Gas $2.39! not me I pay $1.55

[Scott Atwater]

After a month of running E-85 I have compiled the following notes.



I get about 11-14 highway unladen, 10-12 towing my 3500 lb 19 ft boat highway. A bit less with air on, but not much.

I have to drive about 60 miles round trip to save almost a dollar a gallon, so I usually bring a few empty 5 gallon cans. If I fill the trac with gas it costs me $52.58 and I get usually 16 mpg average, even with some in town driving ect. I get 43 gallons of E-85 for that same price of 1 tank of gas. My range is less per tank with E-85, but I get more miles per dollar and I don't really care that I have to fill my truck with fuel from a few spare cans, it pours out fast enough and if I spill so what it doesn't smell like gas(smells sweet) and it evaporates quickly while not putting hydrocarbons into the air causing pollution.

The last time I filled up I had 502 miles on that 43 gallons of gas giving me more miles per dollar, who cares if my overall MPG is less. (I did tow the boat to the lake one weekend and had the air on all week as it is really humid here.) Now if I don't tow too much in a month this ads up to about $40 in overall savings, not to mention I am putting money back into a local economy( it's made in the same county) and I am not giving a bunch of middle east oil barrons a bunch of my hard earned money so they can build a new palace or maybe cause some trouble or whatever. Some people said on here last time I posted that it isn't worth two hours of their time a month to save $40, well I guess they already make $20 an hour so it must be pennies to them. As for me I am going to run this stuff and continie to save big.

When this first came out in May it was $1.55 a gal and that hasn't changed. Gas cost about $2.02 a gal and we all know where that has gone. I did talk to the owner of the station who happened to be talking to customers and getting feedback on Sat and he said that so many people are driving way out there to get it that he is going to open a few more stations in North Oshkosh by summers end so now it's only a 20 min round trip drive to save $40 or more. You can say what you will (everyone here seems to have an opinion about E-85) at the end of the day saving money is saving money. I would like to ad I have had no ill side effects from E-85 other than poor milage. Not to mentin that all that comes out of my tail pipe is water vapor and CO-2 which is good for the enviroment.

 

[Ben Poche]

i would do the same

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Scott, you're st is old enough to get better than 16! regardless of what you run at least take out the silencer and spend one $40 chunk on a K&n, that should help either fuel. I have to say the fact that its made in the USA appeals to me most, thats very cool.

 

[Scott Atwater]

I am not into hearing a loud slerping/moaning sound when accelerating so the silencer is staying put, but I am looking to get a K&N for the stock location has anyone had good luck with these? Also does anyone know if clearing out the adaptives in the computer will help my overall mpg a bit. I had awesome gas milage when it was new, not it has fallen off a bit.

 

[Nelson Atwell]

I would use E-85 if the two Fuelman stations in OKC weren't ripping off their customers. They currently are charging 5 cents MORE than I can buy gasoline at Wal-Mart. The next nearest station is in Rolla, MO. I bought E-85 there a couple of months ago, and the tankful got me to the outskirts of OKC.

 

[Teddy GreeneII]

Scott, I have a drop in kn with about 200 miles on it, still has oil, brand new and cheap

 

[Scott Atwater]

to the guy who said that stations are ripping off customers with e-85, it is because gas is more profitable to sell for them as 99% of all cars take it. We had that prob here also till the $1.55 a gal guy came along and then all stations came way down in price. Give it time, this fuel will come around.

 

[walter clark]

Are all ST's e-85 compatible???? And is there a list out there to help us find ststions in our area??

 

[Larry Gamble]

Not all are listed as compatible. But, during a google search, I found a blogger who is mixing in his non-compatible 1995 vehicle's gas 50:50 with no ill effects (even claims the gas mileage stays within a point of E10 gas.



www.e85fuel.com has a list and show how to decode the Ford VIN to find out.



My 2002 4x4 is not compatible according to their site, but a regular Explorer would be.

 

[Deleted deleted]

They're going to have to add more stations, build more cars E85 compatible to get me to switch.



This is the same problem with fuel cell or hydrogen fueled cars... you gotta have stations to get people to buy the cars, but noone will buy the cars without the stations.

 

[Kerry Chinn]

My understanding of E85 gas is that while it provides less MPG, it has a higher octane rating. Thus, it may be possible to purchase E85 gas and run your ST computer (or chip) at the 91 octane rating giving you a few more ponies and potentially increasing your mileage. I can't confirm this as a fact, but it is my hunch this may be true.



I have heard that one European car manufacturer is creating a version of one of their cars with a supercharger that takes advantage of E85 gas, giving 35% more power while acheiving the same gas mileage as the gasoline counterpart.

 

[Rey Gonzalez]

My brother is in the environmental/oil industry here in Texas and I mentioned E-85 to him and to see if his company could do something about providing this fuel here in Texas. He told me that Houston oil industry being the 'oil capitol' of the USA has way to much to loose and keeps lobbing against this fuel. "Kill the competition before they even get to play", kind of mentality. I've only found one site in San Antonio that has E85, but not for public sale. I'd use it if I could get it.

 

[Richard L]

If your existing paper filter is not dirty, a K&N filter will not improve your gas mileage. A K&N filter will allow your engine to breath in more air at higher RPMs and create a few more HP, but requires more fuel to create those additional ponies. That's because the MAF sensor will detect more air flow through the intake pipe and the O2 sensor will see a leaner mixture at the tail pipe, which will make the computer increase the amount of fuel injected to meet the additional airflow.



...Rich

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

Somebody in Rolla, MO ripping people off? No... that can't happen. I lived there for 6 years.... Rip off? Ever look at housing prices?





The next car my wife and I get with either be a hybrid Escape or a FFV. We're not environmentalists and we arn't doing it to lessen emissions, but we are doing to reduce demand on Mid-East oil, support our fellow midwestern farmers, and to help the demand for ethanol which is good for my dad as he works for the division of Monsanto that builds ethanol plants.