e85 fuel

[Susan Pierce]

has anyone tryed the e85 fuel in their st or can you

 

[Dave S 2]

Don't have anywhere around here that sells it to the public yet. From what I've read, MPG drops more than the $ difference justifies. It's basically for anyone who wants to go green and doesn't mind paying more for it



As far as bunring it in the ST. Depends on the model year you are inquiring about. I don't exactly know but some can and some can't. Others on here can break it down for you.



In the mean time, you can put E85 in the search and select all posts to review E85 opinions. Lots of em there.

 

[peter barone03]

I tryed a tank full Hess gas has it, It burned ok however I went from 15-16 MPG's down to 13-14 MPG. It was alittle cheaper then the Gulf gas I usually use but more expensive in the long run.

Would only use it again if I had no other alternitive. Also , just to be safe after I ran the e85 I put in an injector cleaner, one of the pit falls is it can clog up the jets and makes for a rough idle.

Once I put the cleaner in everything smoothed out.and is running fine. Don't know what long term use would do.

Some say you need to change fuel filter more often, I don't know for sure.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Also , just to be safe after I ran the e85 I put in an injector cleaner, one of the pit falls is it can clog up the jets and makes for a rough idle.

Where did you get that information?





Tom

 

[Carl Johnson]

For a year or so around here it was running $.50 less than regular for a gallon. I burned it all the time and it seemed to have a little more power than gas but mpg went from 14 to 11. I figured it was a wash at .50 cents less a gallon and it keeps the fuel system cleaner. However now the stations around my town have upped the price to only 30 cents less per gallon than gas. At that price they can keep it.

 

[Adam Smith]

I think you're supposed to only run 1/2 tank e85, 1/2 tank gasoline (better check). I pay around $3.29/gallon, while gasoline is around a dollar less a gallon here in San Diego (believe there is only one place around town to buy it). I do it to keep a bit more $ in the US and not give to our nations enemies (Citgo "was" the only Callifornia oil company that did not get the majority of it's product from middle east; I think that is no longer true). I have not noticed a difference in performance and have not done a milage comparison yet. Will update when I do.

 

[Gene Zenk]

So far, I have used 1091 gallons of E85 in my ST this year with absolutely no problems.



You don't have to mix it 1/2 and 1/2 like dbk774 suggested. If the vehicle is flex fuel capable (like my '04 ST) then it is will burn any percentage of ethanol up to 85%.



I do know several people that use any percentage of ethanol up to 85% in their non-flex fuel vehicles with absolutely no issues either. They say it is corrosive with some metals and deteriorates some rubber gaskets, so we'll have to see what the long term effects are to those vehicles.



Yes, I do get less milage. Probably somewhere around 13 mpg. But I don't keep track cuz a lot of my driving is local around town so it's terrible whether I use regular gas or E85.



The price of E85 here is consistently 30-40 cents less than the 10% ethanol blend which is usually 1-2 cents less than regular unleaded.



So, I think it's pretty close to a wash on my cost per mile with E85 versus regular unleaded. And in the winter (depending on the part of the country you are in), the E85 blend is usually reduced to somewhere around E70 to assist with starting the engine in the cold. However, I've started my ST at -20 F without a block heater or anything else without any trouble.



As far as clogging your injectors - I suppose there is a small amount of truth to that. From what I've gathered, that rumor is still around from when the 10% ethanol blends started appearing. And back then, regular gasoline wasn't as refined and had more impurities and other gunk that caked in your fuel system. The ethanol in the fuel acted as a solvent and knocked that stuff loose - therefore clogging fuel filters and possibly injectors. However, I highly doubt you would see anything like that any more.



So, assuming that the E85 fuel that I used this year averaged out to about E80 due to the winter blends and driving more in the summer, I used 873 gallons of a renewable fuel and only 218 gallons of unleaded gasoline.



Then there's the naysayers that complain ethanol takes more energy to produce than it produces. I can't dispute that fact, however, I'm betting that is also a held over fact from long ago and not true of the modern ethanol plants. The by-products of producing ethanol are also used as livestock feed and the carbon dioxide created by the yeast is often captured to produce dry ice among other things.



And yes, it does receive some subsidy from the federal government. But name an industry that doesn't receive something in some form or another? health care, airlines, railroads, just about every type of agriculture, etc. So, since our taxes are paying for the subsidies, why not take advantage of them and at least attempt to reduce our oil imports?



I don't believe that ethanol will be the complete solution to our energy needs, but it's a start that is pretty compatible with our current needs and use; it is stored, pumped and burned in our vehicles just like gasoline. You can't do that with hydrogen or other alternative fuels yet.

 

[Tom Schindler]

Then there's the naysayers that complain ethanol takes more energy to produce than it produces. I can't dispute that fact, however, I'm betting that is also a held over fact from long ago and not true of the modern ethanol plants. The by-products of producing ethanol are also used as livestock feed and the carbon dioxide created by the yeast is often captured to produce dry ice among other things.

Actually, the latest information I have read about ethanol is that those that said it takes more energy to produce then there is in it were flat out lying.





Tom