Sithtiger Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Hi, we just bought a 2013 Dodge Journey SXT yesterday! So, the Journey we bought yesterday was a certified pre-owned vehicle. It only had 18,400 miles on it. It was a rental vehicle, and it has a 7 year, 100,000 mile warranty that started in 12.2012, which means we have about 6 years 4 months left. So it has the 283 HP 3.6L Pentastar V6 that features Flex Fuel that allow it to take Ethanol fuel. Here's my question...I was reading that there is no real standard for this fuel, so the only cons are that the Ethanol fuel might not perform as well as a gas engine and more importantly, certain cars that use Flex Fuel need some sort of Engine lubricant if you do use Ethanol with it. Can anyone tell me if that's true. Do I need to put something special in it to use Ethanol? I really want to use this as I live in SoCal and the gas prices where we live are $3.86 (for lowest normal gas price 87 Octane) vs. $3.25 for Ethanol. Is there anything I should know about using Ethanol over gas? Do I need to use anything at all in order to use this fuel? Can anyone tell me if the performance is affected by using Ethanol and if so, then how much. I would like to see the pros and cons for it. Like I said earlier, the only cons that I read was Ethanol might not perform as well as regular gas and some engines require something special in order to use Ethanol. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtomatoman Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Not sure about any additional additives, but here is an article summarizing the pros and cons of ethanol. http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1077734_ethanol-in-your-gasoline-tank-the-pros-and-cons Peace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 If you have to add a special additive with the flex fuel and also have a drop of 30% in fuel mileage using flex fuel then why bother? I would just stick with 87 octane. Rgwog 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrophy1 Posted August 5, 2013 Report Share Posted August 5, 2013 Use gas ethanol is a waste of $$$$ Rgwog 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithtiger Posted August 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 I haven't read that I will get worse performance, just that cars that take alternative fuels aren't enhanced to run better on those fuels. I'm going to call our dealership tomorrow and ask all about that. Thanks for the responses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted August 6, 2013 Report Share Posted August 6, 2013 Straight from the 2013 DJ's owners manual: Cruising Range Because E-85 fuel contains less energy per gallon/liter than gasoline, you will experience an increase in fuel consumption. You can expect your miles per gallon (mpg)/miles per liter and your driving range to decrease by about 30%, compared to gasoline operation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithtiger Posted August 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 OK, thanks, I don't have the owner's manual yet. They are going to send us one, but I'll take your word for it. It doesn't sound like any real benefit then. The 70 cents or so I would save is negated with the higher fuel consumption. I guess that answers that question...thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted August 7, 2013 Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 You can download the owners manual for free by clicking the link: http://www.dodge.com/en/owners/manuals/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithtiger Posted August 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 Thanks for that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journeyman425 Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Congrats on the new purchase! Everyone else beat me to the correct responses! Enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windancer Posted August 11, 2013 Report Share Posted August 11, 2013 Personally I am not big on ethanol, in fact I often use Premium Gas on the highway, MY car seems to do much better when it comes to gas mileage, obviously you may be different. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithtiger Posted August 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Congrats on the new purchase! Everyone else beat me to the correct responses! Enjoy. Thanks for that. I must say that I wouldn't have given Dodge a second thought, save maybe for a Challenger or Charger. Anyway, we certainly love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sithtiger Posted August 12, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 Personally I am not big on ethanol, in fact I often use Premium Gas on the highway, MY car seems to do much better when it comes to gas mileage, obviously you may be different. Terry So, are you saying 92 Octane gives you better gas mileage than, say 87 Octane? Would 89 Octane give decent performance? I'm looking for the best bang for the buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey_SeXT Posted August 12, 2013 Report Share Posted August 12, 2013 (edited) As stated in my owners manual your DJ uses 87 octane and higher octanes will offer no improvement whatsoever. Now, here in Canada or some parts of Canada our Shell V-power contains 0% ethanol which may give you a bit more mileage but IMO not enough to justify paying the extra money. Edited August 12, 2013 by Journey_SeXT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Windancer Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 So, are you saying 92 Octane gives you better gas mileage than, say 87 Octane? Would 89 Octane give decent performance? I'm looking for the best bang for the buck. If I know I will be totally driving on the highway, I may use premium gas as my 2010 R/T AWD SEEMS to get better mileage than using regular but I don;t have enough trips to speak confidently on this. Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2late4u Posted September 1, 2013 Report Share Posted September 1, 2013 E-85 ethanol, is a pipe dream started up by our goverment to help solve our fuel problems, the big problem with it that they are using corn to make it and that is not the best plant to use but suger cane and other plants dont grow here like they do in other parts of the world. ethanol gas needs to be one third of the cost of a gallon of reg gas to make up for the loss of performance and mpg to make it the same cost, only problem is they only discount it about 50 to 60 cents cheaper than reg gas. CNG is they way for us to get away from being dependent on gas and that wont happen for at least a couple of yrs. because they have to get enought fueling stations for it around the country enought so people will feel ok with it.to buy the cars that run on it. it is a cleaner and better way to power our future untill they get electric cars with a longer range of miles . also do not use ethanol in you car if it is NOT made to run on it, your car should say on the yellow gas cap that it is okay to use it. If it is not a flex fuel vec YOU WILL DAMAGE you engine no additive will prevent any damage to the engine not made to run it..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted October 29, 2013 Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 Hello, (just to present myself, i ordered a fiat freemont V6 AWD and i live on the border between france, switzerland and germany) I am participating in quite a lot of european Fiat freemont forums, and we couldnt find answer to this very particular question: our Fiat Freemont (dodge journey rebadged) are produced in toluca mexico, like yours, lots of us ordered the AWD version with a V6 3.6L pentastar, anounced with 285HP But, Fiat europe tells us our V6 3.6L pentastar AWD is not flexfuel/E85 compatible, Now some of us are pouring E85 anyway in it, without problems so far... The question is: Are there any V6 3.6L pentastar AWD versions which really are not made for E85?, or is it only fiat europe which is not enough motivated to legally certify their engines for E85? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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