E85 Mod

[Petrucci914]

Would converting the Vibe engine to be able to accept E85 be difficult? I thought that the new GM E85 capable cars just have steel-braided fuel lines or something like that. Any extra info?

[northvibe]

No I think think its possible with out tons of money or a new engine swap. Remember this is a toyota engine not a gm, toyota doesnt make a e85 engine at this time. E85 corrodes engines internals with out something special to help it not do that.E85 lowers your mpg a lot actually so im not sure if it would be worth it unless e85 was super cheap.

[Petrucci914]

lol, yes I know by now that it is Toyota, that's the only reason I bought it. E85 is like $1.30 now a gallon. So it is worth it.

[RePo]

Fuel economy with E85 is 15% less than pure gasoline. If the price is more than 15% less than gas, then E85 is a good buy.

[melders]

i had a gmc sonoma before my vibe, and i could run e85 in it, and it sucked....terrible gas millege...i did not like it at all

[prathman]

I'd expect more than a 15% reduction in fuel economy with E85. Pure gasoline has about 31000 kcal/gal whereas pure ethanol has about 21000 kcal/gal. Based on that I'd expect the mpg with E85 to be just under 75% of the mpg with gasoline. Last station I saw that was selling both gas and E85 was charging $2.70 for gas and $2.00 for E85. At those prices the cost per mile should be almost the same or just a bit less for gas. But if E85 is available to you at $1.30 then that would make it economically attractive.

[redlava]

Everything you ever wanted to know about E85, but were afraid to ask because it would make your head hurt after reading a paragraph. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85 If I read the conversion kit part correctly you must get a certification from the EPA which could cost between $750 and $23,000. Depending on weither or not the kit for your vehicle has been previously certified by them or not. And it requires proof that it can remain a low emissions vehicle for 50,000 miles.So in my opinion if you want an E85 vehicle it will be cheaper and easier to just buy one.

[Lancer]

Friends don't let friends use E85.

[DavidPIL]

$1.30 a Gallon???Here, in the middle of corn country there is 1 station with it. They always price it $.20 cheaper than reg unleaded. If Unleaded goes up, so does E85, and vice versa. As for even just 10% Ethanol alone... My GT easily loses 2-3 MPG and a bit of pep with it so I try to avoid it. Most stations around here don't put Ethanol in the Premium but I've seen a few that apparently do.I can't imagine how lethargic these cars would be running E85 (if they could). Never been in a vehicle that has used it so I dunno. In any case, and especially around here, it's not worth the trade-off in cost. But at $1.30 a Gallon, it might just be.Dave

[redlava]

I put the 15% stuff in my car. I notice a slight drop in fuel economy, but no power loss at all. The E85 might drop your fuel economy a bit, but it is less money that we have to give to Opec and more money to American business. A good trade off in my opinion.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by redlava »The E85 might drop your fuel economy a bit, but it is less money that we have to give to Opec and more money to American business. A good trade off in my opinion.Yeah, that's a pretty good point there! Giving less to them is worth it to me. I've got E85 available here at a whopping one station, but it is halfway between home and work although not quite on the way. Nonetheless if I could run it, I would - even if I saw a drop in mileage and even if it cost the same as regular fuel... But I'm just weird like that. Can't run the stuff anyway so it really doesn't matter. But anyway, Petrucci914, it will probably be a pain. Best bet is to go dump the Vibe on a GM car or find one from someone else that is ready to run this stuff... A lot of things like seals, etc. in the engine can get eaten up by this stuff like northvibe mentioned. Since Toyota doesn't make anything E85-compatible, you'd probably have issues finding whatever bits and pieces you may need that are beefed up to handle this stuff. Then, I would suspect the PCM probably isn't going to know what to do with this sort of fuel. I'd say there may be some different programming that E85 cars have to help with emissions and overall engine performance have that your car's lacks so it may not run so good...

[falderal]

Yeah I don't think E85... at least in the current form in the US is the solution but it's part of the solution and it's a step in the right direction. I live in Illinois we have lots of E85 stations around. If I could I would run E85 just to do my part to help further this sort of thinking.

[jediwashuu]

Has anyone tried this FlexTek kit? http://www.flextek.com/faq.htmI was wondering if it worked out well?

[binary]

Odd.. the site doesn't load - instantly my BS detector is going off and I haven't even seen the site.Anyway... even though E85 will drop your mileage... remember, you're supporting agriculture - not oil cartels.I'd switch in a heartbeat to tell OPEC to sod-off.Part of the flexfuel system is a sensor that can tell the percentage of gas/eth in the tank - allowing the PCM the ability to tweak the fuel/ign curve to make the most of the octane rating of the current mix.I'd sell my vibe yesterday for an E85 vibe.

[scott_h]

Quote, originally posted by DavidPIL »Here, in the middle of corn country there is 1 station with it. In Minneapolis, there are stations with e85 all over the place...