Switch to E85

I am going to be a little cautious (pessimistic) here:

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/09/13/heres-how-the-e85-movement-can-get-scary/

Good answer. It's realistic, not pessimistic. I don't' think there are any waivers granted to the anti-tampering laws, so doing this legally would be effectively impossible. There are also warranty issues. I'd be inclined to trade the vehicle for a properly designed and engineered flex fuel vehicle if I wanted a flex fuel vehicle.

E85 is perhaps the stupidest Federal diktat ever promolgated. resign yourself to poor performance, poor milage, and premature wear. OTOH, it is all but 15% whiskey...

residue for combustion of E85 is caustic. The engine needs to be set up to handle the fuel or you will eat it up over time.

besides cost and warranty issues, e85 costs more per mile to operate.

I have been contemplating this myself and have learned a few things through numerous Google searches. For reference, I have a 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer ES with 2.0L 4 cyl. All cars manufactured after the US mandate for a percentage of ethanol in all grades of gasoline can handle up to 40% ethanol without triggering the engine light and damaging the engine. I don't remember the year of the mandate or the percentage of ethanol required.

According to the law (I didn't memorize which laws), you must have a certified mechanic make the modificiation. The car must go through specific testing to be certified through EPA for the modification. Without the certification, the car will no longer be street legal.

If you are just trying to save money in the short term, you will not do it with an E85 conversion. Currently E85 ($2.999) is only $0.90 per gallon less than gasoline (currently $3.809 here). The modification is estimated to cost around $7,000 for a 4 cyl engine. You would have to use 7,800 gallons of E85 to break even. At 18 mpg, you would have to drive 140,400 mile to break even.

If you are trying to reduce pollution, you should research the rain forests being destroyed to produce the crops for the E85, research the amount of water and electricity necessary for the production of E85, and research the amound of carbon your car would produce based on the amount of miles you drive every year along with the fuel efficiency loss by the conversion.

My suggestion is to do what I do. I calculated how many gallons made up 30% of my fuel capacity for my car (13.2 gallons x 0.30 = 3.96). I took 3.96 x 1.15 (E85 is 85% ethanol at max) = 4.55 gallons. This saves me $4.10 per tank of gas.

EPA has done studies on E85, E10 and the optimum mixture of ethanol and gasoline looking for the least pollution with the best fuel efficiency. The studies showed that 30-40% ethanol was the optimum mixture.

Don't just take mine or anyone elses word for it. Research it for yourself to make sure you make the right decision.

you just proved my point. running E85 will cut you miles per gallon by 25% or more. So in effect at $3.80/gallon for gasoline, E85 must be less than 75% of that number to break even, .74 * 3.8 = $2.85, so you just lost money running E85 at $3.00/gallon.