37 replies to this topic

[Arthur]

Glad this topic is "topical" as I've been wanting to harness the benefits of E85 for some time. Yes the consumption is about 30% more - on boost with bags of throttle but in cruise, interceptor fitted, with the ECU chasing 14.5:1 the 114 octane E85 will be nearly as economical as pulp. Tuning is another matter. As reported the oxygen rich E85 needs around 9:1 fuel air ratio on boost but the gains are in the many degrees of advance that can be safely added without the slightest hint of detonation. Anyone with the the injector capacity and capability of changing the advance curve by laptop will be able to enjoy the performance delights of E85 as this fuel becomes more readily available. Be sure your car is in safe hands when tuning. Having just built a 1.5J with 9.2:1 I am pregnant with the expectation of running at least 30% E85 with E10 95 as the base fuel [with 650cc injectors fitted] and with 100+ octane fuel make some impressive power figures. Even on 98 it is a delight to drive over the 2 1/2 litre at 8.3:1. Now most of the furfies have been covered in preceeding replies with regard to the possible downside of ethanol fuels. Our cars do not have materials that are affected by ethanol and except for the possibility of removing crap from the tank, lines and fuel system generally with the only possible long term storage problems that are still unlikely to occur if you didn't use your car for around 12 months. Unlikely. Q: What do you use to get water out of a fuel tank. A: Metho. What is metho? 95% ethanol with 5% water. The latent heat of vapourisation of ethanol is a wonderful thing!

[TRD JZX100]

Mmm, good to see someone else thinking out of the box.

The whole idea of detonation prevention with E85 and 100+ octane sounds awesome, especially when used for drift, drag, track etc. If used correctly it should give you a very nice margin of safety for your motor, provided you've got it tuned correctly obviously.

Arthur: Tell us a bit more about your experience/plans for the 1.5J and E85 mate...

[Sonic]

provided the supply is reliable, i intend to run my race bike on E85 next time out. i've raced bikes converted to run on Methanol before and have experienced increase in both power and reliabillity, but unfortunately Methanol is banned from most classes of racing (including my bikes class), so E85 it is.

for those that don't know, the difference between Methanol an Ethanol is Methanol is made from wood while Ethanol is made from food, mostly sugar, also Methanol is toxic. it can absorbed into your skin and cause serious problems and will kill you if you drink it, plus it dissolves aluminium if not flushed out after use.

[kudjin]

Sonic, on Apr 14 2009, 08:41 PM, said:

plus it dissolves aluminium if not flushed out after use.

thats what I just found out today from my mechanic. his v8 cruiser got a brand new webber carby just after xmas and its been chewed out in the space of three months. the only stuff i've read so far has been in zoom/boost and HPI and pretty much what arthur said sums up their thoughts. tuned right it offers a much safer base for tuning but bigger injectors and different fuel setup required. good read though. keep the info comin arthur 1.5J + E85 sounds like fun.

[Sonic]

when i raced that bike on Methanol, the owner would flush all the Methanol out and then run the bike on PULP for a few minutes at the end of each day. thats because the entire engine, carbs and fuel tank were made of aluminium. i don't think there would be so many dramas using it with car engines.

[Arthur]

TRD JZX100, on Apr 14 2009, 08:25 PM, said:

Mmm, good to see someone else thinking out of the box.

The whole idea of detonation prevention with E85 and 100+ octane sounds awesome, especially when used for drift, drag, track etc. If used correctly it should give you a very nice margin of safety for your motor, provided you've got it tuned correctly obviously.

Arthur: Tell us a bit more about your experience/plans for the 1.5J and E85 mate...

Early days yet 211 Kw atw on 8.5lb boost with 30% E85 [25%ethanol]. Torque is "through the roof". Standard exhaust is limiting output due to back pressure. Bags more development to come. May tune with 50% ethanol when it becomes more plentiful.

[Sonic]

Arthur, on May 19 2009, 08:31 PM, said:

Early days yet 211 Kw atw on 8.5lb boost with 30% E85 [25%ethanol]. Torque is "through the roof". Standard exhaust is limiting output due to back pressure. Bags more development to come. May tune with 50% ethanol when it becomes more plentiful.

E-85 is 85% ethanol and 15% ULP, and i don't thinks it's availible anymore?
if you were keen enough, you could make a similar mixture using Metho.. bulk buy it in 20litre drums is cheaper, thats what happened one race meeting i went to, the bikes owner found all his Methanol had gone off due to water absorbsion, so he went to a paint suppliers and bought a few drums of Methylated Spirits... Methylated spirits is 98% Ethanol and 2% Methanol.

[Dave-GT-JZX100]

Sonic, on May 19 2009, 09:14 PM, said:

E-85 is 85% ethanol and 15% ULP, and i don't thinks it's availible anymore?
if you were keen enough, you could make a similar mixture using Metho.. bulk buy it in 20litre drums is cheaper, thats what happened one race meeting i went to, the bikes owner found all his Methanol had gone off due to water absorbsion, so he went to a paint suppliers and bought a few drums of Methylated Spirits... Methylated spirits is 98% Ethanol and 2% Methanol.

yeah servos aren't allowed to sell E85 for time being, some OH+S bullshit or something. guys at work have had some trouble getting it for the race cars recently. only options now for it are race fuel suplliers, but even they are selling out of it quickly, and price is now between $2-$3 per litre, due to demand i guess

[Tats]

Dave-GT-JZX100, on May 19 2009, 09:55 PM, said:

yeah servos aren't allowed to sell E85 for time being, some OH+S bullshit or something. guys at work have had some trouble getting it for the race cars recently. only options now for it are race fuel suplliers, but even they are selling out of it quickly, and price is now between $2-$3 per litre, due to demand i guess

A lot of ethanol is produced in an area near here (Nowra) and E85 was being sold in their local servos, we sent a local boy to ask why they can't buy it any more and got this response.

"x" said:

I Asked at shoalhaven ethanol.

Govt making everyone get new pumps.

They dont sell it now...

Apparently the servo won't replace the pumps until everyone stops chucking around the "R" word

[Arthur]

Storage and dispensing are the main issues with those servos that have stopped selling. United at Rozelle are still selling E85. They are part of the Fed. Govt. trial of E85 and have those bases covered. I fill several 20l cans about every 3 weeks.