E85 has an octane rating ranging from 100-105, making it a high performance fuel. In comparison, regular unleaded gasoline has an octane rating of 87.
Right off the bat, any contest between 112-octane E85 and premium unleaded pump gas (91- or 93-octane) would be no comparison. The E85 offers more power, even before we get into the added ability to run more timing and/or boost from the lack of octane on the pump gas.
Putting 91 or 95 fuel in a car designed for 98 petrol can lead to engine knock, whereby the petrol burns too early and may damage the engine, or lead to greater wear and tear over the long term. E10 and E85 also have octane ratings, with E10 usually having a rating of 94 whilst E85 will exceed a rating of 100.
ethanol Stations in australia in December 2022
According to industry body FCAI, the most recent vehicles sold in Australia that can run on E85 include Holden's flex-fuel Commodore VE Series II, the Saab 9-3 and 9-5 Biopower models, Chrysler's Sebring sedan and certain Dodge models.
Regular gas is the lowest octane fuel, which means it is the least stable. You can find out more about octane ratings and how it affects your car here. E85 has higher octane than regular gasoline. This means that E85 is a lot better for your car's engine than regular gasoline.
Using any octane level of gasoline in a flex-fuel vehicle is acceptable. The sensors in an FFV detect whether the fuel is pure gasoline or 85% ethanol and make necessary changes for optimal fuel injection and timing of combustion. Putting E85 in a car not designed for flexible fuel can be harmful.
E85 gas is suitable for use in any vehicle designated as a flex-fuel vehicle by the manufacturer. Cars.com reports that flex-fuel vehicles are capable of running on both ethanol-gasoline blends and regular gasoline.
“The reason for that is because the main ingredient in E85 - ethanol - is priced far below gasoline right now. You look at the wholesale terminals where the fuel is blended and ethanol today is selling for about $2.80 a gallon. That compares to gasoline that is selling for about $4.20 a gallon.
This fuel's chemical make-up is derived mostly from biomass materials such as corn. If you accidentally put E85 fuel in a car built for regular petroleum-based gasoline, chances are your check engine light will come on. And while that's never a good feeling, a one-time mistake shouldn't cause engine damage.
Simply put, if you mix 5 gallons of 91 octane pump gas with 5 gallons of E85, you get 10 gallons of a 96-octane fuel that's very close to E50, or 50-percent ethanol and 50-percent gasoline.
E85 also burns faster than regular gasoline because it vaporizes faster. So your engine may eat through E85 faster than regular gasoline.
You may have noticed that E85 costs less than regular gasoline at the gas pump. It also costs less money in the long run. It's true that E85 may lower your MPG (but not always). Yet, even if you see a 25% reduction in your vehicle's MPG, you'll still save money with E85.
E85 is a blend of between 70% and 85% ethanol and unleaded petrol, with an octane rating of 105. It can only be used in cars that have been specifically built or modified to use it, including flexible-fuel vehicles and V8 racing supercars. You should not use E85 in any vehicle that is not specifically designed for it.
However, at the moment, E85 costs about 90 cents per litre at a time when regular unleaded has been between $1.20 and $1.30 per litre.
E10 and E85 are ethanol blended petrols. They are a blend of unleaded petrol and ethanol. E10 fuel is a blend of unleaded petrol and up to 10% ethanol. It is widely used in Australia.
There are three general categories of ethanol-gasoline blends: E10, E15, and E85. E10 is gasoline with 10% ethanol content. E15 is gasoline with 15% ethanol content, and E85 is a fuel that may contain up to 85% fuel ethanol.
Commonly, it is 25% to 35% less expensive than other high-octane fuels. You'll see big savings on fuel. E85 can lower your vehicle's MPG by up to 25%, but many vehicles only lose 15% to 20% in fuel mileage. Even if you see a 25% drop in your vehicle's mileage, you'll still save money anyway.
The largest ethanol producer in Australia is the Manildra Group in Bomaderry, which produces 300 million litres of ethanol using wheat waste starch. This corresponds to approximately 68% of total ethanol production.
Because of E85s increased resistance to detonation, it allows for more power without the cost of expensive race fuels. Even at low power levels, E85 can also be a much safer fuel than normal pump gas. Much like methanol injection, the alcohol present in E85 is great for cooling down your incoming air/fuel charge.
If you have a car designed to run on E85 and put 98 Octane you probably won't get any change, you are just wasting money. Most super high performance engines available in vehicles today would run very well with 98 octane. On the other hand would run horrible using E85 and probably would end up damaging the engine.
Yes, you can. Provided your engine is designed to run on E85, you can feed it any ratio of E85/gasoline. You should not attempt this in an engine not designed to run on E85.
Ethanol also has a higher thermal efficiency meaning when it does ignite, the temperature of the combustion is lower compared to pump gas. This allows a turbocharged engine to take more boost within a safe operating range without damaging the engine.
E85 fuel has a faster ignition time and flame propagation when compared to gasoline. This leads to higher cylinder pressure, as well as increased engine torque and power, gaining up to 20%.
That can lead to some pretty serious engine damage. Back in the old days (pre-1994), E85 could eat away at some engine components. Most vehicles produced in and after 1994 are immune to ethanol. Since 1994, it has been US federal law that vehicles must be compatible with ethanol.