Flex Fuel

[btyreprich]

Will be buying a used pickup truck in April when the high school student gets her license.
This will be her go to school truck and possibly the one I use to drive to Canada - if I see a crew cab at a decent price.

With regards to the fuel type: diesel doesn't make sense to me as most of the miles driven on this truck will be under 12 at a time.
That leaves me on gas & Flex Fuel.
I know FLex Fuel costs less but you don't get as many MPGs. Didn't know if these engines are perhaps prone to expensive repairs or maintenance.
Will anyone with experience on these engines please share with me your thoughts?
Thanks

Originally Posted by btyreprich

Will be buying a used pickup truck in April when the high school student gets her license.
This will be her go to school truck and possibly the one I use to drive to Canada - if I see a crew cab at a decent price.

With regards to the fuel type: diesel doesn't make sense to me as most of the miles driven on this truck will be under 12 at a time.
That leaves me on gas & Flex Fuel.
I know FLex Fuel costs less but you don't get as many MPGs. Didn't know if these engines are perhaps prone to expensive repairs or maintenance.
Will anyone with experience on these engines please share with me your thoughts?
Thanks

None that I'm aware of. We have three flex fuel vehicles, a 2006, 2008, 2014 and none have had any fuel or engine related problems or repairs. I use E85 in my truck when the price is right for daily driving, but not for towing. MPG difference isn't bad just daily driving, but it drops real bad using it while towing.

[btyreprich]

So you have the ability to change between regular gas an the E85 without any challenges?

Originally Posted by btyreprich

So you have the ability to change between regular gas an the E85 without any challenges?

None. The manual for my truck recommends to make the change when the tank is fairly low, but I've made the change with around 1/4 tank with no issues.

[ffishman]

Never used Flex, because all I read on it, says the mileage really drops.

[Shotgun]

A gallon of ethanol has 76,100 Btu, compared to 114,000 Btu per gallon of gasoline. When the two fuels are combined, the energy/btu is reduced. The higher content of ethanol the less mpg.

Use the attached as a price comparison. However this does not take into account other pros and cons, just costs.


http://gaspumpr.com/index.html

Originally Posted by ffishman

Never used Flex, because all I read on it, says the mileage really drops.

The drop isn't too bad just daily driving. Net savings for me in most cases. Here's the numbers I tracked from my 2014 F150 5.0



Regular gas non-towing: 16-17mpg
E85 non-towing: 14-15mpg

Regular gas towing: 13-14mpg
E85 towing: 9-10mpg

[ffishman]

Originally Posted by CEUL

The drop isn't too bad just daily driving. Net savings for me in most cases. Here's the numbers I tracked from my 2014 F150 5.0



Regular gas non-towing: 16-17mpg
E85 non-towing: 14-15mpg

Regular gas towing: 13-14mpg
E85 towing: 9-10mpg

Wow, that is a big drop

Originally Posted by ffishman

Wow, that is a big drop

It's brutal while towing on the mileage drop. You can definitely feel a loss of power on hills also. I'll never run E85 again during fishing season. Out of fishing and towing the boat season and just daily driving, as long as I can get E85 for 50 cents less than regular gas at $2.75-$3, it's a net savings, even with the lower MPG.

[SGPopp]

E15 fuel, commonly called "E88" even though that's incorrect is now readily available in WI primarily at Kwik Trip and other recently built stations. It is in fact E15 but often called E88 because it's 88 octane. It's slightly less expensive than 87 octane but DOES require a flex fuel vehicle to use.