Who here has a flex-fuel Explorer?

[troj84]

You sure it's the ethanol causing your high food prices, and not the exponential increase in the cost of diesel fuel to harvest the crops and ship the food to the store, the increased price of fertilizer to grow the crops, or anything like that? That horse has been beat to death. Truth is, very little of your increased costs at the grocery store are because of ethanol.

Its not the price of corn that drives food prices up. Its now everyone and I mean everyone is growing corn to make ethanol. Hell, Ive got a giant ethanol plant going up less than 40 miles sway. No one grows wheat anymore around here or other items and Im sure other places. That drives it up. Wheat is in just about everything. People who never grew anything are growing corn. Hell, Id grow it also, if I had more than a postage stamp for a lawn for whatever rediculous amount a bushel is going for. And yes, I know its not the corn you eat. The point is two fold. Its not cheap enough to make it worth my while. The decrease in emissions, well not many people give a crap about it ( I work in the environmental field). And I live in one of the five largest cities in ohio and there are 3 locations to buy ethanol, and they dot the city to the south & north. I would have a 10 mile trip to get E85. And lastly, using something that costs me more money to use does not make good economic sense.

 

[xvprflyboivx]

i have flex fuel...cant find a station near me. if it a 30 cent difference to use E85, then ill stick with gas.

 

[uh60james]

The price spread is usually greater than 30 cents. xvprflyboivx in PA the cheapest e85 is $2.95, if you can find gas for $3.25 there you must have some hidden oil that you are not sharing with the rest of us. Gas here is at about $3.95.

 

[xvprflyboivx]

The price spread is usually greater than 30 cents. xvprflyboivx in PA the cheapest e85 is $2.95, if you can find gas for $3.25 there you must have some hidden oil that you are not sharing with the rest of us. Gas here is at about $3.95.

i was looking at a comparison from e85 to regular gas and it said that it would cost more to use e85 than it would to use gas alone. i live in the poconos and the cheapest gas by me is $3.99.

 

[E.B. Cornburner]

I think earlier in this thread I linked to the E85 cost savings calculator.

The savings is huge for me...Right now, gasoline is $4.059 and E85 is $2.899 per gallon.

 

[ringpop1]

Mine can run off of E85 but I was told that the gas mileage is a lot worse. I have a station that sells it right down the street but if I go from 16-20mpg to 13-15 mpg then I dont think that it is a good trade off.

 

[merc187]

My 03 Explorer is an FFV as well.

On E85 my biggest MPG loss is in town. On the highway The MPG only drops about 2 miles per gallon different. Could be driving style though too. I just filled up tonight at Casey's in Basehor, KS with their 89 octane (10% Ethanol) for 3.639 per gallon. They sell it cheaper than regular unleaded. The closest place to buy E85 had it for not quite ten cents cheaper.

 

[jasongt06]

my 05 XLT is Flex-Fuel. No E85 stations near me. The one time I did fill up with E85 I only lost about 3mpg.

 

[mab668]

60 cents of every dollar stays in the state that the corn was grown in not sending all that money to the overseas oil tycoons is worth the decrease in mpg by its self

 

[troj84]

11 mpg combined/mostly city with corn.
14.5 with towel head oil combined/mostly city.
.66 cent price difference.

Would cost $400/year more for me.

Owners manual said to expect up to 30% decrease in fuel economy with corn. Mine was almost dead on 30%.

 

[28HopUp]

My 2005 XLT is a FFV. The only E85 station in Delaware is about 20 minutes from my house, but I rarely go that direction. Good to have the option though...

 

[Cobra Jet]

Flex here too - 2004 XLS. We only use 87 octane in it as well, it runs great on 87. I don't know of any E85 stations in or around our area in southern NJ, so it's not even a concern or thought, just keep using regular fuel.

 

[alwalker84]

FFV here in my 03 xlt. Didint even know it when I bought it....I actually found out while sitting in the car on lunch thumbing thru the owners manual...lol.

Anyway theres a few e85 stations in my town...cheapest is 2.99. I only put e85 in for town driving...Hwy consumption is terrible on e85. 50% if you ask me....close to at least.

 

[alsodrivesamonte]

my explorer is flex fuel

never tried it out because there are no E-85 pumps in my area, but if there was I'ld be set.

 

[crash594]

FFV here in my 03 xlt. Didint even know it when I bought it....I actually found out while sitting in the car on lunch thumbing thru the owners manual...lol.

Anyway theres a few e85 stations in my town...cheapest is 2.99. I only put e85 in for town driving...Hwy consumption is terrible on e85. 50% if you ask me....close to at least.

I have an 05 and it says nothing in the manual tat I seen just a little sticker on the fuel door.

 

[flash041]

crash if you engine code in your vin is a K then it is flex fuel , if its an E it is not. I have owned My 04 ffv for about 6 months.I run e85 90% of the time.I loose 4-5 mpg.Most tanks are between 14 -15 mpg.With gas I have gotten 17-20 mpg I do mostly highway driving.E85 in my area runs 19-23% less than gas.I figure at that spread I pay a small premium to run e85.I feel its worth it to support the farmers in the area.Next year a company in the state (WI) that sells e85 for a price spread close to 30% will be putting a station in my area (Madison).Cant wait!

 

[fordbluefamily]

Ive burned a lot of it in ours. If we are highway traveling, I hunt down an E85 station as the mileage hit is not near as bad. If we are city driving, I dont use it, as it drops my mileage just a bit too much. On the plus side, your exhaust smells GREAT!

I recently drove a giant loop from Arkansas through Mo. Ill. Ind. Tn. Ga. and back to Arkansas on almost all E85. Saved 150 bucks vs. regular gas even accounting for mileage drop.

 

[marine7626]

You never know what you are going to find when you read the owner's manual. As I was thumbing through, I came to the FFV section. Sure enough, my explorer can run E85, which happens to be $.30 cheaper a gallon. Granted, I'll get some reduced fuel mileage, but when gas jacks up to $4 this summer, this could come in handy

True the FFV does run a little cheaper per regular fuel, one thing you'll want to keep an eye on is that there maybe a difference is service schedules if you run the E85 for an extended period of time. I grew up in the cold Minnesota winters and I never had a problem with the Flex Fuel. The two (E85 and 87 octanes) work great together.