Flex or Regular?

Just trying to determine the most popular fuel type. What type engine do you own?

 

No Flex for me.

 

I try to buy ethanol free gas when I can. There are a few in the Denver area. A couple in Aurora that get ethanol free gas.When I was in AK all gas is ethanol free. The refinery in Fairbanks processes all the gas, diesel, various jet fuels , etc used in the state and is piped down to the Port of Anchorage for dispersal. Pure gas and water don't mix. Ethanol absorbs water. Not a good thing. Not too many flex fuel stations around here either. Dino for my Tundra. It's good to use approved fuel desiccant additives occasionally for whatever fuel you burn and keep the tank at least 1/2 full. Today's flex fuel motors are designed well anyways.

 

E0

 

This!
Unfortunately in my area all the 2014's and '15s are only sold FFV.

 

What was weird in Anchorage, it seemed like all the newer trucks I saw regardless of brand were ffv but no flex fuel anywhere. Go figure.

 

Car makers make a big kick back on making the ffv. Car makers dont care where the vehicle goes tho.. more and more it about alternative energy and making people aware of it.

Somewhere I cant remember but the epa said x amount of alternative vehicles must be made per year.

Our current infrastructure doesnt support massive e85 or diesel switch from gasoline at this time.

 

I agree. In Alaska, especially in Anchorage/Fairbanks where you have a captive audience so to speak , you buy what they sell. Whether it's the only Walmart or Ford dealer. Many of the various stores in Anchorage have the same limited, delivered by barge, selections. Same with vehicles up there. Rumor was they were dumping FFV trucks/vehicles in AK because of poor sales in the lower 48. E85 will never be sold there because there is no profit. No way will corn/ethanol be shipped there when they are delivering all the crude not used by state south to the lower 48 to be refined. E85 wouldn't even have been used if it wasn't subsidized by tax dollars. More energy (BTU's) is used in the manufacturing process of E85 than it produces when burned. Of course AK is the exception for a lot of things. You can carry a loaded hand gun in your glove box legally with out a permit. If you get pulled over, the first thing a state trooper usually will ask, "Is there a gun in the vehicle" not for your license. Big bears abound. Folks are real careful whose house they break into. Gun ownership in AK is one of the highest if not THE highest of all the states per/capita. In AK, alternative energy is flipping the generator switch to "on" when the power goes out. Did see a lot of solar being used off the grid up there. Not too useful in the winter with no sun (literally).

 

I agree. E85 will never catch on. I would rather to a lpg or ng to my trucks much cleaner burning fuel plus my engines will last alot longer on those fuels. Plus the conversion it not really all that high.

 

Toyota just released all their Hydrogen fuel cell technology patents(Toyota has most of them if not all) for all to use. The only vehicle MFR to ever release their patents. The goal is to push Hydrogen technology to a new level even with the competition using their ideas.

 

Same as hybrid cars and trucks. Toyota has about all patents wrapped up on that. Why so many car companies are getting buddy buddy with toyota last one was with BMW and Porsche.

But like I said, our infrastructure must change first or all the technology will goto waste in the long run. Most of the technology is not new by a long shot been around for decades and has run successfully.

 

There has to be more people here than 6. Come on guys, what type engine did you buy?
Flex or non flex?

 

My 07 is petrol only. Non ffv. Aren't most of the newer trucks ffv?

 

unless the dealers orders them no

 

I wouldn't think so, Flex seems pretty rare. I don't really see any reason to want one.

 

unless you live in a area where e85 is almost every other fuel station.

 

I'm kind of sure now they were unloading ffv vehicles in AK. There were just too many for a place were E85 couldn't be had anywhere. Why else would dealers have so many on their lots? Aren't there any AK folks with Tundras on this site? Never saw so many Tacoma's and Tundras in one place.(Anchorage)

 

Mine is FFV, although I didn't "request" it. I just happened to notice it on the window sticker.

It's funny, when FFV first came out, any vehicle that had it would have a big ole sticker or shiny chrome emblem saying so. My truck has NOTHING externally to indicate that it's FFV.

Like someone else said, I'll never put E85 in it.

I'm wondering if FFV or non-FFV will have better resale value in the future?

 

E70 and E85 are about 105 to 110 octane respectively and gas/ethanol mix actually burns cooler than regular gas since it takes 20% more ethanol than gas to equal the same BTU (British Thermal Units) rate. IE: 100% Ethanol=80% gas as far as BTU output which is the international scientific unit that we use in Metrology in our lab and labs world wide so we are all on the same page. There shouldn't be a huge difference in resale value. The engines have different seals and such because of the ethanol. Ethanol has water in it. Ethanol will absorb water. No getting around it. It is hard to remove 100% of the H20. There is always a measurable value no matter how small, so the engine had to be designed to accommodate for this. The FFV engines are fine. Just don't run E series fuel in a non FFV engine even if it is cheaper than gas in your area. Not good.

 

I live in the Chicago area. When I bought my 2015 it was very hard to find a Tundra that did not come with the ffv motor. Mine has it I probable wont use the flex fuel. The stations that do carry it charge only about 30 cents less than regular leaded fuel. So there is no savings. Since you get less gas mileage with flex. The kicker is the dealer charges more for the flex motor.

 

There is always a trade off. E85=Less $ per gal at the pump, less thermal efficiency after the pump / Gas=More $ per gal at the pump, greater thermal efficiency after the pump. I you live near where E fuels are processed you can probably save 75 cents or more a gallon. Probably worth it to use it. Especially if you put a lot of miles on your truck. 20,30 cents, nope.

 

my 15 is ffv, didn't get it because of that but figured what the hell. worst comes to worst I am really low on money and ill buy e85 just to make it till next paycheck

 

Won't hurt anything. You can mix and match fuels with FFV engine. There is a lot bad info (wive's tales) out there concerning E85. When it comes to science, I believe in "trust but verify" myself. No shortage of reliable info available. I am neither here nor there on the E85 issue (or non issue). The FFV ECM will sense the fuel type and react accordingly for proper burn rate. They are designed to do that. Hence the name=flex fuel.