Found a station close by that has E85 for $2.14 a gal. The 87 octane gas is $3.05. Is it worth running the E85 ?

 

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Answer is the same now. More power less MPG. Pay by the erg, the cost per mile remains close.

IF, your car has a E85/FlexFuel badge.

 

I've always been tempted to try E85 since there's a station near me that has it. I may give it a go next weekend since I'm loading up my HHR (with a roof top cargo box) and heading to the cabin 'up north'.

 

If you are going to use it, try and use it exclusively. If you can get the fuel tables to fully adjust to E85, your mileage will not be far off. E85 is the secondary fuel table in a flex fuel vehicle, it will jump back to 87 quickly if you flip back. DOE uses it exclusively at their sites and you can hardly tell the difference in mileage.

But, YMMV

For that price difference, looks worth a shot IMO.

 

One of the biggest differences is your engine runs a lot cooler, and your engine will last longer. There is a little change in mpg but the price difference makes up for that. IMO I wouldn't run anything else, The LNF motors just love it! I'm going to have my tuner with one of the forum members help tune my car to run E47-about 30 more HP and 60 torque at the wheels. I can't wait :)

 

You might want to keep an eye on your throttle body throat (is that spelled right?) for pitting.

 

We've been testing a 2007 Cobalt & HHR for years on methanol, ethanol and gasoline. With minor timing advancement in the alcohol ignition spark tables, we make more power on E85 or M56 & get around a 5-10% mileage loss. When the fuel is 20-30% cheaper though, you're still saving money. Check out my site to read a bit more about the testing. Still adding some of the final results content but feel free to ask any questions.

2007 Chevrolet HHR

 

I recently switched to e85 as well. The first time I ran it, my mpg fell down to 18 mpg. I since then installed a airaid air intake and change my driving a bit and getting around 20 mpg city with some highway, on a longer trip of mostly highway I got 23.2 mpg. I have a local station that keeps their price $0.50 below 87 makes my break even point about 18 mpg. I am currently doing longer term test to see how it works. I like the cleaning properties of the fuel and it being domestically produced. I likely will use it as long as it breaks even on cost.

 

The_Engineer: What year & engine do you have in your HHR?

 

It is a 2011 LT with 2.2 L