E85 is AWESOME!

[FoMoCoSHO]

This should give you lots to chew on.

I've been watching for a while, I will be happy to try to translate what was going on you might have ?s about.

[Josephm]

Any updates on this ??

[FoMoCoSHO]

Yes. I'm not sure but it seems the ECU may have reigned in my fun. Boost and power numbers are all back to pre E-85 levels. One factor may be the temp drop or maybe Shell is switching to winter blend. While driving today, I never saw over 10psi boost. The highest I've seen on logs is 13.9. Maybe the colder, denser air is the cause? Hell, i don't know. I filled up with straight 93 today as I want to log fuel trims without the corn to see a baseline.

One point for those wanting to play....torque fuel level is very accurate if you are on level ground. It made it very easy to fill up 93 1st then top off with E-85 so I didn't have to drive with a crazy high mix.

At the current level (around 14%), I've seen no change in fuel mileage.

[Needmoreboost]

Yep, colder/denser air means less boost to make same power.  ECU will adjust. 

[FoMoCoSHO]

Yep, colder/denser air means less boost to make same power.  ECU will adjust.

Whats weird is it doesn't seem to be making the same power. Maybe Torque is just full of crap.

[FoMoCoSHO]

Something else I noticed while running E-85

Commanded AFR changed at WOT after being on the corn for a bit.

On 93 it was around 10.5ish.

On the corn (15%) it was between 11 and 11.2

I also noticed the soot on my tailpipes disappeared.

[Joewee3.5]

I've run a couple of tanks of 30% e85 mix in my truck as well as made several passes at the track.  Fuel mileage was surprisingly no different than straight 93.  Track times were faster than other visits but too many variables to give credit to e85. 

[FoMoCoSHO]

So it's been almost a month off of the corn. I had some errands to run the other night so my son and I went for a drive. It was 26 degrees out and the car was shutting down briefly every time I punched it at 25. Went and put in Shell 93 then topped off with 3 gallons of E-85...went for a drive.

Shutdown issue stopped instantly and for the first time in almost a month, WTQ in the 300's....334 to be exact.  And well into the 300's ever since. Everything looks good in the logs and with 14+% ethanol (95 octane) FRP was still over 2600PSI. The car has been feeling doggy but that is gone, throttle response is noticeably improved.

In short Torque Pro is showing over 30 WTQ increase just by adding E-85

Next fill up I will bump it up to 20% and report back.

[EcoBrick Bob]

Question on your E-85.... Do you know it is actually 85% Ethanol or might it be a winter blend that is in the 60% range? 

[FoMoCoSHO]

Question on your E-85.... Do you know it is actually 85% Ethanol or might it be a winter blend that is in the 60% range?

No, I do not know. The pump isn't marked any differently than it was before. Good question though and I will ask the next time I am there. Doubtful I will get any help from the attendants though. 

[FoMoCoSHO]

http://green.autoblog.com/2007/02/27/when-is-e85-not-85-percent-ethanol-when-its-e70-with-an-e85-st/

So if this article is correct, it looks like E-70 is whats going in now. Thanks for the heads up I hadn't considered this.

[FoMoCoSHO]

This whole labeling issue isn't very consumer friendly...

[EcoBrick Bob]

Unfortunately or fortunately, I don't have issues with E-85 as I have yet to find any in Florida, at least locally.

When in Iowa, many stations have it, but it's SUMMER!   I ran a mix (1/4 E-85-3/4 93 E-10) once at the strip this fall, but hard to tell it's effect as I had installed downpipes and Strip was only showing 1/8 mi info, even though it's a 1/4 mi strip.  I saw a .1-.2 lowering of my times  in 1/8 mi from Torrie's 93 basic canned tune, which in 1/4 several years ago, produced 13.5's. (2 bar sensor -NO spray)  Also had some wheel hop on several runs using my 18"( Michelin Pilot Super Sports, which are quite worn, but the first time at strip with them - 70 deg temps. Hooked up best and best times were with T/C on...  (this has happened before as T/C in Flex cannot be completely turned off.). 

[FoMoCoSHO]

According to this MSDS sheet from Speedway, it appears they use 75-85% alcohol content.

http://www.speedway.com/MSDSList/0137SPE012.pdf

[FoMoCoSHO]

http://www.fsrmotorsports.com/tuning-by-fsr/34-tuning/126-e85-and-what-you-need-to-know-about-flex-fuel