okay so my 20b should be done soon and im considering using e85 as my primary fuel. My question is will the oil from the oil injectors simply be washed away or made less effective because of the use of an alcohol fuel instead of gasoline fuels. i know some rotary drag cars are using alcohol granted its methanol in there case and they arent lasting very long. Of course they are making way more hp than i intend to make so that has to be taken into account. this is my weekend warrior. what do you guys think? any personal experience running a rotary on ethanol? i have another new 13brew built by rotary performance sitting around with a brand new greddy t78 kit i might just use it as my test motor or sell it i dont know yet.

 

Check out the single turbo section. There are a few threads concerning E85. Looks like using it can be very beneficial.

 

Why use e85? It packs less energy than normal gasoline. It sounds like you're setting yourself up for a rather expensive experiment.

 

I thought about switching too, just want to wait for some more info.
There is a thread in the single turbo section that is just getting to your oil question, you may want to ask there.

 

E85 has a DISTINCT advantage in its 105 octane rating. This makes it an ideal fuel for our rotaries. Sure, you have to dump about 1.3 times the amount in to make the same power but...we aren't worried about economy now, are we?

Personally I really love the idea of using E85.

 

I was just looking for a thread I saw recently about oils that resist thinning with gas.

 

The 105 octane rating that e-85 has is from the AKI method. Most pumps in the US don't use AKI but instead use the (R+M)/2 method. If you look at the sticker on the pump, you will see it written somewhere in very small print. Rating E-85 with (R+M)/2, the standard most people are comfortable with, its something like 115+ octane...

I thought this was totally awesome and though about converting my car as well. But, if you talk to anyone who runs alcohol, they will tell you that you go though A LOT! Plus, their is other problems you have to deal with. Other then limited availability, I don't think the fuel stores to well. If you car sits for an extended amount of time, the fuel may just turn to water!
You may have to convert your entire fuel system to be compatible with alcohol. Those walbro pumps everyone is using is not rated for alcohol, last time i read, walbro was still doing testing. You might have to run one of those really expensive Aeromotive pumps....

E-85 is effected by the political environment. It seems no one knows the true cost of producing E-85 because it is a subsidized fuel. And we know, when the government starts sticking their fingers in the market, all kinds of crazy things can happen! Some of my cousins down south who are farmers sold their hogs (something like 1500+) to go plant corn instead. As you might have guessed, this is effecting the prices of food. All its going to take is some politician to see this and stop subsidizing E-85, then, the E-85 prices will sky rocket.
Word on the street is that the real cost of E-85 is something like $8 a gallon...

I think a better, more stable and cost effective alternative would be to run water/alcohol injection. This way, you get the benefits of both. Perrin, the famous Subaru tuner has a 3 liter 6 cylinder subaru engine producing around 800HP on pump fuel and water injection... That sounds good enough to me.

I guess for ultimate performance, its going to be hard to beat E-85. The stories I hear with people making massive hp with turbos WITH OUT EVEN RUNNING AN INTERCOOLER is really something.

But, if you want E-85 as a cheap alternative to gas, I think you'll end up paying more. E-85 would have to be around 30% cheaper than gas to be a cost effective alternative. I have not seen it 30% cheaper yet.

 

thanks ofr the info guys. the only problem that i see with this fuel is that it does operate a lot cooler when compared to petrol fuels obviously less mileage and the im told that it doesnt lubricate the motor as well as gasoline so it requires more oil and/or premix. the first deal about it running cool i kind of worry about the motor getting to a reasonable operating temp but i think it will get there. the second concern about mileage is really kind of thrown out because my gas mileage already sucks so oh well and as far as the price i dont think that i will get any gasoline over 100 0ctane as cheap as i can get ethanol. around here the last time i checked 101 unleaded was 7dollar + change and ethanol is high 2dollars a gallon. sounds like a good deal even if i do loose a little mileage with ethanol it is still cheaper the gas when compared to price per mile and then there is that lowering operating temp and higher octane rating. im going to go ahead and try it as soon as i get my motor in and i figure out what premix to use.