E85

[wawazat??]

I've been reading some knuckle-dragging magazines recently (Hot Rod, Car Craft etc) and have been seeing a lot of interest in high-HP builds using E85 fuel. This fuel isn't available everywhere but is readily available around the D where I live. This fuel has some very beneficial properties for high boost with high compression engines and costs less than regular (87 octane) around these parts. Octane rating is over 100 and the latent heat of vaporization allows a combustion cooling effect (detonation reduction) that allows high boost (15-20psi) combined with high static compression (approx. 10:1) for some dramatic performance benefits. I was wondering if anyone here has considered tailoring a motor to use this fuel.

I think a stock compression, boosted motor would be fantastic in terms of throttle response, lack of turbo lag, and reduced build cost (run the stocker until it pops and then start over)

Todd

[Sov13t]

I believe I will eventually go this route... With the possibilities of Hydra EMS it will not be that hard to accomplish this. Granted my compression will not be stock... the boost numbers will be up there for balance.

E85 is only available at one gas station here (around D.C.), but that won't be a deterrent. Well I guess it will be a concern when going on long trips... will have to plan more carefully. Not sure how accurate this is... but this is what I used to locate stations around my area: http://e85vehicles.com/e85-stations.htm

Cheers.

[TomsSVX]

Originally Posted by wawazat??

I've been reading some knuckle-dragging magazines recently (Hot Rod, Car Craft etc) and have been seeing a lot of interest in high-HP builds using E85 fuel. This fuel isn't available everywhere but is readily available around the D where I live. This fuel has some very beneficial properties for high boost with high compression engines and costs less than regular (87 octane) around these parts. Octane rating is over 100 and the latent heat of vaporization allows a combustion cooling effect (detonation reduction) that allows high boost (15-20psi) combined with high static compression (approx. 10:1) for some dramatic performance benefits. I was wondering if anyone here has considered tailoring a motor to use this fuel.

I think a stock compression, boosted motor would be fantastic in terms of throttle response, lack of turbo lag, and reduced build cost (run the stocker until it pops and then start over)

Todd

Methanol injection has essentially the same properties and allowances. Considering I cannot buy E85 ANYWHERE near by this is what I am using to run up to 15psi on my stock engine. Loves it

Tom

[Pegdrgr]

If you have E85 available near you it is great. I run it on my 08 WRX and have tuned it on 40-50 other turbo Subarus. Here in Oregon we get a 50 cent per gallon tax credit which adds even more incentive to run it.

In terms of tuning, it is much safer to tune a car on E85 than it is on meth injection. Not saying meth injection is bad, just different. We started tuning water and meth injection about 5 years ago, and definately can pick up huge power gains with it. The down side is if you do not have a safety measure in place to do something like cut boost, if you have any sort of failure of the system your motor is toast. We have had numerous customers over the years who lost motors due to malfunctions of cheaper injection systems. Based on that we only sell Aquamist systems that have both low flow and high flow limits to trigger a boost cut. This allows us to tune the car up to WG boost on pump gas alone, and then above that boost we take into account the benefits of meth. By the time you take into account the 800-900 purchase price, 200-400 installation price, top notch meth injection is kinda spendy. If you are the type of person who gets on it occasionally on every tank it may make sense. If you only play with your car occasionally and commute the rest of the time then you should look to something like Torco fuel additive. It is by far the most effective octane enhancers we have tested.

If you happen to have E85 available I would highly recommend running it over meth injection. Most EM systems, including the Hydra, allow you to switch to a second fuel map and in some cases ignition map. This means that with the flip of a switch you can move between pump fuel and E85. In the case of my car it takes about 30 seconds to load a new file onto my stock ECU that allows me to run one or the other.

If you are running normally aspirated I would not really consider running E85. In order to take full advantage of it you need to run 22:1 compression ratio. On a motor designed to run on petroleum fuel you are going to get 25-30% worse gas mileage because you can not take advantage of the beneficial properties of E85, and are stuck dealing with the 9.8:1 stoichiometric ratio.

In the case of a turbo motor you can run a much leaner lambda under high load than you would with petroleum fuel, which allows you to cut the gas mileage drop if you drive aggressively. If you take your car out on the freeway you will suffer the same 25% loss in gas mileage. For me, I get about 10% worse mileage day to day on E85, but I do enjoy my car a good bit.

The high octane of the fuel, and the way it burns, means you can push up the boost a lot without detonation, and you pick up a ton of power with ignition advance. Even at the same ignition timing you will make more power. I typically can make 20 whp gains without increasing the boost. With boost increase I have picked up 80+ ft lbs and 50+ whp on E85 over pump gas.

Jarrad

[subbieatnz]

E85 has ethanol in it eh?

[Pegdrgr]

If you are serious, it is 85% ethanol, likewise E98 is 98% ethanol.