Fireman31 Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 With the price of gas skyrocketing 25 cents in the last 3 days here ( ), the price of a gallon of gas in NY is almost $4.25 now. Because E85 is about 40 cents per gallon cheaper, I am thinking of switching over to save money. My 2003 Tahoe is a flex fuel, but has never been run on E85 in its 109,000 miles. Will switching over open up a can of worms? Will it do more harm than good since the truck has never run on it before? Let's hear your thoughts...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kissfans03ss Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 Dan, this is not an educated answer but I cant see why it would cause and issue considering its made to run on both types of fuel. Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1BAD2K Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 My 06 rcsb z71 is flexfuel and has 80k on it. I was considering filling up on e85 today for the first time since ive had it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdan11 Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 (edited) You Will Never Save Money Using E85!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The biggest issue with E85 is the MPG's According to the EPA The new Tahoes are rated at 15 city and 21 Highway combined 17 If you run E85 the MPGs drop to 11 city and 15 highway combined 13 So on average you will get about 4 mpgs less on E85 So Lets say you get about 17 MPGs using regualr and drive 12K miles a year mixed city and Higway your will use about 706 gallons of gas lets say to pay $4 a gallon, thats $2,824 in gas If you use E85 and get 13 MPGs @ 12K miles a year thats 923 gallons of gas and lets say you pay $3.60 you are going to spend $3323 in gas So Im going to say E85 is not worth it. This is just an example, and you have the last body style Tahoe wich is rated at 14 combined on regualr and 11 combined on E85, so its still going to cost you more in the long run to fill up with E85. SO if your only reason for running E85 is because of cost then E85 is worthless, but if you want to burn E85 just because you want to use less actual Gas then go right ahead. IMO E85 is worthless Check this article out, very informative http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/e85-vs-gasoline-comparison-test.html Edited September 14, 2012 by diggerdan11 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blick05SS Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 I've talked to jon about this before and from what ive read and been told E85 is great for performance but not a dd it will cost you more in the end Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1BAD2K Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 I agree with blick. As far as saving, I don't think you'll see any. Probably pretty much a wash. I am more interested in the performance aspects. I'll be doing a blower soon and e85 will be key with my tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLNAWAY Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 You could come across sum starting issues... we had a 07 dodge van that is a flex fuel in our shop with starting issues because they were switching between e85 and unleaded about every other time they filled up(keep in mind this was a state owned vehical for DHS)... after new plug and clean the carbon out and recommend to use one or the other type of gas and stick with it they had no more problems so it probly wont cause any problem if i were to do it personaly id change plugs and use stricktly e85 imo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggerdan11 Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 (edited) I agree with blick. As far as saving, I don't think you'll see any. Probably pretty much a wash. I am more interested in the performance aspects. I'll be doing a blower soon and e85 will be key with my tune. Everything i have read says that performance is worse with E85 http://www.edmunds.com/fuel-economy/e85-vs-gasoline-comparison-test.html According to this article the performance of the test Tahoe was decreased when they used E85 Edited September 14, 2012 by diggerdan11 (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idahoBLKss Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 (edited) if your vehicle is stock e85 is not the way to go unless your looking to burn a cleaner fuel . if your thinking about running it because you want to save money its not going to work like that either although the price per gallon is deceiving compared to gas per gallon. from a performance stand point if your n/a or stock its not going to make much of a difference . now if your boosted thats a whole different story as far as performance and i wouldnt do it any other way . dan as far as it doing harm to your truck the only thing i would be worried about is it cleaning your system out and maybe clogging something (fuel filters etc..) but i dont see it helping you in any positive way specially to save you money on gas . Edited September 14, 2012 by idahoBLKss (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003_SuperSport Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 So what would be a better route Meth or E85? I dont care about MPG as its not my DD..... I have 2003 SSS and a mp112 radix and I have a cam and other supporting mods so would E85 be a good switch or should I consider using meth. -What is all entailed in setup for E85 and what kind of noticable gains HP/TQ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idahoBLKss Posted September 14, 2012 Report Share Posted September 14, 2012 (edited) if e85 is available for you i would do e85 over meth but people have run both with great success . i just dont like the idea of filling and worrying about keeping another tank full and having another pump to rely on with meth. i would think the hp gains of switching to e85 with the proper tune will net you over 50+ hp when your F/I not to mention its a huge safety net for mistakes and failier . Edited September 14, 2012 by idahoBLKss (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003_SuperSport Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 if e85 is available for you i would do e85 over meth but people have run both with great success . i just dont like the idea of filling and worrying about keeping another tank full and having another pump to rely on with meth. i would think the hp gains of switching to e85 with the proper tune will net you over 50+ hp when your F/I not to mention its a huge safety net for mistakes and failier . I live in Minnesota a very E85 friendly state. Its in just about every town. So to run E85 effectivly all I need is a proper tune and larger injectors off course for my needs and Ill get the same if not better results as Meth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idahoBLKss Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Yes, i would contact zippy for your tune since he is also a firm beleiver in e85 and has worked wonders on my tune for my truck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003_SuperSport Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 (edited) Yes, i would contact zippy for your tune since he is also a firm beleiver in e85 and has worked wonders on my tune for my truck. I will have to talk to Mr. wheatley first since he has done all my tunes so far with all my Mods and see if he can dial it in first. I get free lifetime updates and tunes with him and don't want to have to spend the money to get a whole new tuner when I allready have one. One question. Should I go with 60#, 70#, or 80# injectors with my setup in my sig except I am pullying down to 2.8 from 3" and E85? Edited September 15, 2012 by 2003_SuperSport (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadianVRss Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I will have to talk to Mr. wheatley first since he has done all my tunes so far with all my Mods and see if he can dial it in first. I get free lifetime updates and tunes with him and don't want to have to spend the money to get a whole new tuner when I allready have one. One question. Should I go with 60#, 70#, or 80# injectors with my setup in my sig except I am pullying down to 2.8 from 3" and E85? As big as possible. E85 has a lower energy yield rate then gas, so your going to need more of it. Correct me if wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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