Pro and Cons of E85
 

So here is the thing, I have a gas station that sells E85 about 5 miles from my house. one of 2 stations in MA. I am considering running and being tuned for it but I want to know the pro and cons of this. First ill list my mods.

fresh rebuilt and street port motor
3" catless TBE
greddy intakes
a FMIC
Fully converted turbos to non-seq.

as for fuel curently I have

850x4 injectors
aeromotive FPR
walbro fuel pump

All being tuned with a PFC

Now I talk to Ray a PFsupercars and he said on E85 i would probably want to go with larger secondary injectors as you use about 30% more fuel.

So if i am going to up my fuel I minus well go big and go with 1600's as i do plan on also upgrading to a single turbo next season.

with upgrading to the 1600's that also means a new rail too.

now with all that being said what are the pros and cons of e85? is it worth it to do it. from what i see i could probably get the same power now out of water/meth injection but thats added cost that just keeps adding where as e85 is cheaper than regular 87oct. so its actually cheaper and stays cheaper in the end. Another thing that i liked about the e85 is with the 850 primarys i wont have such a rich idle anymore.

So what do you guys think?

Thanks

Seth

howard coleman has a nice thread on AI. I beleive it covers some e85 stuff as well, worth a read.

run a search for "e85" in the alternative fuel forum.

https://www.rx7club.com/search.php?searchid=8317157

cons: needs a 30% larger fuel system and is hard to start in cold weather.

Pros: cooler burning and octane rating is higher.

what is the availability of E85 in your area?

Only 2 in MA, and 1 down his street.

I'd just be worried if the station stopped carrying it though.

yeah the 30% more fuel is the reason behind the 1600's if i go that way. As for it being harder to start, where I am once its that cold the car is pretty much off the road anyways.

the thought is in my head, the plus side to the station is that its pretty new and the location of it is in Northampton MA which is a very big hippie town.


now my other concerns from what i have read so far is the way it reacts with rubbers. I was not planning on running new fuel lines from the pump.

Do i need to? can it wait a year then re-do them?

Seth

ugh I am so torn. do I do it or not.

It would be kinda cool to do something a little different....I want to do it but i am worried about the fuel lines and all that. I mean if they well last a season then it not that big of a deal as i can re-do them next winter.

As others have pointed out, there are several threads about E85 already that have some good info.

This subject is also hotly debated in the marine community. ANY alcohol in boat fuel is just a BAD, bad thing. Alcohol absorbs moisture and causes corrosion of fuel tanks and fuel systems...it is avoided like the plague if you are a boat owner. Yet in some areas, due to regulations (or sometimes lack thereof), some marinas have been selling gasoline with up to 10% alcohol in it, and boat owners are paying the price.

pretty sure all gas stations around here have the 10% alcohol in them


as for all the threads, yes there are alot of them and LOTS of good info but it seems like they are mostly, "I heard this, i heard that" type of comments, I have yet to really found anything saying this is what you need, these are the issues, ect

Seth

for e85 all you need is a 30 percent larger fuel system and a tune for that. Cars newer than 89 I believe are designed to have ethanol going throug them.

This may help, http://www.change2e85.com/servlet/Page?template=Myths

i have heard things like it leaves cotton residue in your fuel system, tank, your lines, pumps and injectors since they filter the fuel with cotton. not to mention does harm too your motor over time because cotton should not be in the combustion chamber or something like that. then again i could be totally wrong.

I am curently running e85 in my s5. i use
dual walbro fuel pump
4 1600cc injectors
larger fuel lines
im runninga 74mm turbo pushing 22psi and the car flies and its a pretty safe tune. at 15psi i got 426hp. ive beaten the hell out of my car and the motor is still nice and strong. i love the switch

thats a similar setup im doing. what fuel mileage are you getting?

Hows the idle with the 1600's as primaries?
Did you go aluminum lines or regular rubber?
What size fuel lines?

thanks

+1.... All info on fuel set up will be greatly appreciated.

+2

pros

Cleans engine
Cheaper gas
(for miami) Many locations so no worries about running out of gas
More power
Lower Temperatures
Already calculated i get 289miles on a full tank of gas. 311 full tank of 93
Have a vid proof of startup in cold weather



cons
......................



This is comming from a person with 8 injectors (all 1600's) and i daily drive my e85 car everywhere.

Any questions???


oh p.s. please do not use rubber lines when using e85. it isnt pretty & dont pressure yourself to use e85 if you have to travel to the ends of the earth to get your gas filled

so wait phantom your saying you get 289 miles per tank of gas with e85 and 311 on 93oct? guess it would stay with the pro then because you get the gas much cheaper than 93 so it equals out

wonder how much power you can pull out with 850/1600s

what turbo, what port???

hmm wondering if it would be enough for 450 maybe a bit more?

thats plenty on 450. youll be ok with those injectors

my idle is at 900 and my fuel mileage is horrible like 7mpg. lets just say i use 1.2gallons of gas everytime i go down the track sucks but its so much safer. and still using rubber well a bad ass rubber lines and i think 8 and 6 return. theres only one station in san antonio its like 5 milesas so its not to bad for me

OH YEAH dude when your on it the needle moves as if yyour warming up the car. id be scared for you in those rubber lines. dont be cheap on the car as you will get cheap results

So what kind of lines are you running???

I thought everyone was running the -8 or -10 braided lines which are actually rubber inside:scratch:


L8R