10% ethanol??

I have always used E10. It's usually about a dime cheaper than regular unleaded. Some of my friends won't buy it because they say they get worse gas mileage. Ethanol has a lower heating rating than gasoline so in theory you will get worse mileage but i haven't ever really noticed a difference in numbers. I've never noticed a difference in the way my car runs. Had the car for 6 and a half years and maybe gotten regular gas a couple times.

GTA_V6_Mustang said:

I have been using E85 for a time now and no problems except lean out at WOT so i just stay out of WOT because gas is too expensive. I dont notice the drastic drop in MPG as some ppl claim but thats just me.

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What did you have to do to convert to E85?

anyone know of any ill effects of HP with 10% ethanol? Some places around here use 20%. Im just asking b/c my times and MPH at the track has gone down from last year and they just started adding 10-20% up from 5%. Been trying to find the reason for why the car has not run like it did at the track last year. Not saying this is the cause but does anyone have any insight on it?

In the St. Louis area I dont remember a time it was not at least E10. I remember sitting in the car when I was still in elementry school (mid-late 80's) and seeing the 10% sticker.

I have never had an issue with gas. I mostly run Mobil/Shell/Phillips gas in the mustang but have never had an issue except when I went to the cheap off brand places.

I am really looking at making the mustang run on E85 as an option (not that I would run it all the time). It would be nice to run it...say...when I am almost empty/empty and I plan on running the bottle. It would be nice insurance to run $3 100 octane fuel at that point than $4+ 93 and if I want to feel safe add $6-8+ 100-104 unleaded. That and I pass like 3-4 E85 statoins on the way to work so it would be easy option.

I'd heard that ethanol was extremely abrasive (for lack of a better word) on engines; mainly on the hoses and fittings made of rubber and other gaskets. Supposedly that's the difference between a standard engine and a "Flex Fuel" engine that can run E85.

On a related note, I find it moronicly absurd that we are growing corn now for fuel, while in the process driving up the price of other meats, dairy, and poultry to heretofore unseen prices. DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS.

I loathe the fact that ALL gas stations in my area carry 10% ethanol now, and I'd never put E85 in my GT or my Subaru Forester.

j_lutter31 said:

What did you have to do to convert to E85?

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Well the correct way is to get a graphite armature fuel pump and increase injector pulse width. But best thing would be to have a tuner to do that so you could switch between the E85 tune and regular gas. E85 runs between 102-105 octane rating.

Other than that theres nothing more to worry about. Just make sure that you change your fuel filter very frequently in the first year as E85 is so clean it tends to break apart all the crap in your fuel system and send it into ur filter.

Mustang '94 said:

I'd heard that ethanol was extremely abrasive (for lack of a better word) on engines; mainly on the hoses and fittings made of rubber and other gaskets. Supposedly that's the difference between a standard engine and a "Flex Fuel" engine that can run E85.

On a related note, I find it moronicly absurd that we are growing corn now for fuel, while in the process driving up the price of other meats, dairy, and poultry to heretofore unseen prices. DRILL HERE, DRILL NOW, PAY LESS.

I loathe the fact that ALL gas stations in my area carry 10% ethanol now, and I'd never put E85 in my GT or my Subaru Forester.

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I work for chrysler and I work on the FFV and Regular vehicles, And I could tell you for a fact, the injectors are the same, the gaskets are exactly the same and the tank is the same one difference is the fuel pump like i stated earlier. The only problem with E85 is you CAN NOT use bulk or cheap oil. It washes the oil off the cylinder wall and i have personally seen it tear the cylinder side walls to shreds. And I would much rather use Ethanol then send my money overseas to those damn fat rich bastards spiking prices to w/e the hell they feel. And yea we are growing corn and sugar cane for ethanol but you have to realize that because this is something we are slowly making more popular eventually there will be alternative means for making ethanol. For instance at this moment they are researching making ethanol from crab grass which grows rapidly has ill effect on soil and can be made quickly inexpensively. Only problem thus far is they are having problems making it stable enough to use in pumps. Eventually we will drill and drill and there will be no more left, watch "there will be blood" thats what oil does to people. So its wise that we invest in alternative fuels now if you want to be driving your mustang or forester in the future.

And besides you only have 8 posts so your not important and nobody cares what u say lol

Sorry, but I don't buy into the scare tactics oil being gone in the near future.
And if ethanol really is the answer, then why does the gov't have to subsidize it? If it was the cure-all that it's touted to be, why don't players in the free market invest in it? The only reason big oil is doing it is because the gov't has put all the incentives in place for them to earn a tax break by doing so, when they could take that capital and use it for drilling, exploration, and building more refineries. A tax break in what's already the most heavily regulated and taxed industry in the country, I might add.

That's cool you work for Chrysler. My family has always been MoPar guys and I'm getting a little flack for not having one, and especially for getting a Ford Mustang.

Mustang5L5 said:

It's been E10 in MA for years. I don't even know where to find 100% gas these days. My car runs fine

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+1 for michigan never seen anything eles in Michigan but E10 , I think the people saying there car runs different on E10 have DR. Seuss Imaginations lol

GTA_V6_Mustang said:

Well the correct way is to get a graphite armature fuel pump and increase injector pulse width. But best thing would be to have a tuner to do that so you could switch between the E85 tune and regular gas. E85 runs between 102-105 octane rating.

Other than that theres nothing more to worry about. Just make sure that you change your fuel filter very frequently in the first year as E85 is so clean it tends to break apart all the crap in your fuel system and send it into ur filter.

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Where would i find the fuel pump and new injectors, What kind of tuner would let you switch back and forth between E85 and E10? I have no experience with tuners...

Mustang '94 said:

And if ethanol really is the answer, then why does the gov't have to subsidize it? If it was the cure-all that it's touted to be, why don't players in the free market invest in it?

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Right on the money there.

I'm originally from South Dakota where we have used an ethanol blend for years. There is a bit of controversy as to reliability and all that. I can tell you from experience that there are more problems with ethanol than pure gasoline during periods of extreme cold. In addition, many believe that ethanol is the culprit behind mysterious corrosion and damage to heads and valvetrain.

Regardless of the above theories, it is a fact that ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline. I give a damn about octane; octane is not power. Just be aware of that misconception.

So to answer the question, normally there are little to no noticeable side-effects of using a 10% blend.

Very good point Octain is not power. It is nice when you have 10.5:1 comp and run a 150-175 shot of juice though...

I also agree that E85 is not the answer or even a viable one in the currant format. Now biomas E85 made from the non-food parts of the plants and more effective plants (switchgrass for one) are more like at least a partial solution. I feel that no matter what E85 is not the sole solution.

I honestly think it will be combinations of sources/solutions. Say Biofuel and Biodiesel with OTR trucks moving to something like the Diesel electric train setup to become much more effective. Then commuters running the gambit of other types of powerd' cars depending on distance from work. Then I think more people will have 2 cars for totaly seperate types of driving. The commuter/carpool car and the longer travel/hauling car.

The only thing high fuel costs are going to do is move those technologies closer ti production. I still think of the US just as the Japanese admiral/general/whatever he was, thought of us before WWII "the sleeping giant". Nothing motivates us more than a threat to our lifestyle/pocketbook...and we will not sit around once we have had enough.