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E85 fuel..anyone ever use it?


1Quik7

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just saw this posted on the RX7 forum..and i've never heard of it, but it doesn't sound like a bad deal. has anyone ever used it? there is a station in Hilliard that carries it...i wonder if i could use this to run on the streets and turn up the boost a little.

 

http://www.turbomustangs.com/smf/index.php?topic=47094.0

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I have used it in my STI, You need to tune for it, you have to use more fuel to make the same power as pump gas. I have been told 3 times the fuel of e85 to equal the power pump gas has, but it should have it's benefits. I think I posted about this in the summer last year..... I got a check engine light when I used it because my fuel trim went to full. JUST REMEMBER THAT E85 IS OXYGENATED MORE THAN PUMP FUEL. In theory it is sweet, 105 octane, burns cooler, better for the environment, it's renewable, and it is cheaper than 87 octane. I want to get a tune for it on my car, I would need bigger injectors and a fuel pump. Almost everyone in the STI community is doing Alky injection; I just want to use the fuel.

 

I would be carefull with a rotary.....

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dont think it can be used for rotories, it will blow your apex seals right off..!!11!

 

but seriously i think you have to use 15% more then gasoline ot get the stoich values right. there are alot of threads about this poping up, there is a good one (sticky) on turbomustanges of a guy making obver 1000rwhp with it.

ill probably switch to it wonce they get more sations as the closest on to me is where you guys listed it some 1 hour & 1/2 away.

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it is an ethanalbased fuel that has a higher octane rating. It is poor mans race gas. But as mentioned above you need more of it to make the same power. anywhere from 40-50% more fuel to make the same power.

 

There is a guy with a turbo 5.0 that needed 160 lb injectors to make 800 rwhp if that tells you what the fuel requirements are.

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Yes you can mix it with Pump gas, It already is mixed with pump gas, 15%. The other 85% is Alky. Hence the name E85. Here is a huge thread about Turbo wrxs using it in different ratios of alky and Pump gas.

 

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=803341&highlight=E85

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I wonder......

Water and alcohol mix really well. Could you use water mixed in the fuel to strech it out a little more (ignoring the corosioin problems)

Sinc the wtaer expands when it boils, and at the same time absors some of the heat, could it be a viable fuel? I recall water injection being used on airplane, both boosted and not boosted to increase the output, I wonder how it would work with this case.

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I wonder......

Water and alcohol mix really well. Could you use water mixed in the fuel to strech it out a little more (ignoring the corosioin problems)

Sinc the wtaer expands when it boils, and at the same time absors some of the heat, could it be a viable fuel? I recall water injection being used on airplane, both boosted and not boosted to increase the output, I wonder how it would work with this case.

 

Water injection used on an airplane would probably be there to simply cool the fuel/air charge (like an intercooler). Putting it into the fuel, however, wouldn't help - water doesn't burn and it is very difficult to split into it's constituent components. It would just displace the fuel and you'd have less power. Not to mention that E85 and water don't mix becaue E85 has gasoline in it.

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When Gas was at its highest in the summer it went for 20 cents less than 87 Octaine. In Minn and Wisconsin where there are 300 stations that cary it, in the summer it was $1.89 a gallon there.

 

Indiana is breaking ground on a new E85 refinery soon and the will help us get more of it, combined with the tax breaks BUSH signed into law this year, it will make E85 a more viable option for many stations to add. The state of Ohio wants to build a refinery for E85 in Bowling Green Ohio. This would ceate jobs and make the price of e85 drop because it would be made locally.

 

My father in law sits on the Board of Directors for "Central Ohio Clean Fuels Coalition" This is mainly where I get a lot of my info. http://www.cocfc.org/index.asp

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all alcohols need more fuel than regular gas. They burn cleaner and make more power. pure Methanol is around 2.50/gal last i checked. Also if you store it, you've gotta keep it up off the ground and away from water.
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Yes I have(BTW I already posted that link about 2 msgs up...:rolleyes: ), I got a check engine light because my o2 reads too much o2 from the fuel being oxygenated. Your car wants to add more fuel so you fuel trim goes to full, and after it is a full for a long period of time it throws the cell code. If you use this fuel you must be tuned for it and keep in mind ALky is very corrosive to rubber. However almost all car parts are made from synthetics these days and not rubber. I didn't notice any different power when I ran it, because it wasn't tuned for it. The same would happen if I put gt100 in my car now. As I stated before your car will need a tune to get more power out of it. And as Anthony stated my Gas mileage went down 3-5 miles a gallon. I went from 22-25 highway to 17-20. Many people have no problem mixing 60% pump and 40% E85 and never get a cell. The benefit to this is to buy 87 octane and add the E85 to make the octane higher than 93 so you do not have to purchase Premium like most turbo vehicles have too.
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I am getting some PDX Tuning maps here today for when I get my downpipe at the end of Feb. Tim at PDX Tuning in Oregon will be here in March tuning some of our cars and I am going to see if he will be able to tune my car for e85 only. I will need a new Fuel pump and modify my injectors (520cc to 816cc) to make them flow better. Then we should "in theory" be able to run this fuel and make more power, however my mileage will drop. We will see, I hope it works I will pay less per gallon but make more power with lower EGT, and be able to pass emissions.
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Yes I have(BTW I already posted that link about 2 msgs up...:rolleyes: ), I got a check engine light because my o2 reads too much o2 from the fuel being oxygenated. Your car wants to add more fuel so you fuel trim goes to full, and after it is a full for a long period of time it throws the cell code. If you use this fuel you must be tuned for it and keep in mind ALky is very corrosive to rubber. However almost all car parts are made from synthetics these days and not rubber. I didn't notice any different power when I ran it, because it wasn't tuned for it. The same would happen if I put gt100 in my car now. As I stated before your car will need a tune to get more power out of it. And as Anthony stated my Gas mileage went down 3-5 miles a gallon. I went from 22-25 highway to 17-20. Many people have no problem mixing 60% pump and 40% E85 and never get a cell. The benefit to this is to buy 87 octane and add the E85 to make the octane higher than 93 so you do not have to purchase Premium like most turbo vehicles have too.

 

I didn't even catch that they were using regular and mixing E85 with it.

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