E85 Mod - What's your mileage?

GP86 · 07-23-2017, 11:32 AM

I've been hesitating on doing the E85 mod for awhile but I am really intrigued by this option. There is a station between me and my office that has top tier premium and cheap E85. I want to test the mix of E85 before committing to this mod, though.

For those who use E85 consistently, what is your average mileage on E85? I drive a lot for work and I often need to drive 80-100 miles round trip with little to no notice. I try to stay above a half tank of premium for this reason so I can leave without having to fill up. But I wonder if I would need to keep the tank full everyday to be prepared to drive long distances on E85.

HyperBlueX2 · 07-23-2017, 11:37 AM

With the E85 mod you are able to run blended gas and the ECU will adjust accordingly..... so the ethanol content of the E85 in question shouldn't matter as the mod makes your car flex fuel capable.....

As far as mileage.... I think its around 15-20% reduction.... but I am just guessing....

GP86 · 07-23-2017, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperBlueX2

With the E85 mod you are able to run blended gas and the ECU will adjust accordingly..... so the ethanol content of the E85 in question shouldn't matter as the mod makes your car flex fuel capable.....

As far as mileage.... I think its around 15-20% reduction.... but I am just guessing....

My understanding is that ethanol content of the E85 can vary, and this will potentially make the power gains from the mod vary as well. E85 is rated as Up To 85% ethanol, so that is quite a variance. I would imagine if my local station had something like 50% ethanol then my power gains would be minimal compared to a station with a more consistent 70-85% ethanol. Is this something I shouldn't be as concerned with?

It seems like a waste of money and effort for the mod hardware + a tune if I couldn't rely on a quality mix of E85 to be available to me.

Quote:

ASTM D5798 allows a range of ethanol content between E51 to E83. Because of this variation in the allowable ethanol percentage, many in research and industry have begun using the term “flex fuel” rather than “E85.”

https://www.afdc.energy.gov/uploads/...l_handbook.pdf

HyperBlueX2 · 07-23-2017, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GP86

My understanding is that ethanol content of the E85 can vary, and this will potentially make the power gains from the mod vary as well. E85 is rated as Up To 85% ethanol, so that is quite a variance. I would imagine if my local station had something like 50% ethanol then my power gains would be minimal compared to a station with a more consistent 70-85% ethanol. Is this something I shouldn't be as concerned with?

It seems like a waste of money and effort for the mod hardware + a tune if I couldn't rely on a quality mix of E85 to be available to me.

https://www.afdc.energy.gov/uploads/...l_handbook.pdf

Hopefully someome has done the conversion can chime in here, but I would imagine with the introduction of 50% ethanol, there would be noticable gains. It would obviously be much more noticable at the 85% percent range.... hopefully others will give their input....

bybcous · 07-23-2017, 12:41 PM

When my gauge says I'm running above 75 percent e85 I get about 10 mpg. When 50/50 mix with 93 and e85, i barely notice a difference

GP86 · 07-23-2017, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bybcous

When my gauge says I'm running above 75 percent e85 I get about 10 mpg. When 50/50 mix with 93 and e85, i barely notice a difference

Is this with lead foot driving or general in-traffic driving situations? 10MPG is a lot less than I expected.

RCF · 07-23-2017, 01:05 PM

Ethanol energy content is about 70% that of gasoline with no ethanol. So comparing true E85 to E10 (gasoline at the pump), you should theoretically get about 22.5% less fuel mileage. Example - if you were at 20mpg, you'd drop down to 15.5mpg.

BowtieRocket · 07-23-2017, 01:20 PM

But more smiles per gallon!

bybcous · 07-23-2017, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GP86

Is this with lead foot driving or general in-traffic driving situations? 10MPG is a lot less than I expected.

This is me sitting in traffic, always do a little 60-90 pull on way home from work. I normally only use the e85 when I know I need to go fast, aka track days. But even at 505 hp to wheels on 93 I still get about 27 mpg on highway. E85 in my area price is 1.74 to 1.95. So I have been using it lately, it will get me to and from work for about 25 bucks a week. Remember that if mpg is your worry, then all you need to do is run 93 until you want to go fast then throw some e85 in the tank. There is no need to run a mixture of 93 and e85, just fill up with what you want and go, so it would affect your mpg only if you wanted it too.

T-Man · 07-23-2017, 05:05 PM

DI doesn't really need more than 50% ethanol content. Anything further is just unnecessarily taxing your fuel system, especially when combined with boost.

bigsapper · 07-23-2017, 06:48 PM

11mpg mostly non-hiway.

vince3 · 07-24-2017, 12:55 AM

I recently took a 800 mIle road trip and got just over 20mpg on the highway with e85 and 24-25 with 93. My car is a M6 with mods below.

JFM-jr · 07-24-2017, 06:50 AM

I routinely see 17-20 on the hwy. Start stabbing into it hard and it gets ugly. She definatley thirstier on E85 but boy does the car run good on it.

jdasnt3 · 07-24-2017, 07:10 AM

22 on the highway with E85 (not sure of %), and 30 with 91. I guess all the porting and CAI helped.

07-23-2017, 11:32 AM	#1
GP86 Drives: 2017 2SS Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: USA Posts: 380	E85 Mod - What's your mileage? I've been hesitating on doing the E85 mod for awhile but I am really intrigued by this option. There is a station between me and my office that has top tier premium and cheap E85. I want to test the mix of E85 before committing to this mod, though. For those who use E85 consistently, what is your average mileage on E85? I drive a lot for work and I often need to drive 80-100 miles round trip with little to no notice. I try to stay above a half tank of premium for this reason so I can leave without having to fill up. But I wonder if I would need to keep the tank full everyday to be prepared to drive long distances on E85. __________________ 2017 HBM 2SS A8\|F55\|NPP\|H01\|IO6\|RIK\|WGL\|56R

07-23-2017, 12:41 PM	#5
bybcous Drives: 2016 Hyper Blue 1SS Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: hampton roads Posts: 2,763	When my gauge says I'm running above 75 percent e85 I get about 10 mpg. When 50/50 mix with 93 and e85, i barely notice a difference __________________ 1ss/Auto-Hyper Blue acs carbon flash spoiler, bmr springs, gm clear tails. Texas speed cam, 223/227 .635/.635 116 LSA, Kooks Long Tube Headers with green cats, MSD Atomic Air Force Intake, CAI Cold Air Intake, QTP cutouts. 503 hp Best so far 11.5 at 123 with a 1.83 60ft. BMR lower and upper trailing arms and upper control arms,E85 DELIVERED 12/29/15 http://youtube.com/bybcous " no talking only racing on my youtube"

07-23-2017, 01:20 PM	#8
BowtieRocket Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS- M6 Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Albuquerque Posts: 1,133 View My Garage	But more smiles per gallon! __________________ 2016 Camaro 2SS M6- Garage

07-24-2017, 12:55 AM	#12
vince3 Drives: 2022 Vivid Orange LT1-M6 Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Houston TX Posts: 435	I recently took a 800 mIle road trip and got just over 20mpg on the highway with e85 and 24-25 with 93. My car is a M6 with mods below. __________________ 2022 Vivid Orange M6 LT1 - 2" ARH headers with cats and offroad setup (full system,), 3" ARH Pure Thunder mufflers, ported MSD intake, Soler 95mm tb, Rotofab CAI, E85 flex fuel, tuned by Jason@snackbartuning, Forgestar D5 18x8 fronts with 245/40/18 and Forgestar D5 17x10 rears with 275/40/17 summer tires. Old car 2016 M6 SS - MSD intake, Rotofab, 2" ARH headers with cats, E85 with EFI Tuning. Best ET: 11.7@122mph

07-24-2017, 06:50 AM	#13
JFM-jr Drives: 2016 Camaro 2SS Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: Suffolk Long Island Posts: 954	I routinely see 17-20 on the hwy. Start stabbing into it hard and it gets ugly. She definatley thirstier on E85 but boy does the car run good on it. __________________ 2016 Hyper Blue 2SS A8,NPP,Moonroof Pray ported factory intake manifold Ported TB Rotofab ARH 1 7/8 longtubes hi flow cats AFM deleted E85 11.0@124.9 11.65@118.8 pump gas,stock tune/exhaust New combo: Pray Performance Heads/cam MSD intake manifold and Circle D 3C 554/491 on E85 all work & tuning done by Pray

07-23-2017, 11:37 AM	#2
HyperBlueX2 Drives: '22 Silverado 2500HD Duramax LTZ Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Millington, MI Posts: 4,775 View My Garage	With the E85 mod you are able to run blended gas and the ECU will adjust accordingly..... so the ethanol content of the E85 in question shouldn't matter as the mod makes your car flex fuel capable..... As far as mileage.... I think its around 15-20% reduction.... but I am just guessing....

07-23-2017, 01:05 PM	#7
RCF Drives: '17 2SS, NGM, MRC, DPP; '19 F150 Join Date: Apr 2017 Location: Katy (Houston), TX Posts: 440	Ethanol energy content is about 70% that of gasoline with no ethanol. So comparing true E85 to E10 (gasoline at the pump), you should theoretically get about 22.5% less fuel mileage. Example - if you were at 20mpg, you'd drop down to 15.5mpg.

07-23-2017, 05:05 PM	#10
T-Man Drives: 09 Cobalt SS Sedan Join Date: Sep 2016 Location: Arizona Posts: 32	DI doesn't really need more than 50% ethanol content. Anything further is just unnecessarily taxing your fuel system, especially when combined with boost.

07-23-2017, 06:48 PM	#11
bigsapper Banned Drives: Man Join Date: Nov 2016 Location: Usa Posts: 59	11mpg mostly non-hiway.

07-24-2017, 07:10 AM	#14
jdasnt3 Drives: 18 Silverado 1500 Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Bradenton, FL Posts: 1,721	22 on the highway with E85 (not sure of %), and 30 with 91. I guess all the porting and CAI helped. __________________ 16 Red Hot 2SS A8: NPP, CAI Cold air, Ported TB, Fasterproms Ported intake, E85 flex, Formatto tuned. 11.80@118 with 1.92 60' (600-700 DA) on stock run flats.

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