How long until we see them?

 

It'll probably be a while. The big reason for the E85 push by the OEMs is the CAFE break that they receive from the EPA, and frankly that relief isn't all that helpful on the vehicles with higher fuel economy.

 

Import one from Brazil, GM sells tons of them down there.

 

Does anyone actually use E85? You cant even buy it around here and we're surrounded by corn fields.

 

There is one station that uses E85 near me. But I don't have an E85 vehicle, and with less mileage, you wouldn't see me filling up there anyway.

It is good for CAFE, but I agree, not many people use it because of its availability. I read somewhere that there was only 1 E85 station in all of California.

 

E85 plus a turbo = good things if tuned for it. Octane of E85 is around 100+ octane isn't it? I'm really liking this Cobalt SS from what I'm hearing.

 

Honestly I don't know why....It bugs me though. Bush had a huge push for E85 about 2 years ago and suddenly GM went bonkers with the idea. Maybe it's just coincidence? IDK. I thought most of the 4-cyls were already flex fuel....

I think Biodiesel is more relatively available than E85, at least here in Seattle it is. Should have bought a Jetta TDI in 2006 when I was first looking...Biodiesel is usually static at $3.00/gallon. Does GM have any plans to drop the loser E85 campaign and maybe produce a smallish turbo-diesel sedan in the near future?

 

The momentary sweep toward E85 was political. The price of gas was over $3 a gallon and people freaked out, so they pushed E85 saying "we'll be off of oil!" but of course people didnt really think about it or realize E85 decreases mpg and has no structure of distribution.

Then gas went under $3/gal and E85 vanished.

Now its over $3/gal again but people arent so shocked anymore, so they just accept it. So nobody does much with E85.

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E85 is about 106 Octane I believe. If you build a really high end motor (espicially boosted) E85 can be your best friend for its cooling properties. Its not all bad. You can really dial it up!

Supercharged 6.2L Camaro?

 

the general public doesn't understand E85 and from what I'm reading, several on here don't either...

E85 sucks butt?

Current FlexFuel Vehicles are designed to be able to safely use E85 or gasoline. That means they are a compromise. Early FlexFuel vehicles used an alcohol sensor that actually changed the computer program when an increased percentage of alcohol was measured to make better use of Ethanol's properties.

If/when E85 distribution increases to where the entire country has access, then maybe we will begin to see vehicles that use E85 primarily. At that point we will start to see the benefits of E85. We will see increased compression ratios and ignition/valve timing optimized for E85. Combine those and we will see the same mile per gallon ratings as gasoline engines get with better performance.

Sure, there may be the issue with increased asthma problems, but that's only according to 1 theory/test at the moment...

 

We don't have much Biodiesel around here. Atleast it is not advertised. I know of 1 place and it is not close. The problem that GM has with the diesel engine in the small sedans is always price. It just cost more to make a diesel, but they do last a long time.

The other problem is the stigma that comes with having a diesel. Most people think dirty and loud. If they could change that perception, I think it would have a chance.

 

The new diesels that are on the way should do a lot toward that stigma.

 

I dont think theres one diesel car on the market right now under $40,000. The Jetta comes out next year, but thats it. The only ones I can think of are the $50,000 Mercedes. Thats kind of crazy considering theres a big push for higher MPG's

 

It is actually closer to 105

As if the current emissions standards weren't strict enough, they get even tougher starting with 2010 models.

 

This gets played down a lot in my experience. Everyone talks about the upside, and then there is always just a small mention of slightly decreased gas mileage. Slightly decreased is a pretty exaggerated term in this context. There is a very noticeable decrease in fuel economy, and even an engine built to run on nothing but ethanol, with a much higher compression, is still going to not produce the mpg results that normal gas as we know it does.

 

I love broad statements like this. There was someone over on Corral.net who tuned his car to run on E85, not only did he make the same power, but he went slightly faster in the same weather.

Like said before, cars that are meant to run on both gas and E85 are going to suffer less mileage on E85. Get a E85 specific motor though, and not only the mileage the same, but more power. Who wouldn't get excited about a nice horsepower increase with the same mileage?

I'm sorry, but do you have anything to back up that last claim? Just about everyone I have heard talking on that subject says that the mileage should be very similar, if not the same, for an engine build for E85 and one build for gas.