is to short to drive a slug.

[RyanbabZ71]

$2.26 today

 

I lose about 15% economy.

 

Around here the E85 min is 70% by law

 

 

Ryan

[nards444]

 

I really don't think I have lost 25% of my m.p.g. running E-85 compared to E-10 gasoline. Last weekend I ran about 100 miles around town with my grandkids. Last 50 miles read 16.1 on E-85. On a 60 mile drive at 75-80 m.p.h. I get over 18. The real benefit isn't 25 h.p. at 5800 r.p.m. (where I never go), it's the better throttle response and all around snappier performance. The price difference varies around here. I filled up yesterday for $2.49 per gallon. I think running regular at 85 octane is not a good option as I have 11:1 compression. The E-85 was about 20% cheaper than premium so it's cheaper per mile to run E-85. But c'mon, at current gas prices who's counting pennies. My truck is more fun to drive on E-85 and I'll gladly take a 2 to 3 mpg hit for that benefit. Life is to short to drive a slug.

Just stating the facts. Everybodys experience may differ. But its even on the tag, you may lose 25% of MPG using E85. So thats something to think about. And were not couint pennies were talking dollars potentially. Around here E85 is 20-30cents cheaper than regular. Gas is 3 bucks. so you save less 10% on gas price but lose 25% in efficiency. And yeah I dont care its a half ton chevy with 360hp. If I want to run hot Ill run my camaro or something. Its a truck not a hot rod.

[KARNUT]

It depends on who you talk to, Ive seen 12 sec trucks with just a tune and a little work. I have a 92 Chevy that will do 12s on 10 LBS OF boost. I can drive it daily with the AC on. On the other hand Ive had a stock V8 Camaro couldn't run the 1/4 mile as quick as my 14 GMC. In 1979 the dodge little red express truck was the fastest American made car or truck, including the 79 Corvette. Then there is Nascar camping world truck series.