anyone tried E85?

[travis1043]

just wondering about this ethanol gas.... has anyone used it in a vibe? it's supposed to be 105 octane

[Kari]

According to the E85 web site (http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/faqs/ff_vehicles.php) only certain vehicles can run this fuel, and the Vibe is not one of them, so I'm not too sure I'd try it...

[redlava]

I believe right now only certain government vechicles and some buses are running E85. Iowa has Ethanol blended fuel, but it is only about 10% I believe.

[millster]

A word of advice would be, don't.That blend of ethanol would eat the seals of your engine to pieces unless it's designed to withstand it (the Vibe is not).That, of course, is assuming it would run on it at all. It takes a lot of heat to ignite that strength of ethanol. Kari posted a good link. I would check that out.

[NUBlackshirts]

I believe that, if your car is designed to run this stuff, there is a sticker somewhere (fuel door?) that says you can use it. It will also say so in your owner's manual. The Vibe is not designed to use E85.

[zionzr2]

there are lots of places in the midwest and elsewhere that sell the 10% Blend which is Fine!!!The newer Far less common is the E85 unless you see a bunch of lables on your car that say e-85 compliant, DO NOT put this in your vibe...Once again:10% stuff: NO PROBLEM!!E-85 stuff: BAD IDEA!!

[bud_one]

GMC Yukons and Chevy Suburbans/Tahoes with the 5.3 liter "Z" motor are E85compatible...that's the only ones I know of.....

[millster]

A number of Ford V6's are also flexible-fuel. Unless I'm mistaken, Chrysler also has some FFV cars.

[northvibe]

when i was looking at getting a new car i checked out the ford ffi engine to see what mpg it got with e85, its under 20 for both highway and city, not worth it unless its under a dollar a gallon i think

[redlava]

Ethanol will actually decrease your fuel economy by 5% to 10% I think I read somewhere. But it is a cleaner burning fuel and we also use less "dead dinosaur goo" to fuel our cars. So it is a trade off.

[sloth]

I read a report on yahoo 2 weeks ago that said it takes more fossil fuels to refine ethanol than you get out of ethanol. I imagine they mean coal from electric plants and such. But basically it says we're wasting more resources by using ethanol than not.I don't know how credible the people that came up with the report are, could be oil people that came up with the report.

[redlava]

I read a similar article in the local paper. That report was using a lot of old figures (2-3 years old) and some advancements have been made since then. But that is probably a reasonably accurate statement. Ethanol is not a fix all cure, but with more time and better technology it could be part of the solution to the worlds energy needs. The machinery that produces it could conceivable run off solar or wind power. The real problem with Ethanol is that farmers can't possibly grow enough corn to feed the world AND produce enough Ethanol to make a significant impact in the global fuel market. Just not enough farmland to do both.

[GMJAP]

Interesting article on Ethanol and other crop fuels:http://www.signonsandiego.com/....html

[travis1043]

thanks to everyone who posted