Is anyone runnung E-85?

Post by **Ben850** » 12 Mar 2014, 12:52

I was curious if anyone has switched to E-85, and if so, how they like/dislike it.
Of course I know it takes a tuning modification , but has anyone?

Post by **precopster** » 12 Mar 2014, 14:34

Interesting question Ben. I published an article about a E85 vs unleaded vs premium fuel conducted by some motoring journalists here in Oz on our soon to be axed Holden Commodore range (Australia's large RWD family range)

They have octane sensors built in which can sense E85 at any mixture and adjust timing advance and tune accordingly.

The extensive roadtest they performed was over about 1, 000kms on each fuel in 3 identical near new cars. The E85 and standard unleaded produced almost identical figures cost vs efficiency and premium fuel produced better figures than both other fuels (though costs more to run) Frankly I was very surprised that this was the case.

E85 sells here for around 1.35/litre as opposed to $1.55 for unleaded.

To run E85 tunes here on Volvos is a risk because of the scarcity of the fuel.

Other US market cars which have E85 compatability are Chrysler Sebring, later Saab models and a few others.

akgyger · Post by **akgyger** » 14 Mar 2014, 13:06

I used to have a 93 Mitsubishi 3000gt and I wondered the same thing, so I played around with the stuff. Certainly the car was not designed to run on it, and with a full tank of E85, the engine would putter and misfire at low range but seemed to keep up once i was cruising along. The car sounded like some wicked big block V8 with aggressive cam timing at idle.
Then i got an Idea that if I ran half tank regular, half e85 i could fill up for "cheaper".... and so I did. it ran properly, the exhaust had a delicious hint of "corn smell" but my mileage dropped significantly- thus negating any benefit from getting cheaper fuel.

So, my experience was this:

Naaah.

instarx · Post by **instarx** » 14 Mar 2014, 14:20

http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=27&t=4

Post by **tryingbe** » 14 Mar 2014, 22:37

We converted my friend's 88 caravan with a 2.4L PT turbo engine to E85 yesterday, but we can adjust calibration for fuel and timing.

I certainly wouldn't put E85 in a car that isn't make for it.

Post by **Ben850** » 15 Mar 2014, 19:08

tryingbe wrote:We converted my friend's 88 caravan with a 2.4L PT turbo engine to E85 yesterday, but we can adjust calibration for fuel and timing.

I certainly wouldn't put E85 in a car that isn't make for it.

My reason for asking is that I have purchased an ARD "White" Tune from the person that Lucky had set it up for.
This ECU is set up with the Monotronic 4.4 mod., rear O2 delete, and E-85 tune.

This would change the A/F ratio properly for E-85, along with other experimentation latitude.

I also have a 628 R ECU that I will be swapping in first this week after I do an intake manifold swap with silicone tubes and a few more intake upgrades.
I may dabble with the E-85 ECU later.

Post by **tryingbe** » 15 Mar 2014, 22:19

Do you have a wideband in your car?

E85 can mean anything from E60 to E90.

E85 so requires 40% or so more fuel flow than gasoline, which means you need a capable fuel pump or fuel pumps.

My friend is already maxing out a 340lph fuel pump and looking into running an inline 044 Bosch pump.

Post by **Ben850** » 16 Mar 2014, 08:28

I am looking at wide bands at the moment. I've found one that I like and it is $200. It comes with a genuine Bosch O2 sensor and a clear digital readout with a multi-colored sweep.
I was thinking about getting one even before I came across this ECU.

I may even send the ECU back to lucky to have him put a tune of my liking on it. We'll see how things play out after I do some testing with the R ECU.