E85 Fuel

This is a teaser thread and I am basically getting a role call for all using it!!!! I converted today and intend on doing a full array of testing. I will with hold my initial judgement and continue soldiering on being open minded to the good bad and ugly. I am impressed so far. My final analysis will be supported with dyno results as well. Interestingly I will only show the differences between the fuels peak powers and won't display my dyno #'s. You all know I am wierd about this. Going to the track will further support any suspicions. MPG numbers will also be in the mix. I have heard as little loss as 10% and large loss as 25%(which seems excessive). Tuning was easy I nailed the tune in one log for driveability and three wot pulls+ one final just to verify but no changes were made in the tune.

At wot the fuel has a sweet smell just as you are letting off the pedal and while idling there is well a slight sweet smell but it is really low on odor. There is also very little odor while fueling. Octane is generally around the 105 so it is perfect for my boosted application. Once I am finished with the testing (which should take a min of 3 months) I will post all the results in a new thread. Soooooo. Roll call- for all the corn burners!
I am guilty!!!!!!!

 

[jah81592]

Just and update. Loss of fuel economy is in the 20% range. Otherwise power is dead on. This fuel is real temperature sensitive. The colder it is the worse fuel economy is.

 

[Turdle]

So, would you say this would be "safer" , as in less likely to pre detonate, for remote tuning purposes?

 

[techieman33]

shouldn't you be able to make more power with the higher octane fuel?

 

[patrick112390]

Just and update. Loss of fuel economy is in the 20% range. Otherwise power is dead on. This fuel is real temperature sensitive. The colder it is the worse fuel economy is.

car and driver did a test on e85 and concluded that the loss of gas mileage is not worth it unless its something like 1.50 cheaper than gas....

 

[jah81592]

So, would you say this would be "safer" , as in less likely to pre detonate, for remote tuning purposes?

This fuel is around 105 octane, yes it would be less prone to detonation.

shouldn't you be able to make more power with the higher octane fuel?

If you had a high compression engine or ability to turn up the timing. But in a standard engine the power will roughly be the same. This was a loaded question. Please keep in mind this fuel has less energy in the molecule. Octane doesn't make power, it enables you to keep detonation at bay. The timing is what makes power. Excellent point/question!

car and driver did a test on e85 and concluded that the loss of gas mileage is not worth it unless its something like 1.50 cheaper than gas....

Please keep in mind that my truck HAS to run 93 octane fuel since it is boosted. When gasoline was $4.50/gal, E85 was around .70/gal cheaper. When the smoke cleared the water I was coming out around 5 cents a mile to the good although there was a loss of mpg-given my circumstance of driving 74 miles a day round trip minimum. Now if I was able to run 87 octane it would have costed me to run this fuel. I like it though, seems as if the engine runs smoother.

The major drawback of this area is that the infrastructure isn't there-in my area. So if I am not near a E85 filling station I have to run almost empty and fill with 93 octane fuel. Flash with a gasoline tune.

 

[techieman33]

Ok, I understand, I just figured you would be able to pull more timing with your built motor. I also remember a guy I know who was building a motor to run on e85 since he would be able to run a lot more timing that way without having to pay to fill up with 110 race gas all the time.