Variable Fuel 3.1MPFI? for real?

[Prospeeder]

 

 

for real? whats the hell is it? did Gm do it?

[supreme_style21]

[GutlessSupreme]

AKA Flex Fuel aka can run on E85. they seem rare as hell but they're out there. I've personally never seen a single flex fuel car ever (well, not as far as I know anyway). I know you could get a '96+ Caravan 3.3L with flex fuel, besides that and the Lumina I've never really even heard of it on other cars.

[Guest TurboSedan]

holy shit, i had no idea the plenum was different :shock:

 

i still much prefer my 3.1 Intercooled Turbo plenum though

 

i seen a Spirit with a FFV emblem on it today, and i've seen lots of Taurus with them. i knew the Lumina FFV existed but i've never seen one.

[sl3196]

Im pretty sure the F-150 work truck here says FFV on the window. Has a 4.6L in it.

[bartonmd]

A good % of the Ford Taurus' are FFV too... they're the ones with the little emblem with something green on it right behind the rear wheel, where it would say DOHC or V8 or whatever... Lots of Ford vehicles are FFV actually...

 

Mike

[MoTox8410]

e85 is??and where can you get it??benifits??

[Jcrow]

Its 85% alchohol and 15% gas. Its made from corn, I dont know where you can get it tho

[J]

i've seen one in the yards before

[DiscoStudd]

Holiday gas stations in MN sell E85.

 

I remember reading an article about the FFV Luminas 14-15 years ago. IIRC, they had "flame arrestors" in the gas tank due to the corrosivity/volitility of the "alcohol" fuels. I'm not sure, but I seem to remember them saying that the cars were sold to Municipality fleets only...

[Bossman429]

Does that plenum just have a sticker on it? It doesn't seem normal for GM to cast a different intake. Plus the "3.1 MPFI" looks dull, like every 3.1 intake, Wheras the "Variable Fuel" is clean not faded or anything.

We used to have a girl that brought in a FFV Dodge Spirit, I think it might have had a 2.5 in it? I don't remember, it has been a long time.

I have seen many FFV Taurus' though.

[J]

different plenum, not a sticker, It looks like that section was cleaned for the pic

[digitaloutsider]

different plenum, not a sticker, It looks like that section was cleaned for the pic

x2. I've seen one in my local yard.

[Bossman429]

Crazy

[Justin]

Quite a few Rangers and newer Explorers are FFV as well, the explorers don't have any stickers or anything though.

[Prospeeder]

wow, parts must be a bitch! lol, so thats why my drivers ed teachers 04 taurus has the little symbol right behind the front wheel, a road with a little leaf in front of it

[TeeJay3800]

I have a Motor Trend article on a '92 Lumina Euro sedan with a FFV 3.1. I'll scan it and post it up.

[chadz34]

Should be interesting to read that article.

[OldSkoolGP]

Wow, awesome find. I knew they existed, but they were primarily goverment fleet vehicles. you can still find an odd part for them now and then when you do a part lookup. But there are a ton of vehicles that run on E85. A very thorough list of current vehicles can be viewed at http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php along with the locatons of E85 stations. It's gonna get big pretty soon, now that gas is gonna stay at $3/gallon.

[EurosportZ34]

I have a Motor Trend article on a '92 Lumina Euro sedan with a FFV 3.1. I'll scan it and post it up.

 

i have the same article....because this all sounded really familiar to me for some reason. that plenum looks cool/different, hell i can't tell what i think about it. 8) nice find BTW!

[mihela816]

My dad's gov't Stratus runs on E85.

[Grand Moff Joseph]

My parents have a 1999 Grand Caravan, and it can run on E85 as well as regular pump gas. However, we have never seen an E85 pump anywhere in Houston, TX.

[GnatGoSplat]

There was a discussion about them in the "Whatever" section about a month ago.

Here's some gov't test documents about it:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/vehiclesandfuels/avta/pdfs/afv/emissions_data/ethanol.pdf

 

As has been mentioned, E85 is 85% ethanol, 15% petrofuel. The ethanol portion is made from corn or other crops and is a renewable resource. E85 is very high octane and can allow for very high boost in a turbocharged vehicle. E85 has something like 40% cleaner emissions, but main drawbacks are availability and the fact that being very high octane, it has much lower BTU. As a result, a vehicle running E85 will only get 60-85% of the mileage of a vehicle running 100% petrofuel. Normally it costs more per mile to run E85, although right now I believe the cost is close to equal due to the high petroleum costs (E85 is usually 40-cents per gallon cheaper now, but gets less mpg).

[bartonmd]

Also, before anybody nuts in their pants about E85 being "the next big thing" in fuel, and taking down our dependance on foriegn oil, read this: http://feinstein.senate.gov/05speeches/ethanol-oped.htm

 

Mike

[ShockTherapy]

meh. i'm thinking hybrids are still gonna be where it's at.