E85 Tune Anyone?

[Ninkumpoop]

I plan on getting a custom tune from a shop sometime in the next month or two and was wondering if I should get an E85 map, as well. Anyone here have any experience with E85 (besides people who drive flex-fuel and the like) and know how much of an increase you can get? Plus any idea on what a shop would charge for the 2nd map for the E85 tune?

 

[AutoEuphoria]

I would not suggest that. Ethanol does pretty nasty stuff to fuel systems that aren't built to handle it. I'd look into a meth injection kit before an e85 map.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

An instructor at my school that teaches the class that deals with alternative fuels says otherwise. He says the older cars had the rubber seals and hoses slowly deteriorate but the newer cars are made with different materials and can handle it without a problem. E85 is a higher grade octane than 91 grade fuel, is cheaper per gallon, and directly replaces fuel in the tank. At the same time, you don't get as many miles out of E85 compared to gasoline and there aren't too many pumps around that sells it. It should be safe seeing as how my course book claims newer cars are fit for it (as long as you tune for it) and I found a guy at my school running on E85 with an Evo 8. Stock internals with bolt ons (stock turbo) running on 26 lbs of boost with his E85 tune.

Plus, ethanol in E85 is an alcohol similar to methanol in the water/meth kits. If the alcohol base in methanol doesn't kill the hoses and seals, ethanol should be the same way.

 

[AutoEuphoria]

Plus, ethanol in E85 is an alcohol similar to methanol in the water/meth kits. If the alcohol base in methanol doesn't kill the hoses and seals, ethanol should be the same way.

Yes, but that is being sprayed into the intake charge, not run through the fuel system. Go ahead with it if you want, but I wouldn't. My friends also have Evos that run E85 (along with race gas)...I just wouldn't trust it. The benefits (higher octane) just don't seem to justify the down sides (less efficient, possible corrosion of fuel system, availability), especially if you can get the same results with a more proven system (methanol injection) on this platform.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

For those of you who have meth injection, where do you guys get refills?

 

[Darth Vader]

You could go to a hardware store. It's called methyl hydrate or wood alcohol. Comes in 4 litre jugs for a couple bucks. It's basically pure methanol. Not such a good idea to fire it up and run it through your engine in a closed garage

 

[Ninkumpoop]

The 4-liter jugs aren't just a couple of bucks; they're more like $8.49 from hardware store websites. For those of you who have it, is it worth the money for the gains?

 

[07speed3]

all newer cars are not setup to run e85...thats why vehicle manufacturers specify that that model is equipped for e85

 

[justanothermp5]

yes but the fuel lines are built to resist corrosion since there is a certain percent of ethanol in ALL gas that u put in your car

 

[Ninkumpoop]

I live in California and I've learned that we have the absolute WORST gasoline. There are so many additives in our fuel to make emissions go down, but at the same time weakens the combustive properties.

I've been researching toluene/xylene (paint thinner; 110/112 octance, respectively) but it's too costly at ~$10 per gallon and risky since I don't know anyone personally that's tried it. I've also looked into going with a nitrous fogger system on my top-mount but that'll take quite a big chunk of my wallet initially, not to mention that it might be difficult to find places that'll refill my bottles.

So far, water/methanol injection and E85 fuel seems like the way to go in terms of price. I haven't been able to find any E85 gas stations near where I live so even that might be out of the question. So for those of you who run methanol injection, where do you guys get it and how much do you pay? I've been getting mixed responses for the price from various people so I'm not sure what to believe anymore.

 

[_MSprotegy]

i filled up half a tank of the corn-liquor once, but i have a dashhawk to monitor my cars vitals. at first it was all fine and dandy, but after a while my car started to run really lean, like 14-13 AFR's at WOT. so i topped off with 93 and after a while (a day or two) the AFR's went to 13-12. my tuner said that since our cars a direct injected that 12.8's are perfect when running E85 as long as you are tuned for E85.

now you have to think, is E85 readily available to you? is Meth readily available to you? if you have a SB you can have a map for Gas and a map for E85. that way if you have the need to run gas you can just switch maps. i'm not saying that its the best choice to run E85 but its one of the better choices. cause if you run Meth and during a run you just happen to run out of Meth you can really mess your car up. and unless you have a highend Meth setup or if you have rigged up an indicator to let you know if you are running low on Meth you might not know if you still have some of the magic juice or not.

 

[Ninkumpoop]

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I'll scrap the E85 idea since the closest station to my house is about 20 miles away. How much are you guys paying for methanol?