Flexbfuel vs gasoline

[Nheimberg]

First post here. I'm researching everything I can get my hands on before buying. I'm heavily leaning to a 2021 platinum, with a V8. It's a flex fuel. I need some education. Is there a requirement for the flex fuel? Is there a requirement for a higher octane? What happens if I don't use flex fuel? Does it harm my engine?
Thank you for being kind. I've searched and couldn't find a post that answers these questions.

Sponsored

 

[jhelrey]

You can put anything you want into it at the pumps except for diesel and DEF.

 

[FORDTEXAS]

You can put anything you want into it at the pumps except for diesel and DEF.

this

 

[heroes]

First post here. I'm researching everything I can get my hands on before buying. I'm heavily leaning to a 2021 platinum, with a V8. It's a flex fuel. I need some education. Is there a requirement for the flex fuel? Is there a requirement for a higher octane? What happens if I don't use flex fuel? Does it harm my engine?
Thank you for being kind. I've searched and couldn't find a post that answers these questions.

Flex fuel means your truck can run on either regular gas or E85 (which is a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline). You don’t have to use flex fuel; your truck will run just fine on regular gas,

but here’s the deal:

Octane Requirement: You don’t need higher octane for flex fuel. The truck’s engine is designed to handle both, so whether you use regular or E85, it won’t hurt the engine. Higher octane fuels are more for performance and engine efficiency, not for flex fuel.

Ethanol vs. Gasoline: If you use E85, you’ll get a bit of a boost in horsepower and torque, but you’ll also see a dip in fuel economy. E85 burns cleaner but has lower energy content compared to gasoline. If you stick to regular gas, your engine will run just fine—no harm done.

Engine Health: Using E85 occasionally won’t damage your engine, but sticking with one type of fuel can keep things simple. If you only use regular gasoline, no worries; your engine will adapt.

Hope this clears things up!

 

[jhelrey]

What ^ he said! Ha!

If you switch fuel types, try to have an almost empty tank.

 

[Gros Ventre]

watch the prices of E-85. Alcohol has about 50% of the energy of gasoline. So if you run the numbers E-85 gets you about 60% of the energy per gallon of straight gasoline. Prices at the pump should reflect this... Some places do and some places overcharge.

 

[HammaMan]

Blending 87 with e85 will provide with max power / lowest cost per mile. 2 gallons e85 for every 5 gallons of 87 octane is the ratio to use putting you at an e30 blend. If you only do short trips and the motor never gets to temp, don't use e85 -- that's the one caveat.

 

[amschind]

watch the prices of E-85. Alcohol has about 50% of the energy of gasoline. So if you run the numbers E-85 gets you about 60% of the energy per gallon of straight gasoline. Prices at the pump should reflect this... Some places do and some places overcharge.

For completeness, EtOH is closer to 2/3 the energy of ethanol free gass, and CAN make a bit of that back with better compression. More importantly, E85 has 77% as much energy as E10. That said, GV's point is very important: the discount for ethanol or E85 rarely justifies the loss in energy, so you really need to calculate $/mile, which you can really only do if you run a few tanks and keep good records. I'm out there a'messin with my still tryin' ta' figger iffin I cain't get them number maths to make sense, an' thus far the ethanol will raise yer spirits but won't do nothin' fer yer capital-amortized cost per mile driven.

 

[Gros Ventre]

For completeness, I believe you are wrong. The equivalency is about 55%. Show me your reference.

 

[22stx]

I read the owners manual and I believe you mix it with a half of tank of regular then you can fill it up with all e85 on the next tank. Also supposed to only run a few tanks before going back to regular. You might want to check the manual , it's been awhile since I read it. I've never tried the E85.

 

[JoeRedFly]

It's 77% energy equivalent if actually E85. I always found there to be less alcohol than advertised and got better than 77% of the mileage. Personally only ran it in the race car, wasn't worth the shorted travel distance in the truck. Not sure why the heck old Gros keeps spewing 55% on these threads.

 

[jhelrey]

I have ran E85, E88, and others...

Zero issues other than my MPG suffers.

Sponsored