s6m1l88 said:
Despite its higher octane number, e85 ethanol has less energy then gasoline per gallon.
This was taken from Wikipedia Encyclopedia. If it produces less energy than
gas why is every Motorsport making the switch?
"E85 has been repeatedly shown to produce more power than a comparable gasoline fuel, especially in engines that need high octane fuels to avoid early detonation.
[3] Ford Motor Company found that power typically increased approximately 5% with the switch to E85
[4]. Researchers working on the equivalent of E85 fuel for general aviation aircraft AGE-85 have seen the same results with an aircraft engine jumping from 600 hp on conventional 100LL AV gas to 650 hp on the AGE-85. Recorded power increases range from 5% to 9% depending on the engine.
[5][6]
Due to pressure to remove leaded fuel even from racing environments, several racing organizations are looking at ethanol or E85 fuels as suitable alternative fuels for high performance race engines.
In 2007, the Swedish Touring Car Championship,
STCC, will have cars running on E85.
In Swedish
rallying, as of 2006, approx. 30% of competitors were running their rally cars on E85. There is also a rally cup (Ford Flexifuel Cup) using Ford Fiestas in Gr. N, which started in 2006.
In 2006, the
National Street Car Association is adopting E85 as an approved fuel for both their
American Muscle Car and
Street Machine (racing class) eliminator racing classes.
The
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) currently allows ethanol as an approved fuel in several of its racing classes. NHRA approved ethanol is allowed in their bracket classes, Hotrod, Modified, ProFWD, and ProRWD classes to name some of the more popular. At this time NHRA has not announced any plans to include E85 as an approved fuel in the classes that are currently limited to "pump fuels".
The
Indy Racing League is likewise moving to ethanol based fuels in 2006, with 10% ethanol 90% methanol fuel blend, and switching to a 100% ethanol fuel in the 2007 racing season.
General Motors Performance Division's GM Student Cobalt driven by Mark Dickens went 172.680 mph at Bonneville Speed Weeks August 2006, setting a new record for G/FCC class on E85 fuel. This run broke a 19-year-old record of 152.626 mph set by Doc Jeffries in 1987.
[7]
There is much discussion of
NASCAR also making the switch to an ethanol based fuel in the future. During selected 2006
Craftsman Truck Series races, the
Chevrolet Silverado pace truck, such as the one in the GM Flex-Fuel 250, will be fueled by E85, and a marketing campaign with Morgan-Dollar Motorsports resulted in one of their trucks' numbers changed to #85 to promote E85 fuel such as the one used in the pace truck.
In 2006, Shell announced
V8 Supercar will use Shell Optimax Extreme, a premium unleaded fuel blended with five percent ethanol.
Interest in E85 is high enough that there are now competitions for engine builders to develop winning combinations for both power and fuel economy on this fuel. One such competition is sponsored by the AERA Engine Builders Association."
