Question about 2006 Ford Focus
Hi allam giving some serious thoughts to converting our 2006 Focus and 2007 4 banger Ranger over to E85 via conversion kits. Both vehicles have less than 12,000 miles on the clocks. Any forseeable problems? thanks
What is "E85" ?
Posted on May 14, 2008
A gasoline/ethanol mixture containing 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. The number after the E is the percent of the mixture that is ethanol. So E10 is 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. Ethanol, of course, is the type of alcohol in beer and fun drinks. Jeff
Posted on May 14, 2008
... You realize your mileage will be less with E85 right? I just wonder why you would go to the expense of this?
Posted on May 14, 2008
I live in Oregon...and this state has mandated some form of gasahol blend be used, starting this year...year around. Although E85 gets less fuel milage than pure gasoline, it also is capable of producing more power, and it is supposed to cost less per gallon than pure gas. ...
Posted on May 14, 2008
It gets less fuel mileage but produces more power? Gee, unless you actually run your engine at full power (which most of us rarely do), you won't notice a difference. Even then, the difference won't be much. The only time I run my engine at full power is during acceleration on to a busy highway. The problem with the ethanol blend is that it takes almost as much energy to make a gallon of ethanol as there is in a gallon of ethanol. Plus, all the corn that can be used for other things, like food, is used up. The law requiring ethanol blends (probably E10 or E5) is a stupid law, IMHO. Jeff
Posted on May 14, 2008
In some areas, E85 is significantly cheaper than gasoline. However, there is not much of an environmental gain in using E85, just as using hydrogen is harmful, because of all the energy it takes to make hydrogen and all the CO2 that ends up in the air. Jeff
Posted on May 14, 2008
... I'm not sure too many people understand the whole point of the "more power" potential of E-85. E-85 is something in the neighborhood of 105 octane, iirc. The only way to take advantage of high octane like that is to have a higher compression engine. The problem there is that none are on the market today. If someone built a high compression engine, then it wouldn't be backward compatible with standard gasoline. There is no real power advantage that I know of in any engine in production today because they just don't have the high compression to take advantage of the higher octane of E-85. Long story short, while E-85 does have the POTENTIAL to produce more power, it will not unless engines are specifically designed to take advantage of it. Don't make the mistake of thinking that your current engine will benefit power-wise from E-85. The opposite is true because E-85 burns with fewer BTUs. CJB
Posted on May 14, 2008
I agree with all the points AGAINST E85... Not only does its production cause as much, or more harm as hydrogen does to the environment, but It can actually be more harmful to your engine than traditional gasoline, due to it's higher octane rating. With most modern engines being largely aluminum... the higher temps can actually cause issues with seal degredation and metal fatigue. The best choice for an alternative fuel, in my opinion, would be bio-diesel. Granted, bio-diesel production requires alcohols, but in much lower quanties and it is much more engine and environmentally friendly.
Posted on May 14, 2008
... What higher temperatures? How dose "higher octane rating" equal higher temperatures? The only thing a higher octane fuel does is raise the compression ratio that the fuel can be compressed to before it spontaneously ignites. It does not physically raise the compression ratio of your engine or make any other changes per se, at least not as a function of octane rating. Unless the temperatures drop below freezing... The trucks that were out of commission were being fueled with B-99, it's a mix of 1% petroleum diesel and 99% biodiesel. As temperatures cool below 40o, that B-99 will solidify and become jelly-like, and vehicles can't run off it. http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_112707_news_water_bureau_biodiesel_trucks_.4092242d.html
Posted on May 14, 2008
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