e85 pros and cons

Anyone care to share some pros and cons? I've thought about running e85 but was unsure of what really needs to be done to do so. Obviously a new tune. Possibly hotter plugs?

 

Anyway, will there be any corrosion issues or negative effects?

Anyone care to share some pros and cons? I've thought about running e85 but was unsure of what really needs to be done to do so. Obviously a new tune. Possibly hotter plugs?

 

Anyway, will there be any corrosion issues or negative effects?

 

i will be doing this pretty soon... you need bigger fuel pump, bigger injectors, and a tune... you will need roughly 30% more e85 than gas to produce same power....

 

if you have an after market turbo you will probably need 2 fuel pumps...

 

e85 will produce crazy torque (+350trq on a stock turbo) and is a cheaper fuel than gas

 

some people will argue that ethanol is corrosive to aluminum block, fuel lines, etc. i do not want to start a fight here.. yes it's corrosive, but stock parts can handle it for a long time (they r already designed to handle up to 30% alcohol)... there are quite a few wrx that use e85 exclusively for 3+ years w/o problems... let flaming begin!

 

i can keep you updated on my project as things are progressing :-)

i didn't know it took that much more to produce more power.. i thought it would have produced more power

 

i was reading somewhere cars running e85 saw 5% + power

 

in theory would you not need less fuel since it is a higher octane and burns slower than regular premium fuel? thus this giving better gas mileage

you don't need two fuel pumps

i didn't know it took that much more to produce more power.. i thought it would have produced more power

 

i was reading somewhere cars running e85 saw 5% + power

 

in theory would you not need less fuel since it is a higher octane and burns slower than regular premium fuel? thus this giving better gas mileage

 

No. E85 has less energy than gasoline.

 

Octane is not energy, octane is resitance to knock.

 

Your fuel economy also decreases, but the fuel is cheaper...but at least where I live it is also less available.

you don't need two fuel pumps

 

depends on the mods:-)

 

stock turbo will not need dual pumps...

i didn't know it took that much more to produce more power.. i thought it would have produced more power

 

i was reading somewhere cars running e85 saw 5% + power

 

in theory would you not need less fuel since it is a higher octane and burns slower than regular premium fuel? thus this giving better gas mileage

 

e85 gives roughly 5% power increase on NA cars... e85 burns more efficiently than gas... on turbo cars, you can advance your timing aggressively (e85 is resistant to knock), also e85 has a cooling effect when it burns, thus making it very turbo friendly.... it will raise you HP (nothing crazy) over gasoline, but trq will go through the roof....

 

you will need more fuel, same volume of gasoline stores more energy than e85.... A/F ration is different, more fuel required to produce same energy...

Isn't there also an issue with the rubber/gasket materials in engines not designed for E85? I was thinking that these parts would deteriorate faster if e-85 was run in an engine not designed for it.

http://e85vehicles.com/converting-e85.htm

 

Maybe not as big an issue anymore.

Another one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85_in_standard_engines

This ariticle also mentions a benefit to turbo engines due to e-85's higher octane (105) rating.

 

Personally I would not run it.

but the fuel is cheaper...but at least where I live it is also less available.

 

Is this still due to subsidies?

I have 4 stations that sell E85 within a 2 mile radius of my house and E85 is $2.39. Wish I could run it.

depends on the mods:-)

 

stock turbo will not need dual pumps...

 

 

If you've upgraded the turbo, 95% of people will have also upgraded the fuel pump.

 

My tuner runs a GT35 on e85 with a 255l/h wlabro.. no problems

 

He has customers with GT40's also no problems with the walbro 255l/h

 

You won't need crazy fuel till you try and push 450+ whp

I have 4 stations that sell E85 within a 2 mile radius of my house and E85 is $2.39. Wish I could run it.

You forget that E85 does not have the same fuel economy as regular gas. Its more expensive in the end (as well as for other reasons, increased rise in cost of other corn/ethanol products).

 

Take for example 2008 Chrylser Sebring:

According to Fueleconomy.gov:

E85 @ $2.63/gal: 13mpg city, 20mpg highway, 16mpg Combined

Gas @ $3.10/gal: 19mpg city, 27mpg highway, 22mpg Combined

Using their combined mpg for their assumed 15k miles per year you spend:

E85: $2466

Gas: $2116

You lost $350 a year in this case by using E85.

 

You use 1/3 the petroleum with E85 compared to Gasoline but the increased use of Ethanol will increase the cost of food and other corn based products.

how does (19 + 20)/2 = 22 ???

how does (19 + 20)/2 = 22 ???

Fixed, its actually 27mpg highway, sorry bout that.

 

Also remember these aren't 50/50 splits, EPA uses a 45highway/55city combine

If you've upgraded the turbo, 95% of people will have also upgraded the fuel pump.

 

My tuner runs a GT35 on e85 with a 255l/h wlabro.. no problems

 

He has customers with GT40's also no problems with the walbro 255l/h

 

You won't need crazy fuel till you try and push 450+ whp

 

 

hmm... i am still looking into this... i ordered fuel pump housing to mod for dual pumps... i spoke to a respected tuner, and he suggested that dual walbro might be needed....

 

gt35 is a large turbo... if the guy runs that turbo on e85 with a single walbro then it might be enough for my purposes (now stock, planning on FP Green)... i will try to run some numbers soon to see how much flow is trully needed, and post them here for info & quality check of my math purposes...

You forget that E85 does not have the same fuel economy as regular gas. Its more expensive in the end (as well as for other reasons, increased rise in cost of other corn/ethanol products).

 

Take for example 2008 Chrylser Sebring:

According to Fueleconomy.gov:

E85 @ $2.63/gal: 13mpg city, 20mpg highway, 16mpg Combined

Gas @ $3.10/gal: 19mpg city, 27mpg highway, 22mpg Combined

Using their combined mpg for their assumed 15k miles per year you spend:

E85: $2466

Gas: $2116

You lost $350 a year in this case by using E85.

 

You use 1/3 the petroleum with E85 compared to Gasoline but the increased use of Ethanol will increase the cost of food and other corn based products.

 

it depends... turbo car's fuel economy should not drop that drastically... especially if you stay out of boost... i saw analysis done to prove e85 is cheaper, and vice versa..

 

e85 is still a good bang for a buck due to its octane rating... essentially, it's a racing fuel for under $3 a gallon.... similar octane rated gasoline is sold for over $10 per gallon, and is not as easily available (at least at some areas)...

 

for me it's not about a 'future' fuel... honestly, e85 is not a solution to oil shortage... it takes too much energy to make it... it will be hard to produce enough for each car on the road, etc. however, e85 is a great fuel to produce higher HP/TRQ numbers, and given its price, i am surprised more people are not considering this...

 

yes, it voids your warranty... but so does going stage 2...

FrkKevin (7:32:37 PM): you have any experience tuning anyone for e85? any pro/cons about it for turboed cars?

TDCtuningMike (7:33:15 PM): works great

TDCtuningMike (7:33:22 PM): need to re-do your fuel system

FrkKevin (7:33:41 PM): new fuel pump be enough?

TDCtuningMike (7:33:49 PM): nope

TDCtuningMike (7:33:58 PM): lot of work

 

He had to leave before we got into further things needed to be done.. Was hoping to talk to him more about the performance ups

I will probably have an E85 map made when I do my final dyno tune in the next week or two.

FrkKevin (7:32:37 PM): you have any experience tuning anyone for e85? any pro/cons about it for turboed cars?

TDCtuningMike (7:33:15 PM): works great

TDCtuningMike (7:33:22 PM): need to re-do your fuel system

FrkKevin (7:33:41 PM): new fuel pump be enough?

TDCtuningMike (7:33:49 PM): nope

TDCtuningMike (7:33:58 PM): lot of work

 

He had to leave before we got into further things needed to be done.. Was hoping to talk to him more about the performance ups

i wonder what the "lot of work" is...

needs a complete retune...but duh

^^^ do you think i would trust you?

didn't say I was gonna do the tune

i wasnt talking about the tune, i was talking about your info you tool.