E-85 conversion thread!

[Adam Connell]

Ok... so after playing with a 75% gas 25% e-85 mix I can honestly say that there is real potential here. I changed NOTHING and noticed a bump in power and the car seemed "happier".

So, What all is needed to convert a car to E-85? Can it be done with a stock computer? Chip? Walbro pump?

Is anyone running 100% E-85? Is is streetable(mileage?). When they get a station here in Denton Im going to convert both my bike and GN over. There is one at home in Houston near me, but nothing up here in Denton. I now live 5 minuts from a very nice 1/8 mile track and it's killing me not having the GN here... so much so that I have rented a garage to put it in.

So we know it makes power, but lets start piecing together a "conversion kit"

 

[KevinB]

I would like answers to these questions:

1.) I have -8 feed and -6 return, would this be big enough for my potential hp level of mid-nines? Car does high 9's now.

2.) Can an aggressive E85 tune make more power than and aggressive c16 tune?

3.) I here of the e85 being corrosive. I have ss braided lines now with the stock fuel tank and fuel rails. Am I OK?

4.) What do I use for a wbo2 sensor?

5.) What is a good wot a/f ratio?


Thanks for the answers! There are a few turbo Mustangs running around here making big hp running this stuff. For <$2.50 a gallon, thats hard to beat!

 

[TurboDave]

I would like answers to these questions:

1.) I have -8 feed and -6 return, would this be big enough for my potential hp level of mid-nines? Car does high 9's now.

2.) Can an aggressive E85 tune make more power than and aggressive c16 tune?

3.) I here of the e85 being corrosive. I have ss braided lines now with the stock fuel tank and fuel rails. Am I OK?

4.) What do I use for a wbo2 sensor?

5.) What is a good wot a/f ratio?


Thanks for the answers! There are a few turbo Mustangs running around here making big hp running this stuff. For <$2.50 a gallon, thats hard to beat!

I hope you have better luck getting your questions answered. They didn't even answer the simple questions I posed.

 

[tom j]

I would like answers to these questions:

1.) I have -8 feed and -6 return, would this be big enough for my potential hp level of mid-nines? Car does high 9's now.

2.) Can an aggressive E85 tune make more power than and aggressive c16 tune?

3.) I here of the e85 being corrosive. I have ss braided lines now with the stock fuel tank and fuel rails. Am I OK?

4.) What do I use for a wbo2 sensor?

5.) What is a good wot a/f ratio?


Thanks for the answers! There are a few turbo Mustangs running around here making big hp running this stuff. For <$2.50 a gallon, thats hard to beat!

1.I went with -10 & -8

2.From what I have read you can make more power on e85

3.If the stock tank is plastic lined I wouldn't worry about, as far as the fuel rail I am running the stock one, E85 really doesnt become corrosive unless it comes in contact with air again this is just from the research i have done

4. innovative Lc1

5. my cars seems to like 11.5, I have read that a richer tune actually makes more power.

As to how much more fuel you will need, my car ended with 26% more at WOT, so if you do the calculations you can figure how big of pump and if your fuel lines are big enough, I can tell you for sure you will need 160lb injectors
Take care, Tom

 

[GNVYUS 1]

I have a huge E85 system on my 69 GTO, so here are my suggestions as I will eventually go E85 on my GN also.

-8 will be plenty if you already did the upgrade, it's really a pump volume issue from that point on. I would go with the Magnafuel 500 if you want 9's on E85.

After talking with AMS about E85 and race gas, they were not able to get the same tune as C16, but they were really close and said it was close to 110 to 112 octane.

SS fuel lines are good to go.

But keeping the stock rail with a high HP E85 car seems pointless. Check out the massive restriction the stock rail has on the feed tube, Champion Rail would make the most sense.

E85 is super friendly to sensors, so it will come down to what wideband you like. Personally I have two different Innovative widebands and the LC-1 with the gauge is really neat. I have this in my GTO and got it for $280.

Many have stated that E85 likes to run a tad richer than normal on forced induction cars, 11.0 to 11.5 seem to make great power and torque. On torquesters like GN's I would try it around 11.0 first. I am going to dyno this out to see what really makes the most power on my GTO.

The fuel tank is going to be the long term issue, will the stocker hold up or rust out and cause madd debris problems. I would for sure get the tank professionally cleaned first if I were going to use it. E85 will clean like bleach in your fuel system and having a dirty stock tank is asking for trouble. I have read a few guys having to ditch their fuel filters after a couple of weeks of driving.

I was probably going to go the Ricks Hot Rod Shop stainless sumped tank route next year so maybe someone on here will beat me too it and they will have a tank ready to go for us.

 

[TurboDave]

OK, let me ask again, in an effort to understand.

If I wanted to go to E85 (available in a couple of Knox stations) what changes would I expect to have to make? Can I realistically expect to run straight E85, or settle for some kind of "mix"?

PTE44
MSD50's
FMIC
Translator Pro/Speed density
Bone stock motor.

Casual daily driver, doesn't see a lot of track time, runs low 12's in 93 octane trim now. Not looking to run much faster.

Chip programming changes?
Injector changes?

 

[Adam Connell]

At what boost are you running low 12s?? Do you have alky already, or is that on straight 93. This stuff allows you to turn your boost up into the mid 20s So allow about 8-10hp for every lb of boost and you have your power answer. I dont know the answer to the rest of your questions though.

 

[TurboDave]

At what boost are you running low 12s?? Do you have alky already, or is that on straight 93. This stuff allows you to turn your boost up into the mid 20s So allow about 8-10hp for every lb of boost and you have your power answer. I dont know the answer to the rest of your questions though.

Me? Straight 93 octane no alky on 20# of boost.

 

[Adam Connell]

Damn man not bad for 93 octane! I would expec to to be able to pick up 5-6lbs of boost. Hell if your car is running that good on 93 then get an alky kit and call it quits!

 

[Super6]

subscribing

i am wanting to do the conversion to E-85..From what i have gathered i am going to sump my stock tank and go with an aeromotive fuel pump and -10 feed/ -8 return line. Billet fuel rails and probably a Champion intake. i love my alky but if i could run straight E-85 i would jump on it. i have contacted Eric (turbotweak) about using the ME-R with the E-85. i have the wideband correction that i really like so i hope i can make it work...i am looking to run 10.0's or a little better so i will need some big injectors...i will report back..Bob

 

[Jerryl]

.....Casual daily driver, doesn't see a lot of track time, runs low 12's in 93 octane trim now. Not looking to run much faster. ...........

Dave,
The "only" benefit(s), in my mind and in this application, would be less $ for fill-up at the pump, a cooler intake charge as the result of spraying more fuel, a cleaner tank and injectors, and the ability to run at a higher margin of safety with slighty more timing.
Not sure about $/mile.

Damn man not bad for 93 octane! I would expec to to be able to pick up 5-6lbs of boost. Hell if your car is running that good on 93 then get an alky kit and call it quits!

Adam,
I think sometimes, myself included, we forget that not everyone is out to set land/speed records.
FWIW, sometime ago, I tried a 25% mix, about 95 final octane.
Ran fine, no issues.
With straight 93, my set-up would lite the Knock gage 1-2 light max sometimes. Not a flinch with the 25% mix.

 

[GNVYUS 1]

If you are not using a wideband for tuning during your E85 conversion/experiment you might as well just throw away a couple of thousand of dollars.

If you are using your current chip and running any E85 with it you are running lean. If I were to do it on the GN at minimum I would get an LC-1 and then go with a Turbo Tweak chip. The Maf Pro with the wideband WOT lock would be ideal but wideband and TT chip should be fine, ME-R is nice too.

 

[Adam Connell]

Adam,
I think sometimes, myself included, we forget that not everyone is out to set land/speed records.
FWIW, sometime ago, I tried a 25% mix, about 95 final octane.
Ran fine, no issues.
With straight 93, my set-up would lite the Knock gage 1-2 light max sometimes. Not a flinch with the 25% mix.

Yup I found the same thing. 25% mix was just about right to make all of my knock problems go away. At that level the risk of running lean is minute at best if your tune is already safe. Hell there's already 10% ethanol in our gas already!

 

[TurboDave]

Damn man not bad for 93 octane! I would expec to to be able to pick up 5-6lbs of boost. Hell if your car is running that good on 93 then get an alky kit and call it quits!

That seems to be everybody's suggetion, but sorry, not an alky "add on kit" kind of guy.

I'm not looking to light the world on fire and don't need the worry of the extra "stuff". I know those that run it don't worry about it, but at the boost/timing levels I see people running with Meth, if any part of the system fails (say at the 1,000 foot mark in the quarter), kiss most of your motor goodbye.

I'm just interested in what the average joe needs to do to the car to run E85 and it's possible benefits. If I have to spend $500 to $1000 just to make the car safe enough to do, then no thanks.

 

[TurboBuRick]

That seems to be everybody's suggetion, but sorry, not an alky "add on kit" kind of guy.

I'm not looking to light the world on fire and don't need the worry of the extra "stuff". I know those that run it don't worry about it, but at the boost/timing levels I see people running with Meth, if any part of the system fails (say at the 1,000 foot mark in the quarter), kiss most of your motor goodbye.

I'm just interested in what the average joe needs to do to the car to run E85 and it's possible benefits. If I have to spend $500 to $1000 just to make the car safe enough to do, then no thanks.

I remember going back and fourth with a guy at some cruise night about alky.
He had the same worries about the system failing. I will agree that there are risks to be taken but there are plenty of other things that can go wrong too. Do we worrie about those?

On the E-85 thing I think it's still too early to get rock solid evidence about all the hype. They say you need more to do what gas does and its corrosive.
Well, getting more in is fairly easy. The injectors are available. Now the corrosive part is where some experimenting may shed some light. We need to soak some various materials in E-85 over the winter and see what happens.

P.S. I have three Boxers. They seem to be a popular k-9 among tb owners.

 

[TurboDave]

I remember going back and fourth with a guy at some cruise night about alky.
He had the same worries about the system failing. I will agree that there are risks to be taken but there are plenty of other things that can go wrong too. Do we worrie about those?

On the E-85 thing I think it's still too early to get rock solid evidence about all the hype. They say you need more to do what gas does and its corrosive.
Well, getting more in is fairly easy. The injectors are available.

That's what I've been trying to pry out of the "experts". I ask these types of questions because I burnt my own chips for years. I simply asked, "what does one do in the chip? Example, my MSD 50's. What do I do bump them up in size and reburn the chip to match?? Not sure what that would accomplish. Do I leave them in and would the chip burner then modify the necessary tables to pour more fuel in, etc.?? Thes are the types of questions I have. IOW, those that are running the stuff, what changes are required??"

Now the corrosive part is where some experimenting may shed some light. We need to soak some various materials in E-85 over the winter and see what happens.

P.S. I have three Boxers. They seem to be a popular k-9 among tb owners.

That's because they're so incredibly smart and personable! People dogs!