2006 driver information center

If it has a 5.3 engine and the 8th digit of the VIN is Z then it is a flex fuel vehicle it will have a yellow gas cap with E85 / Gasoline printed on it as well.

Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra 5.3-liter V8 engine: 12/16 E85 MPG Flexible fuel identification: Z

for an interesting read about E85.

Simply put, a flex-fuel vehicle using gasoline travels farther, at a clip of about 3 miles per gallon. That?s what we discovered while driving a 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche with flex-fuel capability. We clocked an average fuel economy of 13.4 miles per gallon using regular grade unleaded ? not so hot, but much better than E85. A tank of E85 gasoline registered just 10.4 miles per gallon under virtually identical driving conditions. This makes the use the E85 more expensive, by around $20 more per tank. And while that may seem like chump change, it?s exactly the opposite of what people are currently looking to accomplish.

E85 will not save you money or mileage. E85 runs about 40-50 cents cheaper per gallon, but it runs about 4-5 MPG less as well.

The average new GM truck will get 14mpg on standard gasoline. x20 gallons at $2.05 a gallon (price in NW Ohio) is $41 This will get you 280 miles.

On E85, you will get about 9.5mpg. x20 gallons at $1.70 a gallon is $34 This will get you 190 miles.

In order to make up the E85 mileage difference, you will need to spend:

9.475 gallons at $1.70 a gallon = $16.11

So in order to get 280 miles out of your truck, you will need: $41.00 of standard gas $50.11 of E85 gas using prices of $2.05 std gas & $1.70 E85 gas. Basically 25% more

The same price percentage differences will occur at any price

zende wrote:

While I think the flex-fuel vehicles are a great idea, it'd be nice if E85-only vehicles were offered when the availability of E85 is up to diesel-like levels.

An engine built to take advantage of the higher-octane E85 could potentially pull the same kind of MPG numbers as an equivalent vehicle running gasoline. You probably wouldn't be able to run gasoline in it, but as stated earlier, if E85 were readily available it probably wouldn't be an issue.

~jp

BLB wrote:

Where are you getting your milage from? The sticker on most of the new GM trucks if 16/19 for 4x4 and 17/20 for 2wd. Lowest I have ever gotten with my 4x4 is 16mpg. I regularly get 400-450 miles from a tank.

To make the same amount of power running E85 as regular unleaded (87 octane here), you would have to raise the compression ratio to say

14.0:1. Basically E85 is gasoline-alcohol blend. Alcohol fuels require higher compression to make the same power.

I have found one gas station around here selling Soy-based Bio-Diesel. No post consumer content, and it cost as much as the new low sulfur (15 PPM) diesel. I think large fuel companies Should make post consumer waste Bio-Diesel, and sell it as well as low sulfur Diesel at the same station. heck even a partial post consumer blend (50/50) with soy bio-diesel would be nice. Charles

I should've been more specific, but the higher-compression ratio was exactly what I meant. C/R's that would be unsuitable on pump gasoline would be just fine on E85 because of its high octane rating.

It's just that with the lack of distribution, it's not feasible to have an E85-only vehicle. If it were more common, I could see building an engine to use it exclusively.

~jp

Charles Bendig wrote: