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Flex Fuel

33090 Views 25 Replies 14 Participants Last post by  Rec 26
Since there is no other thread started for any motor talk, I wanted to know if anyone else has has ever tried using the gas and what your results were.

I'm running a 2011 Heat with the 3.6L.


Thanks!
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No body has used Flex fuel in the Durango yet???
The manual says you can run 87 octane on the 3.6L however I have the 5.7L and it requires 89 octane or higher.
The manual says you can run 87 octane on the 3.6L however I have the 5.7L and it requires 89 octane or higher.


Thats Octane. I am talking about the Flexfuel / E85 made from corn I think.

I just filled up at the local Sheetz with a full tank of the E85. Standard 87 octane was $3.59gl where the E85 was $3.39.

I'll run this tank and update my findings.
Wiki

E85 is an abbreviation for an ethanol fuel blend of up to 85% denatured ethanol fuel and gasoline or other hydrocarbon (HC) by volume. E85 is commonly used by flex-fuel vehicles in the US, Canada, and Europe. Some of the benefits of E85 over conventional gasoline powered vehicles include the potential for localized production of fuel in agricultural areas. Another benefit is potentially reduced pollution emissions especially Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere which is an important element for adaptation to global warming.
I filled up with E 85 recently, I saved a few bucks (approximately 5%) on the fill up but my mileage for that tank was about 4 mpg (20%) lower than average.
In my opinion if you're trying to save the earth, fear that you're funding terrorists, or have Al Gore riding shot gun, then use ethanol.
However if you're just trying to save a few of your hard earned greenbacks then use gasoline.
I have a Heat too, I haven't tried the E85 because I read that there was about a 20 to 30% drop in efficiency. Avg of 19 mpg on Regular and then 15 or so on E85. That mixed with the fact that I have to go out my way to get to the E85 station, didn't seem worth it to me. Sounds like you found those numbers to be pretty accurate?
I was wondering the same thing too. Also if you do go to E85 for a tank or 2, can you go back to regular gas afterwards because I'm really not trying to screw up the engine. Doesn't seem to be worth it looking at your costs but that's just short term, if anyone does run it constantly for a while, I'm curious to see long term results too!
Well its been a week on the E85. THis is the 2nd tank in the new Durango. First tank I was getting around 23-24 to the gallon. With the E85, I went down to 15.9 across the tank.

In the end, not worth saving the cash and losing power. However, if all cars would run this and start to bring more jobs to the US, i'm down for it.
The manual says you can run 87 octane on the 3.6L however I have the 5.7L and it requires 89 octane or higher.

Hmm...I never saw that in the maual (didn't actually look ;) ), but I've been running 87 in my V8 and haven't noticed any problems (pinging or anything).
However, if all cars would run this and start to bring more jobs to the US, i'm down for it.
That is a misconception. The production of E85 is not creating many jobs. Those that are created are heavily funded by the government.

The idea of using our food source to create fuel is crazy. The cost of corn is driven up because it is being burned. So the cost of everything produced from it goes up as well. Even the cost of meat increases because beef cattle are fed corn.

Besides, the posts here confirm that E85 isn't as afficient as gasolene. So why would you want to burn more fuel for the same results? Seems to me in the long run gas is still the best option.
That is a misconception. The production of E85 is not creating many jobs. Those that are created are heavily funded by the government.

The idea of using our food source to create fuel is crazy. The cost of corn is driven up because it is being burned. So the cost of everything produced from it goes up as well. Even the cost of meat increases because beef cattle are fed corn.

Besides, the posts here confirm that E85 isn't as afficient as gasolene. So why would you want to burn more fuel for the same results? Seems to me in the long run gas is still the best option.
Oh I agree with ya on that.
... Seems to me in the long run gas is still the best option.
Well I'm not so sure about the "long" run. I think the gasoline engine is already at the beginning of the end of it's life. Efficiencies will continue to rise to prolong its life, but the writing is on the wall. Hybrids, electric vehicles, and other options are starting to take hold of permanent market share. The gas engine may always have some uses, but not for the daily driver. Sadly I think this may be the last V8 engine I ever own (with that delicious V8 rumble :D ).
Well I'm not so sure about the "long" run. I think the gasoline engine is already at the beginning of the end of it's life. Efficiencies will continue to rise to prolong its life, but the writing is on the wall. Hybrids, electric vehicles, and other options are starting to take hold of permanent market share. The gas engine may always have some uses, but not for the daily driver. Sadly I think this may be the last V8 engine I ever own (with that delicious V8 rumble :D ).
I don't believe there would be as many hybrids on the road today if it wasn't for the government subsidies a.k.a. tax credits. The market place works and gives consumers what they want. If car buyers wanted 100mpg cars we would have them by now. Take the smart42 and the mini cooper. Both are very efficient vehicles. But they have lackluster sales. No matter how bad politicians want us to be like european countries and drive juice box cars, it just isn't happening. Government regulation and control of the auto and gas industry is the only way it will happen on a mass scale. Americans still want their muscle cars.
I don't believe there would be as many hybrids on the road today if it wasn't for the government subsidies a.k.a. tax credits. The market place works and gives consumers what they want. If car buyers wanted 100mpg cars we would have them by now. Take the smart42 and the mini cooper. Both are very efficient vehicles. But they have lackluster sales. No matter how bad politicians want us to be like european countries and drive juice box cars, it just isn't happening. Government regulation and control of the auto and gas industry is the only way it will happen on a mass scale. Americans still want their muscle cars.
I agree that we will still want our muscle cars, but that's more a hobby now. You just don't have muscle cars prowling the streets the way you did in the 50s-70s. Initially rebates were definitly an incentive to help create the hybrid market. But the rebates are phasing out. Toyota expects to sell enough hybrids to create an entire hybrid brand (like Lexus and Scion, it will be called Prius) and Toyotas no longer have any rebates. Politicians may have helped start all this, but manufacturers clearly see the trend and the profits. High end manufacturers, including even Porsche, are now offering hybrid vehicles. No amount of rebate is creating sales of 100K+ vehicles. Yes we still like big, powerful cars (not Smart's or MC's) and so manufacturers are now looking to provide that size and power with the better gas mileage we also need and want on a hybrid platform.
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/article/0,,id=223736,00.html
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not to get off topic, but what sort of MPG are you all getting with the HEMI. Mines only got 300 miles on it and getting 10MPG, eek. I didnt think it would be that bad, but figured its new.
not to get off topic, but what sort of MPG are you all getting with the HEMI. Mines only got 300 miles on it and getting 10MPG, eek. I didnt think it would be that bad, but figured its new.
That does seem low, are you using e85 or gasoline? If gas what octane?
You must drive aggressively in the city all day! :)
Actually its 89 oct 10% methanol and I guess its city driving, more like suburbia. But definetly a lot of stop and go in 35 MPH traffic. Living in Chicago, city driving to me is more of stop / go at 25 mph and sitting in non moving traffic. Basically very condensed.

So, I also got my 10 MPG from the compute that displays your Avg MPG based on the miles put on the car. So not sure how accurate it is. I may need to fill her up and track the mileage and then see how many gallons I need to fill her up again. Thats probably more accurate.

In fact, I think Im gonna do that. :rolleyes:
Actually its 89 oct 10% methanol and I guess its city driving, more like suburbia. But definetly a lot of stop and go in 35 MPH traffic. Living in Chicago, city driving to me is more of stop / go at 25 mph and sitting in non moving traffic. Basically very condensed.

So, I also got my 10 MPG from the compute that displays your Avg MPG based on the miles put on the car. So not sure how accurate it is. I may need to fill her up and track the mileage and then see how many gallons I need to fill her up again. Thats probably more accurate.

In fact, I think Im gonna do that. :rolleyes:
That's the best way. I've got a spreadsheet that I've used since day one to track my Challenger mileage. You'll find that gas with the ethanol in it will rob you of 1 to 2 mpg. Also city driving with these hemi's are a real mileage killer. Does not take too many city miles to really bring your average down. I've also found out that the average mpg display in my Ram is off by at least 1 mile, tells me I get more than by doing the math.
In the rt I've been getting no more than 12mpg in the city. On this tank of gas I finally got it on the freeway and my avg over 200 miles has gone up to 15mpg. It is slowly dropping for the remainder of the tank on just city driving. I've been using regular unleaded, but think I might try the 89 oct to see if it makes a difference.
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