LT1 POWR

I've got a couple friends that swear by it, but I'm not convinced and neither is my dyno tuner. I've got dual walbros and 83lb injectors, so I think those will handle the extra fuel, but don't know about my stock fuel lines. What kind of gains could I typically see from switching to E85. One downside is there is only 1 or 2 stations locally that carry it. Its running good on 91 octane and I don't know if the turbo will support any more boost, but they say I could pick up quite a bit just from switching over and upping the timing as little. Anyone running E85?

blue

I know ethanol has less power per gallon than gas, so on each power stroke you'd have less power unless you increased timing. But of course I'm not sure if this decrease would be substantial. And you're right about the fuel lines; I think that's the only difference on cars with the "Flex Fuel" advertisement is that the fuel lines are of stainless steel or something so the ethanol won't eat them.

onefastmx5

I would say the biggest con to e85 from what I've read is the availability. locally we have one station. Crazy inconvienence for a daily, unless its by your house.
Best pro I would say is higher hp over pump, with proper tuning

whitdog54

this, i think gas mileage goes down some as well. You will gain allot more power on e85 with the right tuning. The DSM guys around here love it

Lisa33

You will need aprox 35% extra fuel, stock lines is enough up to over 650hp (procharged = 75hp extra on a turbo)
If you cant turn up the boost there isnt so much to gain if youre intercooled, but if youre non intercooled or on high comp widh low timing its possible to add some extra timing and gain power.

Have tuned a 9.0 comp LT1 to 1080hp, non intercooled and 20+ psi boost on E85.

roguedriver

I would just go with a meth kit and save the trouble. I just run 91 pump all the time with a front mount air to air and spray 100% meth. Granted i'm not pushing 20psi (only around 12), but i've run up to 32deg of timing on the dyno before it stopped really increasing in power and no issues at all. I run on the street around the 24 to 26 range on my timing. I know some of the GN guys run meth only with no intercooler. E85 definitly has its benefits, and if its readily available, its probably another safe way to run on the street. Just depends on if you want to convert to it. I have an E85 station that just went in 5 minutes from my house, but i'm happy with the meth so probably won't be converting over anytime soon.

Ken R.

96capricemgr

Ethanol does contain less energy than gas BUT the idea that the additional power comes from timing is not correct. In a perfect world the plugs would fire at TDC but the flame front doesn't travel fast enough to allow that, ideally you would not start creating combustion pressure till after TDC because any created before that is just wasted.
Ethanol brings with it some oxygen, which is why it is used as a gasoline additive. Since it brings oxygen with it you can burn more of it which most of you already understood.

Lisa33

(sorry for the european messurments but)
The energy that can be relesed widh 1kg air is 2.978 MJ and widh gas 2.959 MJ, It is some oxygen in the etanol but it require more energy to evaporate so the bennefit from the extra oxygen is almost 0, Absolutly not worth the troubl anyway, biggest benefit in my point of view is higher octan so we dont have to retard timing to much.
(or we can run more comp)

96capricemgr

You are missing the part where the ethanol evaporating cools the incoming air allowing a little more to make it in the chamber.

I am not a fan of this goberment subsidy crap but I still understand the science.

It can make more power than pump gas and on a boosted application the intercooling effect is really welcome and well documented to be worth gains. Yes it has hassles like needing larger fuel system, availability and reduced economy, but many folks are willing to put up with those things for the extra HP.

Lisa33

Missing ? Look what i wrote above about not intercooled, Ofcourse there is a cooling affect but it also takes energy to evaporate the E85.
Intercooled, low comp, boost and a lot of E85 will not lead to anythig good since you will have problem to evaporate the fuel.

Back to the first question in this thread. If his not intercooled and his tune has a lot of retard to avoid detonation hi will gain HP beacuse hi can put the timing were it should be. If intercooled and say around 26degrees timing there will be no big difference.
If the boost can be increased its another storry.

My opinions and learn by doing it.

Wild Willy

E85 is less energy-dense, meaning you will get lower MPG's from it, all things being equal. Also, has a higher octane rating, so you can bump your timing up, *maybe* increasing your efficiency a little. You might see a little more HP, but you will be burning more fuel to do so.

The real benefit, in my mind, is that you are burning fuel that is 85% from renewable sources, grain, cellulose, whatever, rather than burning fossil fuels. The fact that a lot of the money spend on your fuel bill stays in this country, rather than going to the Mideast or Venezuela is also a win.

MikeGyver

A stock 3/8" supply line will support over 1000hp... that's not an issue at all.
E85 contains less energy per unit volume but you're burning much more of it because stoich is lower so not only are you putting more fuel 'energy' in the cylinders but you're also runing the engine at a non-neutered ignition timing where it can actually make power thanks to 105+ octane. It's great for making turbod power.

The only real downside is availability, and you burn a third more fuel so your miles per gallon drops effectively making your tank smaller. I've also heard some reports of harder starting during very cold weather.