Alternative fuels

Honda does not seem to recommend anywhere the use of ethanol. Can Honda
reset it's computers etc. to adapt to ethanol?
Or can we just use ethanol in a Honda?

Don W.

 

Most modern vehicles have no trouble with up to 10% or so ethanol in the
fuel. Flex-fuel vehicles are required if you want to run 85% ethanol.
I have not seen Honda release any flex-fuel vehicles in the US.

 

why do you want to run ethanol? it's only got about half the calorific
value of regular gas, so instead of getting say 30mpg, you get roughly
15mpg. is ethanol fuel half the price to make up for that?

 

The Hondas I've seen typically allow up to 10% ethanol or 15% MTBE.

The issue as I'm aware of it has to do with the polymers in the fuel
system. Honda could easily switch plastics and reprogram its sensors and
ECMs to handle the characteristics of ethanol, but there's not much point
in undergoing the expense.

Demand for ethanol is zero unless the government drives it via social-
engineering tax policy. Ethanol is expensive and inefficient.

 

BULL SHIT been running ethanol in my 01 CR-V since new no difference in mpg
than unleaded.

Tom

 

regular gas = 42.7MJ/kg
ethanol = 26.8MJ/kg

denial is not argument. opinion is not fact.

 

Is that straight ethanol or is that E85? And did you get a "check engine"
light as it made the adjustment (many cars do)?

Mike

 

I guess we'll see soon enough. Lots of ethanol plants are coming on line in
the US - we are just short of 100 the last I heard. It is still expensive
and inefficient, but Paul Harvey (a farm products partisan) reports the
demand for feedstock has already raised the price of corn. Theoretically,
bacteriological converters will allow cellulose to be used for making
ethanol, but until then we are burning food... always a shaky idea.

Mike

 

And we'll never grow enough to satisfy automotive demand. Not unless we
plow all those forests back under.

The only reason there are more forests now in North America than there were
in 1920 is that we're not feeding all those work animals any more. Tens of
millions of acres were under the plow prior to 1920 solely to feed horses
and oxen.

 

Was ANY North American market '01 Honda able to handle E85? I don't think
so.

I'll bet the OP's CR-V was built - like all other NA Hondas - for up to 10%
ethanol, and that's what he's using.

 

Not sure where you get that stat from Jim but I switched to a retailer
with 10% ethanol 2 years ago and I can still get 650KM on a tank (with
1/8 tank left) from my 2000 4cyl accord SE. Ethanol didn't make anything
worse for me.