>>>*This great older thread shows some progression over time as more becomes known about alternate fuels.

There still is no E85 around here but we do have some experimental fuel stations that can pump any blend, that is interesting. I wish they weren't so far away.

My Camaro disliked even 10%, it was a 1994 model and 10% set off the check engine light, plus it hesitated on the stuff. I could have fiddled with the tuning and fixed that, I just gave it away to the young fellow next door in exchange for some labor. That old car is still pretty, bright red and he is tickled pink.

Our 02 Monte Carlo doesn't seem to care, 10% runs fine, mileage drops 5% instantly. The spec on the engine says to me it would run E85, perhaps with some added timing advance.

Now my Corvette's system is so high tech it will run on about anything that will burn, as I found out when an attendent put in regular one day. Hair on the back of my neck stood up at that one, I managed to restain myself from....well....*LOL**..

It didn't even ping but I could tell 100 H/P was gone. Engines over 11 to one get unhappy on regular grade fuel, so the system just pulled out so much timing advance it would still run fairly well.

On E85 that engine would be advancing the timing to take advantage of the Alcohol I would think.

Any of you who have read my posts probably know I wish it would run on Venison...*LOL**..

You folks running the older engines, say prior to '02 probably will find the engines will run but poorer. Later models and especially current designs in production should be no problem, and I would think that any Turbo application might just like the stuff. Engines on Alcohol like lots of it, and too much doesn't really affect power output.

We ran Alcohol in one of our circle track engines, we took the carb jets out completely and she was still too lean. We gave up on that, besides, tech was eyeballing us because of the smell.

The problems with Alcohol remain the same. What do we use for a source? Crops are seasonal and susceptible to weather conditions, and using a primary food source doesn't strike me as a good idea. Of course the carbon tradeoff maths out but I am not even sure I believe that to be the real problem.

Corn seed last season was terrible, high priced and I had my very first Corn crop failure in my entire life. I saw Corn in the stores for $1.25 an ear, I was used to 10 ears for $1.00 in season??? Everything was going towards fuel, that isn't smart in my opinion.

It is just that more viable crops are not yet available in the quantity needed. Sugar Beets would be a far more productive source in potential volumes per acre, but there just was not enough in production. Plus that crop will survive a mild freeze nicely and grow all winter, witness the 8 pound Beets out in my garden from last year, still perfectly good. Sugar cane of course, some States can grow that but no way can we grow enough.

Then add in government, tax imported sugar to "protect" the USA farmer? Now that is smart, keep the price up and keep us on the oil spigot.

We Americans have a long ways to go before we can unhook from the imported oil I think.

I still say look up! Sunlight! The real problem there is Sunlight is free, there is little profit in supplying free....Enough energy strikes a typical vehicle to power that same vehicle most of the time in daylight, so much so that we use gasoline to power a device to cool them off a good percentage of the time.

One day we will see someone build a hybrid with solar collectors in the paint job.......*EB