Advantage with E85 ?

[awsomeears]

What are the main Advantages with E85 on a Forced Induction Vehicle ????

Pump gas is 93 and I heard E85 is around 105 ?

[spooln30]

Yes around 105 OCT and since it's about 85% alky it will burn cooler. Best thing it's cheaper than race gas. One down fall over time it will eat at the parts it flows thru. I will be running it in the Supra.

[awsomeears]

I also read something about oil changes will have to be more frequent ?

[flyin_blue_egg]

In terms of using it as a daily fuel it doesn't burn a lot faster (like 45% or something like that) then regular gas.

[Nickerz]

The word is to check with the EVO guys on that. I guess there are some caveats. Word is things can fluctuate at the pump which makes tuning kind of an issue, still checking into it. I was gung ho to do it but Alternative Auto recommended I do further research on it to know what I was getting into.

[FoxStang]

One down fall over time it will eat at the parts it flows thru.
Not true, e85 isn't any more corrosive than regular gas. So unless your using rubber from the 60's, you don't have much to worry about.

[Dr.Buick]

E85 takes 30% more fuel than gas.
Runs cooler than gas
can gave more timing over gas.


you do need a bigger fuel system
have not had any problems eating and fuel system parts
I have 3 cars running it all run great

[awsomeears]

The next question is where to get it FRESH !!!

I never payed attention who sells it around me ( Cudahy ) and what not.....

[KidCougar]

a few oldtimers were telling me that i should try using E85 in my car with my mods, i do have a tuner for premium fuel but... id be affraid that the octane would be to high? would i screw my engine putting in E85 in?

[SSLEVO]

a few oldtimers were telling me that i should try using E85 in my car with my mods, i do have a tuner for premium fuel but... id be affraid that the octane would be to high? would i screw my engine putting in E85 in?

You can not just fill up with E85 and be on your way. Like Dr. Buick said it requires around 30% more fuel so you need to tune for it and will probably be looking at a larger fuel pump and injectors in the future.

I ran a walbro 255 and 1000cc injectors on my evo which would have been good up to around 400-450 whp on E85. The car made just over 300 whp on 93 and 24 lbs of boost on the stock turbo. on E85 at 30 lbs it made 350 whp and 370 ft-lbs. Car picked up 50 hp and 60 ft-lbs of torque.

Based on the time of the year the "blend" will change from 70-85% ethanal. In cold weather the ethanal has a harder time popping off so thay add more gas. Since we are in the great state of WI you will be lucky to see true E85 in July and August. Most stations i called had no idea there were any blends at all. I ended up buying all of my gas at a place in Hartford off 60 since they were able to confirm they had 85% in their tanks. They do make inexpensive kits you can use to test for the ethanal content. There is also a gage that uses the GM flex fuel sensor that came out a few years back.

If you don't want to worry about running a certian blend tune your fuel for E85 and your timing for E70. That way you will always error on the side of caution.

[BR3W CITY]

I've considered this. When/If I can get a procharger on my baby, I'll be switching to E85...its gonna be a while tho.

[lordairgtar]

I have a car that is considered flexfuel. Do I need to do additional tuning or does my car's internal stuff take care of that.

[BR3W CITY]

you can run it just fine, from a performance standpoint I'm sure a tune couldn't hurt. Flexfuel vehicles came with different pumps and filters, and I think some had different sized fuel line (thats how my flexfuel s10 was) than the non-flex version. I'm pretty sure the pcm has a map pre-loaded for running e85

[SSLEVO]

I have a car that is considered flexfuel. Do I need to do additional tuning or does my car's internal stuff take care of that.

It will run E85 just fine. It has a sensor in the fuel line that can tell how much ethanal is in the fuel. It will adjust the tune accordingly.

[BAD LS1]

The Corn-Vette project i just got done with runs on E85. Just echoing the comments above, its a great alternative to race fuel. E85 is not corrosive by its self, moisture is the catalyst to make it galvanic and start eating components, but then again fuel systems have been designed to deal with ethanol content in fuel for the past 20 year anyway.... This stuff doesnt have the same BTU potential of gasoline and it needs more, so by itself is less powerful than 93, but now you can extend your performance range (+ boost or + timing or both) beyond what 93 can provide.

[FoxStang]

It will run E85 just fine. It has a sensor in the fuel line that can tell how much ethanal is in the fuel. It will adjust the tune accordingly.
Ethanol, please spell it correctly, it burns my eyes to see such a common word misspelled.

I fill up with e85 from time to time as its cheaper than gasoline, since I'm already driving city miles, the difference isn't that noticeable.

[stealthy1ss]

You can not just fill up with E85 and be on your way. Like Dr. Buick said it requires around 30% more fuel so you need to tune for it and will probably be looking at a larger fuel pump and injectors in the future.

I ran a walbro 255 and 1000cc injectors on my evo which would have been good up to around 400-450 whp on E85. The car made just over 300 whp on 93 and 24 lbs of boost on the stock turbo. on E85 at 30 lbs it made 350 whp and 370 ft-lbs. Car picked up 50 hp and 60 ft-lbs of torque.

Based on the time of the year the "blend" will change from 70-85% ethanal. In cold weather the ethanal has a harder time popping off so thay add more gas. Since we are in the great state of WI you will be lucky to see true E85 in July and August. Most stations i called had no idea there were any blends at all. I ended up buying all of my gas at a place in Hartford off 60 since they were able to confirm they had 85% in their tanks. They do make inexpensive kits you can use to test for the ethanal content. There is also a gage that uses the GM flex fuel sensor that came out a few years back.

If you don't want to worry about running a certian blend tune your fuel for E85 and your timing for E70. That way you will always error on the side of caution.

I thought that if you got your car tuned when it had true E85 in it and leave it you should be fine. When the gasoline is added during the colder months you will just run a little bit richer. Also I do not agree with you that we only see true E85 until July and August. The guy that tuned my car has connection with a chain of Renew stations in the Green Bay area. He gets updates on when the different types of blends arrive in his area and I know that he has told me they see true E85 earlier then July.

[spooln30]

E85 has been used and talked about by a lot of guys on the Supra forums and I've seen studies that over a long period of time it may cause damage to parts that are aluminum, have aluminum parts and some types of plastics. One thing that stuck out was the effect of 10-15 years of strictly E85 useage. I'll look for the info on the Supra forum to share with you guys. There is also a thread on SF that has a list of parts that prematurely wore out when running E85. Most were fuel pumps. Thus I will be choosing mine wisely and will never run Walbro's.

[KidCougar]

hhhmmm im going to have to look into this further for my bro's 3000gt TT, hwa rebuilkding or getting another engine and im wondering if we should try and set it upto run on e85, im wondering if we would see better power and better mileage, premium gas is getting sick!

[BAD LS1]

Yeah, no.

[Dr.Buick]

I made over 2000hp on Ethanol, with a aluminum cell rubber fuel line never had a problem eating anything up. as far as fuel pumps and injectors almost all of them can be ran with Ethanol now days. My wifes car is running E98 with no problems put 100 plus miles on it yesterday

[WhatsADSM]

Seriously?

I'm kind of getting sick of typing on this subject. SEARCH.

There are at least 2 other topics on this in BCM. And Hundreds of threads on it in various other forums.

It is about 105 oct... and cools the intake charge. Burns a little cooler to boot.
It is most effective on cars that are limited by spark knock as opposed to MBT (read force induction cars), as ignition timing, boost, or both can be increased.

It requires 30-40% more fuel. So make sure you have the fuel system for it (pump/injectors/regulator/lines). It is more corrosive than gasohol (e15) however in practice many people run it for years on stock stuff without any real issues. In general I would stay away from e98... not worth it. The correct way to do it, if you are worried about aluminum and rubber lines is to use teflon coated lines, stainless as much as possible or anodize/coat your aluminum parts.

[KidCougar]

Seriously?

I'm kind of getting sick of typing on this subject. SEARCH.

There are at least 2 other topics on this in BCM. And Hundreds of threads on it in various other forums.

It is about 105 oct... and cools the intake charge. Burns a little cooler to boot.
It is most effective on cars that are limited by spark knock as opposed to MBT (read force induction cars), as ignition timing, boost, or both can be increased.

It requires 30-40% more fuel. So make sure you have the fuel system for it (pump/injectors/regulator/lines). It is more corrosive than gasohol (e15) however in practice many people run it for years on stock stuff without any real issues. In general I would stay away from e98... not worth it. The correct way to do it, if you are worried about aluminum and rubber lines is to use teflon coated lines, stainless as much as possible or anodize/coat your aluminum parts.

very well put..!

[SSLEVO]

I thought that if you got your car tuned when it had true E85 in it and leave it you should be fine. When the gasoline is added during the colder months you will just run a little bit richer. Also I do not agree with you that we only see true E85 until July and August. The guy that tuned my car has connection with a chain of Renew stations in the Green Bay area. He gets updates on when the different types of blends arrive in his area and I know that he has told me they see true E85 earlier then July.

According to all of the tables i've seen WI only sees 85% ethanol in those two months. If you can talk the the supplier even better. Like i said, i had a hard time finding any one that even knew what i was talking about.

It will run rich on E70 if it's tuned on E85. There is less knock resistance on the E70 though. Just don't set up the timing on the ragged edge and you will probably be fine.

And sorry to the BCM spelling Nazi that i was miss-spelling ethanol, your post was most helpful to the OP:rolleyes:

[Dr.Buick]

I disagree on the e85 only two months of the year. I got E85 in late Oct Tested it so thats how I know

[Cryptic]

hhhmmm im going to have to look into this further for my bro's 3000gt TT, hwa rebuilkding or getting another engine and im wondering if we should try and set it upto run on e85, im wondering if we would see better power and better mileage, premium gas is getting sick!

you're hurting my head again.

[Buster]

I made over 2000hp on Ethanol, with a aluminum cell rubber fuel line never had a problem eating anything up. as far as fuel pumps and injectors almost all of them can be ran with Ethanol now days. My wifes car is running E98 with no problems put 100 plus miles on it yesterday

Where do you purchase E98 from??

[Dr.Buick]

got some here need some i have 35 gal in not using 3.50 a gal its yours

[Nickerz]

Either by the end of this summer or the beginning of next summer I've decided to run it. Should be able to up the boost from 15lbs to 23lbs. Someone on a similar setup was putting down 600lb\ft by 2200rpm on E85. 750-800rwhp on what amounts to basically free race gas... fuck'n A man... life will be grand.

To do it right though, you have to put some money into the fuel system. That means a new tank, new pumps with coating on the hats, coated lines etc.

Either way, its gonna be nnnaaaassstttyyy!

[SSLEVO]

Either by the end of this summer or the beginning of next summer I've decided to run it. Should be able to up the boost from 15lbs to 23lbs. Someone on a similar setup was putting down 600lb\ft by 2200rpm on E85. 750-800rwhp on what amounts to basically free race gas... fuck'n A man... life will be grand.

To do it right though, you have to put some money into the fuel system. That means a new tank, new pumps with coating on the hats, coated lines etc.

Either way, its gonna be nnnaaaassstttyyy!

What car are we talking about? I doubt you will have to replace all that stuff. Maybe for flow reasons but not because of the ethanol.

[turbogarrett]

I was considering e85, but no local gas stations carry it and I can't see driving 10-15 miles out of my way to fill up. Definitely sounds like a no brainer for a forced induction car. I haven't done any research on it , but would love to have an ethanol analyzer that would automatically adjust the maps.

[SSLEVO]

I was considering e85, but no local gas stations carry it and I can't see driving 10-15 miles out of my way to fill up. Definitely sounds like a no brainer for a forced induction car. I haven't done any research on it , but would love to have an ethanol analyzer that would automatically adjust the maps.

Do it man! 350 whp 360 ft-lbs with an exhaust, lower intercooler pipe, boost controller, 255 pump and 1000cc injectors. Stock turbo, intercooler and cams.

http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee294/zx1216/AMSDyno.jpg

[drewbird91]

According to all of the tables i've seen WI only sees 85% ethanol in those two months. If you can talk the the supplier even better. Like i said, i had a hard time finding any one that even knew what i was talking about.

It will run rich on E70 if it's tuned on E85. There is less knock resistance on the E70 though. Just don't set up the timing on the ragged edge and you will probably be fine.

And sorry to the BCM spelling Nazi that i was miss-spelling ethanol, your post was most helpful to the OP:rolleyes:


Are these the tables your are referring to:
Class 1 Ethanol = E85
Class 2 Ethanol = E78
Class 3 Ethanol = E70

page 18-19
http://www.ethanolretailer.com/images/uploads/Ethanol_Retailer.pdf

[Dr.Buick]

there is NO advantage to E85 till you try it.

[Nickerz]

What car are we talking about? I doubt you will have to replace all that stuff. Maybe for flow reasons but not because of the ethanol.

03 Cobra. I know it can be run as it stands, but I would much rather do things the bulletproof way. Plus having an aftermarket tank with external fuel and AN visible from the back is just fucking sexy.

I'm getting pretty tired of hearing that my car is a "sleeper." Apparently rolling on 315drs in a cam'd 03 Cobra isn't getting the point across.