E85 questions

[99BlownYellowGT]

I see alot of you guys switching to e85 for your cars. What are the advantages? Is it something that you can simply switch out in your cars or do you have to make fuel system modifiations? Is it safe for carb and fuel injected cars? I know thats alot of questions but its just cheaper then 93 octane and i was thinking of making the switch..

[Nate1647545505]

There is alot of information out there, but I'll cover some of the basics:

 

100 R+M/2 Octane

 

High latent heat of vaporization, 840 to gas's 350 kJ/kg - This is where the slight bump in power comes from, air temperatures @ the intake valve are lower as the mixture evaporates.

 

About half the energy content of gas, 29 compared to 44MJ/kj.

 

Stoich is lower, 9.8:1 compared to 14.7:1. You will need a fuel system that is capable of supplying ~33% additional fuel. Alcohol likes to eat or disform (swell) certain rubber and seals, Viton and Teflon should be considered for prolonged use.

[Nickey4271647545519]

Alcohol likes to eat or disform (swell) certain rubber and seals, Viton and Teflon should be considered for prolonged use.

 

This is true. But from what i've been told, most anything made after 94 or so, should be good for handling E85.

[Vlad]

Its 20-30% cheaper then 87 octane pump gas, and ALOT cheaper then race gas. People claim to make same power as they do on race gas and its ALOT cheaper. Its said to deteriorate aluminum and rubber so most people just change out the lines but no said proof of this and from my understanding it would take to long to do this anyways. With that said im running it in my car and love it

[koolrayz]

I started using it 4 years ago I started out mixing E-85 and pump gas. I raised the percentage 10% at a time and stopped at 50%. I ran like that for two years. Would have ran straight E85 but didn't have enough fuel system at the time. When I went to the turbo I installed a huge fuel system. I have used the E98 for two years with no problems. I have aluminum hard lines with some braided hose. I looked the hoses over last winter and they show no signs of deteriorating yet.

[Mattsv8]

i run pump e85 fromkroger. im on a carb. i had a a1000 pump and an lines so thre was no changes made to the fuel system other than a e85 carb wich was e85 from day one on the turbo setup. the most power ive seen on e85 was 1750hp on a engine dyno.

[99BlownYellowGT]

So why the bigger fuel pump. Because it burns quicker?

[Mattsv8]

mine had a a1000 already when i was 114 race fuel. but with e85 and my bigger power numbers i actually have 2 a100s now. its a volume thing. a walbro 255 is perfectly fine for e85. if you have to run 30% more fuel. u could run out of pump if near the limit of a single 255, most just go with dual intank walbro 255s. its mostly determined by power level. way better fuel than 93. ive seen more power with 93. but its unusual.

[99BlownYellowGT]

This is for my foxbody it has an aeromotive pump and braided lines so it should be ok

[Mattsv8]

yea if its a a1000 or eleminator ur good. well worth it to swap.

[Cordell]

Stoich is lower, 9.8:1 compared to 14.7:1. You will need a fuel system that is capable of supplying ~33% additional fuel. Alcohol likes to eat or disform (swell) certain rubber and seals, Viton and Teflon should be considered for prolonged use.

 

So if this is the case what kind of AFR makes power? How far off is it? I would think that it could just be done in lambda and wouldn't change much? I've heard that E85 likes to make power at a richer lamda then it would on gas, what kind of variance could be expected?

[Mattsv8]

if you tune on airfuel scale. then you 14.7 stoich is 9.8 e85.

max power rich gas 12.5 -12.6 max power rich e85 6.7-6.8

but if you tune on a gas scale. then your max power rich is 10.7 to 11.0 but some say they get the best power at 12.0. e85 can b ran a little on the lean side and pick up power. it dosent have a strong knock to it or dettonation. u can get away with more.

[thorne]

My car likes lows 12's on the gas scale. I love E85.

[koolrayz]

On the gas scale my car makes more power in the 12's

I keep it in the mid to upper 11's because im a chicken

[Mattsv8]

i want mine to be mid 11s on gas scale as well. safe is good.

[Vlad]

Same here mine is at 11.5-11.8, gonna throw it on the dyno and play with it see what she likes.

[Mike C]

I've tuned 400-500whp 4G63 setups on E85 that have liked AFRs in the low 13s on the gas scale. I wouldn't honestly feel comfortable giving the car back to a customer that way so I've always backed it down. But the car did pick up power that lean with no detection of additional knock.

 

I run my personal EVO around 12.5:1 on the gas scale.