Was wondering what everyone thinks about E85? pro's and con's.... Have a turboed integra tuned for it, but thinking about going back to premium

 

I take it you did the e85 conversion then? I wish we would get it around here. You should just switch to full methanol injection lol

 

Pro: higher octane
Con: requires more fuel for the same amount of air

If it were available locally, priced decently, and the car was tuned for it, why would you ever consider going back to 91?

 

I love E85. I run it in my daily.

Pros: Its 107 octane...for some setups that DOES matter (see sig) and around here i get it for $1.99/gal compared to $2.99+ for Premium (91 octane )

Cons: I have noticed about a 20-25% loss in mileage; however, once you look at the cost per mile, I'm actually saving money...about $0.10/gal right now, but i plan to get tuned a little leaner for freeway driving. I get about 25mpg and want somewhere closer to 30...

 

so true but also, E85 absorbs moisture so you have to use it quicker. not sure how fast you have to use it, but i know it does. if i could get E85 here i would be on it and know how fast it absorbs moisture. it may be such a small rate that it dont matter. i just dont know

 

Whats it take to run E85 in your car?

 

there are kits now i believe. but when i looked into this 7 years ago i found that you had to run a compatible fuel pump and injectors. stainless steel lines and tank. the fuel pressure regulator had to be adjustable high enough to be up to par. and the map sensor i believe had to be tinkered with but i forgot the rest. alot has changed and became available in 7 years though

 

^ basically this along with higher compression pistons. this isn't mandatory but would be a great idea for mpg and hp. somewhere around 12:5-1 and the corresponding tune would work great with e85

the map tinkering rick refers to is probably vafc tuning which was the thing to do many years ago when you had to adjust a/f

now a days we have hondata, neptune, crome etc

 

I personally would love to do an E85 conversion, but I only know of only one station in my area that has E85.

 

A straight E85 conversion on a stock car would not be worth the money IMO. The benefits of using it are only realized if you have a need for higher octane fuel. This is why it has gotten a less-than-desirable reception from the public at large. Since it has the ability to withstand higher intake temps and more pressure than premium fuel, it is perfect for higher compression, forced induction or a combination of both. With standard compression cars (10:1 and lower), there will be no measurable gain from the switch. The only benefits at that point are purely philosophical: running a "green" fuel and not spending money on foreign oil.

I've been saying this for years, but if car manufacturers would mass produce strictly E85 cars, the infrastructure for the fuel delivery would inevitibly expand. Right now the ONLY car i know of that runs purely E85 is the Koenigsegg CC series. The benefits of E85 could be realized if an engine was built specifically for its use. I generally liken this to diesel fuel. People would hate diesel if they used it in a gasoline engine, but that doesn't mean its a bad fuel source, it is just being used improperly. If E85 can be used in its proper format, it should be the economical fuel of the future...provided that cellulosic technology becomes widely available

 

The moisture problem only exists when it's exposed to outside air. In a returnless fuel system the moisture problem is near nill. Ethanol will last longer than the gasoline that it is bound to if it's kept away from moist air.
<Not an expert.

If you're willing to build a turbo car or all motor and E85 is available there's really no reason to limit yourself to low grade fuels. With alky in the past the fuel was only available at tracks and the price was cheaper than race but availability was worse. And while the octane is probably closer to 105 for summer grade if you need the summer grade stuff you probably use a small enough amount to store it. It can be stored in 55 gallon drums, preferably plastic so you don't get gunk from the steel tanks in your fuel system.

It'll cost the same to run Premium and you know that stuff is crud in comparison. Why bother? If E85 ever does go away, which it won't, you'll know in enough time and no car is unconvertable back to being compatible with Reg Gasoline.

A pure Ethanol fueled car would be the tip. It's more work to maintain a constant fuel supply for an E85 car, storing fuel, managing trips better. But it's worth it and not just for that greeny, patriotic mush.

 

Maintaining trips and finding fueling stations in advance does prove to be a bit of a problem For example, i'm taking a 7 hour drive to Nebraska today and have to carry an additional 5 gallon fuel tank with me just in case i'm not able to find an E85 fuel station in time. I have about 250 miles of range safely, but when you drive from Fargo, ND to Lincoln, NE, there aren't a lot of places to stop in between . Its a bit barren up here...even with this added inconvinience, its still worth the switch to corn juice

 

the only reason i was considering it is because i was having problems with it, but im 99% sure its because i had 1/8 of a tank stored in the car over the winter, and i was only diving the car a couple times over the summer so i think the gas musta kept going bad on me...

 

Hey anyone else out there running E85 with boost, getting crazy looks from random people when your at a light or parking it !?!?

I find it halarious!!

 

What kind of problems?
Gasoline can have a shelf life as short as a couple months depending on the local blend. On the other hand Alcohol can be stored indefinitely in a sealed container.

 

it was spittin and sputtlering and what not, and power loss but its all good now thanks to HEET and SEAFOAM

 

Im considering the crossover to e85 right now I have a friend with a built all motor b16 in a crx running on e85 and it puts down good hp numbers, What i like about running it is the fact u can run radical timing and from what i understand with a good tune u can really gain a nice amount of power just from the radical timing itself. Along with some bolt ons ect... lmk if im wrong please but so far this is what i understand of the crossover and the pros to it, Here were i live e85 is availble everywhere at a lower price than reg gas and Ive always ran 91 oct ne ways

 

I'm familiar with SeaFoam, but isn't HEET a gasoline treatment? It sounds like you were running lean from a clogged injector or maybe the fuel filter and fixed it with additives :D Lucky.

 

This could have been very possible, and HEET is used to remove excess water in the tank

 

I have come to understand the same, Question for you is did your buddy replace the fuel lines and the other "Neccesary Parts to run E85"