Anyone currently using E85 fuel?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

PHXdesertTahoe

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Just a general question for those using E85 in the flex fuel Tahoe's, do you notice any difference in performance compared to regular gasoline?

Also, this may be a dumb question but say you have a half tank of regular gas and add E85 to fill up the rest of the way. Would this hurt the vehicle at all or would there be any mixing issues?

Just curious, I noticed they now have an E85 station not too far from where I will be working in a few weeks in Phoenix, was thinking about making the switch to save a little dough at the pump.

Thanks much for your help.

Matt.
 

OStateFlyer

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Tulsa
Just a quick word about saving a few bucks by running E85: It is likely you won't. You'll see fewer MPG running E85, so it may very well counteract any cost saving per gallon. Obviously, you'll have to do the math based on current gas/E85 prices vs MPG to see if it is actually worth it.

Here's the report on a '07 Tahoe 4WD LT and E85:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ch_stuff_ethanol_promises_feature+page-7.html

Here's a road test comparison of an '07 LT on gas vs E85:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/alternativefuels/articles/120863/article.html
 
Last edited:

PHXdesertTahoe

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
Just a quick word about saving a few bucks by running E85: It is likely you won't. You'll see fewer MPG running E85, so it may very well counteract any cost saving per gallon. Obviously, you'll have to do the math based on current gas/E85 prices vs MPG to see if it is actually worth it.

Here's the report on a '07 Tahoe 4WD LT and E85:

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ch_stuff_ethanol_promises_feature+page-7.html

That is great info! Thanks much. In looking at a 30% decrease in mpg and based on the amount of miles I drive it looks like it will actually cost me about $50 per month more using E85 taking in to affect the car and driver tests on the 07 Tahoe they used. Looks like regular petro will still be the ticket for me. :thumbsup:
 

turboedmsp

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2007
Messages
67
Reaction score
0
Location
Houston TX
my personal review was with e85 it runs better (more power) but mpg decreases. for me e85 has to be .40 cheaper than regular gas to break even. around here it stays only .30 cheaper.
 

Hardin Thicke

Full Access Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2007
Messages
257
Reaction score
0
I was in western Ohio last weekend, and put 21 gallons of E85 in my Tahoe. I emptied the tank again driving back to Pennsylvania and observed about a 1-2 mile per gallon decrease in mileage, but E85 was $.50 per gallon less than gasoline. I wish I had it here in Massachusetts.
 

solidgun

Full Access Member
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
58
Reaction score
0
So at what price difference, does E85 make sense? Where I live, it is about $0.60 difference.
 

Black Dog

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
827
Reaction score
0
my personal review was with e85 it runs better (more power) but mpg decreases. for me e85 has to be .40 cheaper than regular gas to break even. around here it stays only .30 cheaper.

More power, really? I thought it would be less to be less efficient, but I guess it could be getting more power by burning it at a faster rate.
 

Black Dog

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
827
Reaction score
0
So at what price difference, does E85 make sense? Where I live, it is about $0.60 difference.

Well the above posts say .40 and .50 cents cheaper, so looks like you'd be okay at .60.
 

PHXdesertTahoe

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
So at what price difference, does E85 make sense? Where I live, it is about $0.60 difference.

Using just some estimates from test results in Car and Driver they list about a 30% decrease in gas mileage. What I did is took the price of E85 out here and divided it by the price of regular unleaded to get a percentage of 85% which amounts to a 15% price difference between the two fuels. I think you need to hit a 30% price difference between the two to break even although I will admit statistical stuff is not a strong area for me so I could be way off. :D
 

Black Dog

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
827
Reaction score
0
But then that report says 30% less mileage, so I would think not. At $4/gal for gas, $3.50/gal for E85, $1 of gas would take you 3.75 miles @ 15 MPG, and $1 of E85 would take you 3.28 miles @ 11.5 MPG. Another way is to say the gas costs you $.27 per mile and the E85 costs $.30 per mile. So I would say if it is 30% less efficient it would have to be about $.90 cheaper or only about 15% less efficient. This is all based on 15 MPG and $4 gas, so the margins vary as those factors vary. Me, i'd like to have a big ass corn field right now.
 

Black Dog

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2008
Messages
827
Reaction score
0
Using just some estimates from test results in Car and Driver they list about a 30% decrease in gas mileage. What I did is took the price of E85 out here and divided it by the price of regular unleaded to get a percentage of 85% which amounts to a 15% price difference between the two fuels. I think you need to hit a 30% price difference between the two to break even although I will admit statistical stuff is not a strong area for me so I could be way off. :D

No you're just about right doing it that way too.
 

PHXdesertTahoe

New Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
19
Reaction score
0
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
But then that report says 30% less mileage, so I would think not. At $4/gal for gas, $3.50/gal for E85, $1 of gas would take you 3.75 miles @ 15 MPG, and $1 of E85 would take you 3.28 miles @ 11.5 MPG. Another way is to say the gas costs you $.27 per mile and the E85 costs $.30 per mile. So I would say if it is 30% less efficient it would have to be about $.90 cheaper or only about 15% less efficient. This is all based on 15 MPG and $4 gas, so the margins vary as those factors vary. Me, i'd like to have a big ass corn field right now.

+1 :thumbsup: That or a big oil field would be great these days.
 

RyanbabZ71

Full Access Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
91
Reaction score
0
Location
Avon, Indiana
I have ran 4 tanks (5 tanks total). I have gotten 15-19mpg (lowest was city/hwy and highest was all hwy). I cant tell a difference other than the exhaust smell. Also the 1st time I filled up the local pump states E85 = 105 octane
 

2007TahoeLTZ4x4

Full Access Member
Joined
May 4, 2008
Messages
95
Reaction score
0
Location
Fort Worth, TX
i thoguht that e85 has less combustable power...less bang for the same amount of fuel....so i dont kjnow how it could be more powerful?

also theres a website that has a calculator that lets your input the price of gas and has the price of e85 stations to compare them
 

Ickulus

Full Access Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
83
Reaction score
0
If I'm not misatken, E85 burns hotter. I think it may have an adverse effect on seals and valves. I wanna say it says somethin' about it in your manual. I will check it out.
 

starshockey

New Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2008
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
i thoguht that e85 has less combustable power...less bang for the same amount of fuel....so i dont kjnow how it could be more powerful?

E85 = More Octane but LESS BTU. Thus the drop in MPG. I do run it 85% of the time in my 2006 and will do so in my 2008 when it gets here. I only see a 1MPG decrease since the PCM was reflased about a year ago.

also theres a website that has a calculator that lets your input the price of gas and has the price of e85 stations to compare them

my .02 cents worth
 

07SuburbanLTZ

Full Access Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2008
Messages
206
Reaction score
0
Location
North Jersey
Back to his other question if you can mix the both fuels.

Yes you can but it is wise if you are running gas to let the tank almost empty before refueling with E85 or vice-versa.
 

Zed 71

Full Access Member
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
208
Reaction score
0
I just finished a tank of E85. With regular gas I was getting ~17 mpg and with E85 I was getting 12.3 mpg.

Cost of regular gas was $4.15 and E85 was $3.49. So for me the cost/mile of regular gas was $0.24/mile and E85 was $0.28/mile. Not worth it. The price of E85 would need to be ~72% the cost of regular gas to break event. So at $4.15/gal for regular, E85 would need to be ~$2.99/gal to break even.
 
Top