El Commandante

Ok, so i did a search, and a few people have been converting their turbos to E85, or at least mixing it. With E85 readily available around here, what would be needed to convert an NA to running this stuff? Would there be a noticeable power increase if i decided to get a MAX tune system or a custom chip? I'm completely in the dark about alot of this stuff... can anyone enlighten me?

jaje

Don't waste your time unless you want to fill up at least 25% more often. E85 has higher octane but has lower energy density so you only get 3/4 of the mileage you got with normal gas. E85 is also subsidized $.50 per gallon and will go up when they cut that subsidy. Plus every time you gripe that food costs more - you know where to look as E85 has reduced both human and animal consumption of corn.

flashgordon

I doubt you would feel any difference in performance. The turbo guys like the E85 because it has a much higher octabe rating and they can safely run alot more boost without going to race fuel. The down side of E85 is it has less caloric potential as gas and in turn, you need to dump more fuel into the engine. If you were to convert to E85, you have to upgrade the whole fuel system in addition to upgrading the engine management. The decrease in fuel economy is enough reason to make it impractical for a na engine. Overall, it just would not be worth the time and expense to convert to E85 in a na engine.

El Commandante

Oh , alright, And i do disagree with the use of the world's food supply as fuel, i'm just hoping biomass ethanol will be available within the next few years. I was looking at it from a performance aspect, but if i wouldn't gain any power, its not worth it. I'm already going to have free fuel when i have my audi converted to WVO, but i was just looking for a little more kick for my NA. I know the corvette team ran it during sebring

V2Rocket

ive been talking to blown944 about this because i might do it to my car as an alternative to a methanol system..

he's been running one of his cars with the stock fuel system but higher fuel pressure with no issues for some time now. his other car (the turbo i believe) has heavy-duty rubber fuel lines and that has no problems either.

ive found e85 to be a little less than a dollar cheaper per gallon than gasoline and more and more stations are opening so it might be worthwhile. the thing is ethanol has a stoichiometric A/F ratio of like 7:1 so you will be burning alot more.

krystar

for racing, E85 makes sense. for commuting, E85 does not make cents.

alordofchaos

I've had at least three flex-fuel vehicles (two Chrysler minivans and a Ford Taurus) and never ran E85 because it never made cents

Looked in the owner's manual, there's increased maintenance IIRC even on vehicles made for E85

halik

It makes sense if the price of E85 is more than 15% cheaper than 87. Running on e85 will result in ~15% less gas milage, but if it's more than 15% cheaper then you're saving $$$$

V2Rocket

e85 only really makes sense on a boosted car. dont bother if your car is NA.

rosco

I tried e85 on my 83 n/a. Well,mix. 98 octane 10litres and 5 litres e85. Friend stock calibra goes on a pure e85,without changes,no problems.

white924s

If you want to use it on an N/A, you will probably have to jack the compression ratio up quite a bit to notice any difference. Otherwise, on a stock motor, you will lose a little power (and you will have to probably fit the car with larger inejctors - not cheap). If you get a turbo though, its great stuff as you can run higher boost and compression ratio than normal and the ethanol has a cooling effect on the intake charge, so you might even be able to get away with running no intercooler (= less weight and, more importantly, less restriction on the intake)

white924s

yup....ethanol is hydroscopic so it will attract moisture from the air that will eventually eat away at fuel pumps, filters, etc

dmalo810

This is correct. Along with N/A seeing very little to no power gain. There is only so much farmland and can grow only so much crops. It also takes 28% more energy to produce a gallon of ethanol then it does to produce a gallon of gas.
What's funny, Brazil wants to import ethanol to the USA, but our fine congress put a tax on it making it not feasable for Brazil and making it uncompetitive. They say it's to protect our own ethanol production.
Let's see, subsidize ethanol to make it competitive with gasoline (tax dollars), don't allow cheaper fuel into the USA (pay more at the pump). Too bad we're not talking about sex because we're all getting screwed (Ohhh Nancy, feels so good...).
Where were we? Oh yeah, this is a car forum not a political one. Sorry.

2BWise

Yup, E85 will destroy the fuel system after awhile. I forget the material needed, but you have to replace the fuel lines, seals, pump, maybe injectors, otherwise E85 will eat away at everything. Its not just as simple as filling it up with the stuff.

V2Rocket

teflon-coated lines.