E-85

[Black97GST]

Does anyone know if it would be a very good idea to run this "new" fuel in a turbo model Eclipse? I haven't heard too much about it and the gas station down the street just started selling it. I hear its 105 octane (85% ethanol 15% gas). It would be nice if i could use it because its suppose to be cheaper but i have heard it can clog injectors. Has anyone tried using this "alternative fuel"?

[blk_srt]

I actually just toured the ethonol plant on thursday and asked them about this. Its actually closer to 115 octane and because its made with alchol it will destroy any rubber it comes in contact with. Also it will eat away at your vavles unless they are hardened. Thats about it. Oh and ethonol has less BTU's than a comparable fossel fuel.

[crunchymilk55]

my buddy just put down 500whp on pump, read about e85 on the dsmlink forums and decided to try and tune his car on it.

[steviek]

Originally Posted by crunchymilk55

my buddy just put down 500whp on pump, read about e85 on the dsmlink forums and decided to try and tune his car on it.

Thats pretty cool let us know what he ends up putting down I'm interested to know about this.
edit and what problems he has too.

[Black97GST]

welp doesn't sound like im going to be running it in my car lol.

[gthompson97]

It'd be alright to run it if you're only going to run a few tanks, like at the track or something, but I wouldn't run it all the time. Sometimes in the summer I'll put 50/50 mix of unleaded and e85, saves a buck or two and it runs the same.

[l_eclipse_l]

I thought only certain cars could run it, and especially not a turbo car.

[gthompson97]

Any car can run it, but you may get long-term problems if you run it too much on a car that wasn't designed for it.

[blk_srt]

Originally Posted by l_eclipse_l

I thought only certain cars could run it, and especially not a turbo car.

Actually its the oppsite. Its works the best with forced induction. Saab is actually making a line or boosted cars specifically for E-85. Like I said before, it will destroy any rubber it comes into contact with so your entire fuel system will get damaged eventually, also it will corode your valves, so they need to be special, and of course your car should be tuned to run on it. I'm a big fan of it myself, but I would only run it in a flew fuel car or if I have replaced everything I needed to to run it.

[Thor06]

Ha ha, finally I can respond to this.

I was going to get E85 for a long time. I have decided not to, mostly because I dont want to have to get a bigger pump than a 255 and I want to keep the injector price down. E85 needs a lot more fuel, but ethanol/methanol are far less susceptible to knock. Yes, it is only 105 octane, but I remember a local guy saying that he made more power on E85 than he did on some IIRC 110 octane race gas because the E85 just doesnt detonate as bad as gas.

I have heard shit that ethanol will eat away aluminum, but I have also heard the opposite. I will do some testing this summer to see if it does.

You will need fuel control to run E85, and you will be able to support less power on smaller injectors but I think its a worth while mod because as stated before, you can make an ass ton more power on that than any pump gas. I, however, and going to go on normal pump gas and meth/h2o injection due to availability and gas milage and I will be able to stretch a 190 and 650's farther.

[blk_srt]

Ethonal doesnt eat aluminum, it eats rubber and will corode valves over time. Thats coming directly from the horses mouth(the ethonal plant I was at on thursday)