Mpg e85 vs gas

[tahoechris]

Happy Thursday... in a week I am going to Tampa, Florida from Cleveland, Ohio. At least a 2200 mile round trip and have not yet done the drive in the Tahoe. I'm wondering at what price must E85 be in comparison to regular gas to actually benefit from using it for you guys? Currently E85 is $1.79/gallon, and gas is $2.39/gallon near me.

I have a giant detailed spreadsheet full of all my fill ups the past 3 years in my other cars comparing gas stations, octanes, miles per tank, gas station location winter blend, summer blend, cost, etc... just have not yet went to E85 due to being weary of wasting money and selling my previous E85 compatible car.

 

[ezdaar]

E85 uses up to 30% more fuel to maintain the same Air fuel mixture.
There is no way your distance driven per tank on E85 will ever come close to, match or exceed normal pump gas.

 

[tahoechris]

E85 uses up to 30% more fuel to maintain the same Air fuel mixture.
There is no way your distance driven per tank on E85 will ever come close to, match or exceed normal pump gas.

I understand this, in real world driving in the tahoe's what are users typically getting on the freeway E85 powered? I'd like to know the "break even" point with gas vs. e85.

 

[ezdaar]

Have no clue to average mpg from users.
I think you will find most drivers try it then switch back before getting any real MPG numbers.
I have only used E85 for its performance properties..


There is only two reasons to run E85.

BOOST, If your not boosted, don't waste your time or money.
As well as using it for its cleaning properties. run two tanks every 3 months to clean out your fuel system, ports and combustion chambers.

 

[aflumb]

i will give you the info i found out using E85, 89 and 93
this was with my 2010 CCSB Sil. 2wd 5.3
E 85 is very cheap but i was only getting around 250 miles a tank with it.
89 now i would see somewhere around 300-320
93 i would avg around 350 380 depending on how i would drive

i would do this test mainly driving from sc to nc on interstate 95.

E85 is great for boost or if you are towing something. if you are just driving i would avoid it. even now with all my vehicles i run nothing but prem. unless i'm towing my trailer in the tahoe.

 

[scryfst]

The EPA list fuel economy for flex vehicles on e85 and gas.
look here: http://fueleconomy.gov/

for instance my Denali:
Gas: 14 City 16 Combined 18 Highway
E85: 10 City 12 Combined 15 Highway


2200/18 122.22 $292.11
2200/15 146.67 $262.54

2200/16 137.5 $328.63
2200/12 183.33 $328.16

I'm assuming at 2.39$ a gallon that's for 87 octane. I don't run 87 in my 6.2. E85 at 1.79$ vs today's cost of premium - E85 would show a substantial savings (according to the epa's stated fuel economy).

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

as lewis black ranted E85 is a complete and utter joke and do not buy a flex fuel vehicle its just a few more headaches for example you need a specieal 80 dollar tool just to remove the fuel filter. it may be cheaper but yer fuel eco plummits ive heard owners getting roughly 8 to 9 mpg running E85 it hurts performance and really hurts fuel economy
and what is it supposed to accomplish conserving fossil fuels ? umm no more petroleum is used the harvesting of corn for E85 then is saved by running it in cars instead of regular gas

---------- Post added at 03:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------

in order to run E85 efficiently you need a higher compression ratiod engine like 11:1 or higher E85 has a rediculously high octane rating like 105 so technically it would make more sense to have a flex fuel corvette rather then a flex fuel tahoe

 

[guy from norcal]

Damn $2.39 a gallon ? I just paid $3.49 last night for the mid grade at arco.

 

[tahoechris]

Damn $2.39 a gallon ? I just paid $3.49 last night for the mid grade at arco.

I'm in Ohio, probably why it is much cheaper. 87 is $2.39, 89 is $2.49, and 93 is $2.59. I'm going to run tanks of E85 for two months and see what I can average. I typically drive 2-2500 miles each month. I don't care about so called environmental benefits, just cost. My first tank got 10.9 MPG with some spirited driving, and I filled up with 22 gallons of it... so there was a little gas mixed in. Would like to answer my own question of what is the break even point.

 

[ezdaar]

Now that we are buddies with cuba, I would imagine our E85 prices will drop even more. Considering their primary crop is sugar cane.