Going Green - E85 update

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

Ok well my friend and I started experimenting with it officially today. I am running 10% right now with zero issues. And MY PINGING IS FINALLY GONE! And the exhaust even smells much cleaner. And my friend with the vortec camaro with 150 shot nitrous is running about 50% and his a/f gauge reads stoich still and he says his exhaust smells cleaner too and the car still runs fine. So little by little I will mess with things and update here till I am on full E85 and let you guys know about it. Next tank full will be 15% and so on. So far I am loving it.

 

[blksn955.o]

Do you mean 10% by volume or 10% of your tank is e85?

10% by volume is nothing, here in St. Louis we have 10% eth. in every grade at about every station.

You will reach a point were the computer will need to have a diff. set of values entered. Do not compare a GM and Ford efi as its stratagy for doing things can be totaly diff. and that could effect how well each car reacts.

Its good to see people wanting to take it to the next level vs. just talking. However, if you do not have the ability to watch, control, change things in the programming, without upgraded inj. you are playing a very expensive game.

Be carefull.

 

[speedytang]

I have been running E85 for a year now in my '89 GT. More stations in my area have it and I have noticed no mileage difference and gained about 70hp over 93 octane since I am running Full Timing. My Twin Turbo loves it. If I need to run regular fuel I just take 1 second on my PMS and change to my other program.

 

[VibrantRedGT]

My truck has the FlexFuel system. We don't have E85 anywhere near me though. I've been wanting to try it.

 

[ProKiller]

speedytang, what if any physical mods have you done to run it? whats your combo?

i've heard though it posses problems with storage, it breaks down a lot faster than gasoline

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

Do you mean 10% by volume or 10% of your tank is e85?

10% by volume is nothing, here in St. Louis we have 10% eth. in every grade at about every station.

You will reach a point were the computer will need to have a diff. set of values entered. Do not compare a GM and Ford efi as its stratagy for doing things can be totaly diff. and that could effect how well each car reacts.

Its good to see people wanting to take it to the next level vs. just talking. However, if you do not have the ability to watch, control, change things in the programming, without upgraded inj. you are playing a very expensive game.

Be carefull.

I mean I did the calculations and I have 10% pure ethanol and 90% regular gas in my cars gas tank right now. So I technically 20% of my gas tank has E85 in it. And that is exactly what I am trying to do, find the point at which it starts to hinder my results instead of make them better. Then maybe I can invest in a tweecer and just fully go over.

 

[VibrantRedGT]

Where in Hollywood are you getting E85?

 

[Therian]

I'd be surprised that you would see any difference with E-10. Most fuels have 2-5% ethanol in them already as a cleaning additive. It may not be that way in your area, though.

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

No in my area they dont use any amount of ethanol in regular gas. And vibrant I dont live in hollywood anymore, lol. I need to fix that. I live in miami now on flagler. Right off of the palmetto on flagler next to mall of the americas the E85 gas station is there. And I do see a good difference in using just 10% ethanol. My pinging is completely gone, The exhaust smells noticably better, the motor runs cooler, and the motor even sounds healthier. I will probably need to change my fuel filter within another couple hundred miles though, but I do it every 6months anyway.

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

Ok well went up a notch, 20% ethanol in the tank so I guess you can say E20 in the tank and still Zero issues except cars running better.

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

Also once I find the point where ethanol starts to hurt instead of do good, I am just going to get 19lb bosch 3 design with 4 pintel tip and an adjustable fuel pressure regulator, or 22lb, 24lb injectors so that I can just run str8 E85, because gas is supposed to get past 4 bucks this month, at least thats what they say in the news. So again I plan on going to E85 a lot sooner then planned. Plus the mustang just seems to love it so much more.

 

[millhouse]

Alright, I'm not trying to rain on your parade by any means…and I know you will probably ignore all that I have to say…but IMHO you switching to E85 is a complete waste of your time and money.

First off, with your mod's you should not be pinging on even 87 octane fuel. You best performance is going to run as much timing on 87 octane as possible. You need to look into the reason why your pinging instead of trying to cover it up with higher octane fuel.

Also, if you think your going to save money by switching to E85…think again. Because ethanol is a less efficient fuel than gasoline, your fuel economy and power will suffer. Your overall range will suffer as well…which means more visits to the pump. When the price of gasoline goes up, so does ethanol. All your going to do is gain a newfound dependency to ethanol without any benefits.

Seriously, I think you need to take a step back and think about the big picture before you jump in. It seems that you believe you've found a miracle fuel…when in all reality it's simply a semi clean race fuel that has no benefits for 99% of the consumers.

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

Alright, I'm not trying to rain on your parade by any means…and I know you will probably ignore all that I have to say…but IMHO you switching to E85 is a complete waste of your time and money.

First off, with your mod's you should not be pinging on even 87 octane fuel. You best performance is going to run as much timing on 87 octane as possible. You need to look into the reason why your pinging instead of trying to cover it up with higher octane fuel.

Also, if you think your going to save money by switching to E85…think again. Because ethanol is a less efficient fuel than gasoline, your fuel economy and power will suffer. Your overall range will suffer as well…which means more visits to the pump. When the price of gasoline goes up, so does ethanol. All your going to do is gain a newfound dependency to ethanol without any benefits.

Seriously, I think you need to take a step back and think about the big picture before you jump in. It seems that you believe you've found a miracle fuel…when in all reality it's simply a semi clean race fuel that has no benefits for 99% of the consumers.

Well I know ethanol has been around for a long time, so I know its not a miracle fuel. However my belief is it is bad enough that I drive a V8, but I love the mustang. So I want to contribute as little as possible to Global warming and the environment. And I am aware I can do harm to the car, but not if I do it right. And I plan on doing it right, I have done a lot of research into this subject and I believe I can do this right with little effects to gas mileage and great improvements to performance. My pinging is partially due to the rediculous heat here in miami, because when its cool there is no pinging only once it heats up after a while of running. Anyway I am not ignorant to the cons of E85 however in my opinions the pros make it worth it for me. And most importantly I may be putting dependency on E85, but at least I am supporting my country and not those damn people that XR8D302 is going to protect us from. (again thanx XR8D302 )

 

[GTA_V6_Mustang]

And for race applications (Which I want to get into soon) I would make sure E85 is all I ran instead of that leaded crap that is a carcinogen.