[zman]

Does anyone know if the Acadia's engine is designed for E85? ???

As time goes on it may be a nice feature to have.

Thanks.

 

[RedRocker]

It seems GM is the leader in E85 globally. This engine is used in various forms all over the world at GM...From Opel to Holden to SAAB to the domestics...Caddy, Saturn, GMC, Pontiac, ETC. It's been turbocharged, high compression, low compression...a direct injection version is waiting in the wings...I have not read anything on E85 as of yet...but it can't be that far behind. It's one of the most flexible and sophisticated engines in the industry.

Check out this link...it focuses on the Holden version...but most everything is applicable to our Acadia High Feature V6.

For tech-ies...this is a fun read...

http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_2264/article.html

 

[Adam Boca]

Thanks for the link...Interesting information...

BTW: running E85 in the Acadia could cause some major problems....This engine is not designed for E85. I would not be surprised if a FlexFuel engine option is available in the future...

Adam

 

[admin]

I *think* all GM vehicles with E85 capable engines have that yellow "FlexFuel" badging on them pretty prominently.

 

[GMCdriver]

DISCLAIMER:
Caution, the following statment is a rumor I heard and I can't recall where I heard it.

Someone told me that E85 vehicles have yellow gas caps instead of black ones.

 

[GaryB]

It is not listed as E85 compatible on e85fuel.com and they have other 2007 GMC vehicles.

The Acadia owner manual says do not use E85 in vehicles that that were not designed for it, but does not say whether the Acadia was or was not designed for E85 fuel. Says only to use "regular unleaded fuel of 87 octane or higher" and meeting "ASTM specification D 4814". Really helpful, eh? Lacking any statement that it is designed for E85, I would not dare try it given the warning against it.

It also strongly recommends against using any fuel with the MMT (Methy-Manganese Tricarbonyl) additive.

 

[ewillie1]

Clearly the Acadia is not set up for E85 and could harm the engine. We have a fleet of '07 Impalas here in Ohio that are Flexfuel and have the badging on the trunk. I am pleased that we suport local farmers, but experience significantly lower MPG on E85 due to the lower energy in each gallon. Cost is the same, so you have to make your argument to use based on reduced dependence on foreign oil, which is certainly a positive.

At any rate, not an option for our Acadias at this point. Erik

 

[rollin thunder]

Clearly the Acadia is not set up for E85 and could harm the engine. We have a fleet of '07 Impalas here in Ohio that are Flexfuel and have the badging on the trunk. I am pleased that we suport local farmers, but experience significantly lower MPG on E85 due to the lower energy in each gallon. Cost is the same, so you have to make your argument to use based on reduced dependence on foreign oil, which is certainly a positive.

At any rate, not an option for our Acadias at this point. Erik

i have flexfuel on my yukon xl and i have to disagree, while i was in illinois gas for regular was 3.21 and e-85 was 2.69. also even though i burn it faster i get a HUGE tax cut on it also i saved 2000 this year because of owning a flexfuel truck.

 

[coloradoGM]

I think E85 in Denver is around 2.40 a gallon so it would be way cheaper than regular. You do get worse gas mileage so you would have to calculate the savings based on MPG.
Also, it's not that the engine wouldn't run on E85; the difference is that Ethanol is very corrosive and would eat the fuel lines and tank. Then engine will adjust for the change in fuel but E85 capable vehicles have plastic lined tanks and fuel lines to prevent corrosion.

 

[tmmar]

In the northeast, there are very few-if any- stations selling e85.

 

[ewillie1]

We have very few stations in Ohio selling it, but it is expanding. Our Kroger grocery stores carry it, but as we're sending people around the state, there just aren't enough of them to impact the fleet. Our prices are still similar, since regular has come down to $2.76, but over time I think it will be a positive thing.

 

[rollin thunder]

there are NO e-85 places around Va beach area but while i was in illinois, i went to a small town called Kankakee there was a station right by the Kankakee Community College, this suprised me because Va beach is very populated with out tourism, kankakee has at most 30,000 people and va beach has almost 450,000 people and no e-85 and that number does not include tourism, They really need e-85 here, I have sent the site a messege saying We need e-85 but no avil (yet).

 

[spratjack]

Interestingly, SAAB has a car in production optimized to run on E85 rather than regular unleaded. The DOE Lab at Oak Ridge has been running tests on the car comparing fuel economy, power, emissions, etc.. I just attended an ethanol workshop in St Louis and listened to the talk by Mr. Zia Haq. Interestingly, this engine got 20% less mileage, but 20% more power than the gasoline engine. If the power were traded for mileage (by designing a smaller engine for example), probably could narrow that gap significantly. Emissions were dramatically reduced (less than half), probably because the engine is tuned to run on alcohol. If the fuel were more widely available, surely GM would lead the way with engine designs optimized for E85.

 

[DenaliTech]

The Acadia currently is NOT an E85 vehicle. Do NOT run it. We just had an Acadia come through the shop last week running lean due to 67% alcohol content (gas & E85 mixed).

Yes, many of the FlexFuel (E85) vehicles have large FlexFuel badges and Yellow Gas Caps.

 

[ewillie1]

Update: The Kroger store near my office is building a gas station that will have E85. It's very close to our fleet, so we're going to start ramping up usage in our state cars. I'll keep you posted on prices and the experience. :cheers: Erik

 

[Clown Prince]

I think E85 in Denver is around 2.40 a gallon so it would be way cheaper than regular. You do get worse gas mileage so you would have to calculate the savings based on MPG.
Also, it's not that the engine wouldn't run on E85; the difference is that Ethanol is very corrosive and would eat the fuel lines and tank. Then engine will adjust for the change in fuel but E85 capable vehicles have plastic lined tanks and fuel lines to prevent corrosion.

I agree with your thoughts. I traded in a '03 Tahoe 4WD for my Acadia and ran E85 for several weeks before the trade and found the MPG was significantly less than when using 87 octane. The cost differential between E85 and 87 octane would have to be on the order of $0.50 to $0.75 per gallon for all things to even out. The differential in Houston was only $0.30 and with the reduced MPG it did not pay to use E85 (except for my contribution to the enviroment) :cheers:

 

[SioXie]

recent reports on E85 fuel states that its more expensive to run compare to regular gasoline therefore costing more money out of the consumers pocket rather than saving them more mpg. the only good thing is your helping save the enviroment. as long as E85 does not increase your mpg, i dont think i have a need for it.