Kit allows most fuel-injected cars to run on E85

With the average price of gasoline topping $4 a gallon nationally for the first time ever, you may find yourself looking longingly at the E85 pump: In Colorado, the mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline currently runs about a dollar less per gallon than gasoline.

No problem if you have a newer FFV - flex-fuel vehicle - that can run on either gasoline or E85. But until recently, owners of older cars were out of luck.

Now, there's a kit available to transform nearly any fuel-injected car into a flex-fuel vehicle. Prices range from $369.99 for four-cylinder engine converters to $699.99 for 12 cylinders, should your goal be a more eco-friendly Maserati.

Will you make up the money in the lower cost of E85? It depends. Higher-compression engines may thrive on the higher octane, but lower-compression engines won't respond well to the lower energy density. Regardless, ethanol is domestically produced, produces less particulate pollution, and, according to the EPA, has a carbon footprint of 15 to 20 percent less than gasoline.

And you'll still be able to use gasoline. Only five stations in the Springs have E85.

Kits are available from Change2E85 in Denver (1-877- 385-3853 or www.change2e85.com). Learn more about E85 in Colorado at milehighE85.com.

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