Anybody running ethanol in your daily driver?

[garybuick]

Anybody doing this? any disadvantages besides having to make your own fuel in the backyard?

[David G]

What particular blend of Ethanol do you mean?

[DaWildcat]

100% ethanol?

Pros - High Octane.

Cons - once you switch & rejet you can't run gasoline or gasoline/ethanol blends wirthout rejetting.

Poor cold startability.

More corrosive to fuel system components than gasoline.

Poor fuel economy.



Do a search for E85 for further discussion...tons of it already.

Devon

[GSX-PKV]

I run it in my new 07 Tahoe and it runs fine. The mileage is not the same as regular gas but the cost is less so it evens out. I like the idea of some of my money going to our farmers instead of terrorists.

[DaWildcat]

I run it in my new 07 Tahoe and it runs fine. The mileage is not the same as regular gas but the cost is less so it evens out. I like the idea of some of my money going to our farmers instead of terrorists.

Keep in mind your vehicle is designed to run on various blends of fuel from 100% gasoline to 85% ethanol. A vehicle not so equipped cannot tolerate varying blends without the proper flex-fuel sensor and calibration.

Devon

[Stage1 Jeff]

I won't even run 10% ethanol blended gas in anything I drive, I do not see that much benefit, and cost is not that much less

[GoldBoattail455]

Most regular gasolines are a blend of between 10-15% ethanol and 85-90% gasoline.:Smarty:

[RAMKAT2]

There is a company called Quick Fuel Technology that makes an E-85 carb that would work for you, although you must change alot more than the carb due to the corrosion issues that come with the ethanol based fuel. The University of Nebraska has been working on an ethanol conversion with a pickup truck, and they have some interesting info on the process. They found out that there are some serious federal regulations regarding the conversion that most people are unaware of. I found their info by searching for ethanol conversions on the web. Keep in mind that your fuel mileage with ethanol will drop 20% or more from gasoline since the air/fuel ratio used with E-85 is much richer than what is used for gasoline. You can compensate for that by running more compression, but that requires a minimum of replacing the pistons, or a complete engine rebuild.
Considering how much fuel a BBB uses (10-14mpg in mine) you might only get 7 to 10 mpg with the E-85. The farmers growing the corn (God bless them), the corporations building the heavily federally subsidized ethanol plants, and the environmental whacko's will be happy though, at least for awhile.
I think E-85 might make a cheaper alternitive to the cost of racing gas, but I am not so sure it is a viable option on a large displacement street car. Then again, I could be wrong. It's happened before! Later, Randy