E85..... Good ? Bad ? Myth ?

[bj]

FYI report on testing compression ratios with ethanol fuels.

My link

interesting hydraulic valve setup


"It is interesting to note that the blending response of RON
and MON as a function of ethanol content is highly nonlinear. There is a substantial octane improvement between
RG and E10, and between E10 and E50. However, between
E50 and E85 there is very little difference in either RON or
MON."

 

[iluszn]

Link ot previuos thread with lots of links in it aswell

http://www.4gtuner.com/index.php?/topic/9550-e85-fuels/

 

[shadow]

Quick question guys. Those of you running E85, do you recommend redoing your fuel lines to teflon?

 

[marinetowing]

Yes.

 

[TMAK]

Well I do know a friend who has daily driven his Evo 9 on E85 since July 09. Car is now > 100k kms and has not had any problems. (username is 'dandin' on evooz)
Car is making 260kws and he is still using the stock clutch and not slipping lol. Only mods 1050cc, hks silent, walbro.
He has been our test dummy for E85 as his car is under a fleet plan.

 

[marinetowing]

Fairly keen on a stock engine, have heard from numerous people that the torque produced on E85 beyond 230kw is way too much for stock rod bolts to handle.
My engine has only done 35,000ks but for the above reason we only pushed it to 210kw on the E85 tune which yielded a massive increase in torque across the board.

 

[brisvr4]

Interesting... I've been running the VR4 on it since early 2009 with a completely stock bottom end and I am making a lot more than 230kw.
No issues with mine at all as yet.
Mind you, I do enjoy pushing the boundaries!

 

[blackvr]

We've been making 290kw at wheels on E85 on a stock bottom end in our tarmac rally Evo 8 for some time. It has done a lot of work and not gone bang... Mind you, I thought the rod bolt problem was rev related ? We dont have to rev it past 6500 rpm really... make use of the mid range torque !! As a side note, the engine came out over Xmas for a freshen up . We are now running Eagle rods, MLS head gasket and ARP head studs. The bottom end still looked like new, and it was a 80,000km Jap import before its life as a tarmac/circuit sprint motor on E85.

 

[EVO85]

Also according to his paper work it has saved him slightly more money on petrol.

That's all well and good if there is an E85 petrol station near you, but in Adelaide there are only 3 outlets and none are in civilisation which is bizarre. I live 5kms from the city and have to drive a reasonable distance out of my way just to fill up. When you consider that, it can cost you a hell of a lot more and it is damn frustrating as the fuel range is so poor on Evos - most will only net 300kms in a tank of city driving on pump fuel less 30% of the faster burning fuel and you're only getting ~ 200kms per tank! That is ludicrous and is the sole reason for me not going down the E85 route. However, I am concerned about said "corrosion"!? Can anyone fill me in with this and the ramifications in specific terms?

 

[TMAK]

Brad in your case it's may not work out. But Caltex with E-Flex is my closest petrol station (within 1km from home). Regarding fuel consumption it has varied with everyone I know.
My best is 270kms when I filled up (fuel light did not go off).
Various discussions state that alot of people rate the stock fuel tank/lines etc being very good for us street people.