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e85 pros and cons


frkkevin

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  • 2 months later...

I know, thread resurection, but would be a little intrested in this if I was compleatly out of warranty. I really wish there were more than a couple in CA to make it a better alternative. I did find this product for converting to E85 and being able to switch between them. Not sure if this would work for us, but they have models espically for boxer engines (i.e. subaru and porche (sp)):

http://flextek.com/index.htm

Ben (2014 Outback SAP w/ eyesite, 2014 Tribeca Limited, 2006 LGT limited sedan)

Subaru Ambassador PNW

 

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  • 1 year later...

Does anyone have any quantitative data to support the fact that the varying ethanol amount in E85 will have adverse affects?

 

I had dismissed E85 as a possibility until I recently saw that the rallitek/avo staged kits come with an E85 map. My thought was that if a company as reputable as rallitek were putting out a "generic" E85 map, it must be a safe option.

http://www.rallitek.com/st3s20mo.html

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Because a general argument against E85 is that it is not regulated and can vary from E85, E90, or E70.

 

A 20% difference in ethanol content is well within the fuel trim authority of the ecu. From my experience, the actual variability is surprisingly minimal. I do buy my E85 from the one and only E85 chain in Colorado though, so that might help consistency.

My '05 LGT

My '07 Supercharged Shelby

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If I was running E85 I would change fuel trim "D" to start above 35 g/s vs 40 (maybe even as low as 30 g/s), that way trim D would learn much faster.

 

I would also not tune as lean as some here have done, although it seems to work just fine, if you tune it reasonably conservative (AFR) then you should have no issues even if it is E60.

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Ethanol is a bit different, you can get away with leaner targets because the higher gasoline content the richer your AFR's will be. Then if the gasoline content is lessen it really doesn't effect much due to E85's ability to prevent detonation. If you have a conservative fuel target everything will work its self out just fine. The biggest concern for tuning E85 without a dyno is just going past MBT since the stuff just doesn't knock.
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We went with E85 because it is now regulated for quality, and more stations are carrying it. We have found it to be much more reliable than methanol injection setups, as well as making more power. Oregon and the mid-west have excellent quality E85 / 105 octane biofuel.

 

Our mapping is approved by Cobb and is very conservative to allow for fuel quality variances. We do strongly suggest using only E85 (vs other mixtures) or just using pump gas. The kits that are E85 capable are all 'dual fuel' and allow you to switch between tanks of E85 or premium gas.

 

We have several other reasons for E85 other than just performance....

 

What is E85?

 

E85 is 105 octane and made in USA. E85 is the term for motor fuel blends of 85 percent ethanol and just 15 percent gasoline. E85 is an alternative fuel as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy. Besides its superior performance characteristics, ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline; it is a completely renewable, domestic, environmentally friendly fuel that enhances the nation's economy and energy independence.

E85 has an octane rating of 105 compared to premium gasoline's typical rating of 92. This allows more boost and a leaner air fuel ratio under load. This allows for tuning that would likely result in catastrophic failure due to engine detonation, as the octane rating of gasoline is not high enough to withstand the greater compression ratios (boost).

 

E85 can reduce emissions of certain pollutants as compared to conventional gasoline or lower volume ethanol blends. For example, E85 is less volatile than gasoline or low volume ethanol blends, which results in fewer evaporative emissions. Using E85 also reduces carbon monoxide emissions and provides significant reductions in emissions of many harmful toxics, including benzene, a known human carcinogen.

However, E85 also increases emissions of acetaldehyde—a toxic pollutant. EPA is conducting additional analysis to expand our understanding of the emissions impacts of E85. Acetaldehyde (systematically: ethanal) is an organic chemical compound . It is a flammable liquid with a fruity smell. Acetaldehyde occurs naturally in ripe fruit, coffee, and fresh bread, and is produced by plants as part of their normal metabolism. It is popularly known as the chemical that causes hangovers.

If all vehicles used e85, this alone can reduce ozone-forming pollution by twenty percent. A typical e85 ethanol vehicle operator can save as much as four tons of CO2 every year if they used e85 ethanol instead of regular gas.

 

The ethanol in E85 is also known as ethyl alcohol, the same kind of alcohol you shake with vermouth and serve with some olives. Used as a fuel, it is often added to gasoline (E85 means 85% ethanol 15% gasoline). Most of the ethanol produced in the world today is "bio-ethanol," or ethanol derived from the starch or sugar in a wide variety of common crops, or feedstocks. Most commonly, ethanol is made by fermenting sugar with yeast (just as drinking alcohol is), distilling it to remove most or all of the water and then usually denaturing it (this steps isn't required to make fuel), altering it so that more than a swig will land you in the hospital. So don't drink it.

 

Compared with conventional unleaded gasoline, ethanol is a particulate-free burning fuel source that combusts cleanly with oxygen to form carbon dioxide and water. Use of ethanol, produced from current methods, emits a similar net amount of carbon dioxide but less carbon monoxide than gasoline.

 

Since some of us run no cats, and even high flow cats are not as clean as the factory emission setups, we feel that the growing demand, quality and availability of E85 is the right choice for our future in performance and our need for emissions.

 

 

Thank you,

 

Sean Sexton, VP Subaru - Ipd/RalliTEK

 

www.RalliTEK.com

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