10 replies to this topic

[Matt_]

Been doing some reading up but alas can't find anything definitive, so please go easy if this is a stupid question.

Can our 4G63's take E85 without any additional tuning/modifications? Also, are there any major side effects of running E85?

Cheers

[peasoup]

Been doing some reading up but alas can't find anything definitive, so please go easy if this is a stupid question.

Can our 4G63's take E85 without any additional tuning/modifications? Also, are there any major side effects of running E85?

Cheers

complete re-tune, your car wont even start on it.

You need to have 2 maps in the ECU, so you can switch between them.

You'll also need a decent fuel system upgrade. E85 is like methanol, requires a lot of fuel to be burnt.

[Evo-00x]

Other points to consider:
* You'll need to double/triple the size of your current injectors because thats how much E85 you'll be going through. From full to empty in the tank will happen at least twice as quickly.
* A single Walbro fuel pump on its own wont be enough to flow the amount of fuel you need therefore some decent $$ needs to be spent in setting up an external fuel pump.
* Changing your fuel lines to larger diameter hoses and fittings will also be required because the stock lines reduce to as small as -4AN size in some places hindering flow.
* Will need a completely different tune as well. As mentioned be prepared to swap ECU mapping and injectors everytime you want to go back to normal 98 octane.
* There's also the problem with planning trips according to service stations holding E85

[GVR40]

you use around 30% more E85 than ULP98 to go the same distance. Brisvr4 on here uses E85 in his vr4 with only a single walbro pump. He is also running standard fuel lines with an upgraded filter and pressure reg (from memory) he has upgraded the line between the filter and the rail. He is running 11.49 quater mile... the advantage of E85 is that you can advance the timing alot more as it is much more stable than ULP.

Edited by GVR40, 15 August 2010 - 12:05 AM.

[brisvr4]

The mods you do really depend on your power goals.
As mentioned above you will need much larger injectors but the stock fuel lines are good enough for over 500whp as long as you get rid of the banjo bolt on top of the fuel filter and run -6 from filter to rail and rail to fpr.
As Craig mentioned my single 255hp intank pump was good enough to run 1450cc injectors at over 70%idc's .
I've just added a second inline pump in the engine bay as I've upgraded to a slightly larger turbo.

If you have a heavy right foot your fuel economy will be crap!

[Evo-00x]

Tim, what turbo and boost level where you running when you just had the one intank pump?
lol, yes a heavy riight foot would chew up E85 very quick as most of us would use it for the sole purpose of running it on full throttle

[brisvr4]

Hey Rob. I was running a PTE 50trim @ around 33psi. Th stock lines are way underrated!

[Evo-00x]

holy crap. So you were seeing 70psi fuel pressures on 1450cc injectors @ 70%d/c with E85 through the stock hard fuel lines under the car? That's quite iimpressive

Edited by EVO-00X, 15 August 2010 - 02:38 AM.

[Matt_]

Thanks for the info.

It was sheer curiosity if it was something I could run for a dyno run to see if I Could get some interesting figures off a fairly stock car.
As for tuning, that's not too much of a problem, the issue is more that as we use a socketed ECU and drop chips in, tuning has to be done in the real time using EvoScan and a wideband AFR (AEM with USB Readout).

Without upgrading injectors, fuel pump, etc... there is no real point me trying however I'm curious about it all.

One day I might do a tune and see what figures I can produce from it... though not sure it'll be a smart idea.

[peasoup]

A mate tried E85 and found the batches of fuel to be very inconsistent. He was running a lot of boost - 50psi.

Buying 'race E85' in 200L drums is gaining popularity now. They mix it with higher grade unleaded.

[boost_lover]

GVR40 & peasoup are right. But e85 is not really great for street use. E85 is great for motorsports like circuit racing and drag racing.

Reason being, c16 is over $10 a litre where as e85 you can buy from the bowser. but as peasoup said, the best way to buy e85 is 200l drums.

e85 is a cheap alternative to high octane fuel eg c16, which has shown great results.

most guys overseas go e85 before methanol. Methanol is to harsh on the engine, so e85 is the next best thing in my opinion.

Some guys run dual tunes, so they run pulp during daily driving duties then flick the switch to run e85 for drag/circuit racing duties.

brisvr4, u are definately right, the stock lines are well underrated. i dont know why people always harp on upgrading to massive lines? Sure to a certain extent, you need to upgrade, but they are more than adequate for street use.

Edited by boost_lover, 02 September 2010 - 01:45 AM.