Why does my truck run better on E85?
E85 Cools Your Engine Better Than Regular Gasoline
Ethanol burns cooler than regular gasoline. It requires lower combustion temperatures. Also, it creates a thermodynamic cooling effect that regular gasoline doesn't offer.
E85 fuel has a faster ignition time and flame propagation when compared to gasoline. This leads to higher cylinder pressure, as well as increased engine torque and power, gaining up to 20%. The increased exhaust gas flow allows turbos to spool quicker.
Ethanol also has a higher thermal efficiency meaning when it does ignite, the temperature of the combustion is lower compared to pump gas. This allows a turbocharged engine to take more boost within a safe operating range without damaging the engine.
E85 fuel can give you a significant boost in power and torque without breaking the bank for racing fuels. It has a base octane rating of 105 and has the bonus of added cooling properties that add even more knock resistance than racing fuels with the same rating.
The main disadvantage to using E85 is the fact that it's less dense than traditional gasoline. This means that your car will need to burn more fuel to get the same amount of distance compared to petrol, this works out to be about a 30% increase in fuel consumption.
With use of E85 ethanol and appropriate tuning, we saw a net gain of 64 WHP & 38 WTQ over 93 octane gasoline! The gains do not stop there either, E85 enables the limits to be pushed to levels typically only seen with race gas!
The benefits of E85 really come from the higher octane (up to 110, depending on ethanol content and quality). This allows some of the same benefits you see when using methanol injection, meaning you can run more spark (if needed) or boost. This normally translates to 25-50 or more horsepower on a forced-induction car.
Right off the bat, any contest between 112-octane E85 and premium unleaded pump gas (91- or 93-octane) would be no comparison. The E85 offers more power, even before we get into the added ability to run more timing and/or boost from the lack of octane on the pump gas.
E85 also offers several economic benefits: Lower fuel costs due to lower taxes: E85 can cost up to 30% less than regular gasoline. Reduced maintenance costs: Since E85 is a cleaner burning fuel, it reduces the amount of carbon buildup on engines, resulting in fewer maintenance issues.
E85 alone (even with a tuned engine) won't make your car louder. It may change the way your exhaust sounds, but most of the time there isn't a noticeable change in volume.
What are the pros and cons of E85?
E85 has higher octane than regular gasoline. This means that E85 is a lot better for your car's engine than regular gasoline. It is also a cleaner fuel with lesser harmful emissions. On the downside, E85 burns faster and produces lesser energy than gasoline.
So if you have E85 sitting in your fuel system, chances are it's still good. If you're storing E85 outside of the vehicle for more than 6 weeks, be sure to use a metal container. E85, like gasoline, eats away at plastic over time.
Flex-fuel vehicles don't experience a loss in performance when using E85 fuel. In fact, some even generate increased torque and horsepower.
E85 does get less mileage than regular gas, however, it's a matter of crunching the numbers, according to De Haan. He said if E85 is at a 20% discount or greater compared to gasoline, it may be worth it. The fuel can also run in short supply, and sometimes gas stations can have the pump shut off.
If your car isn't a flex-fuel vehicle and you mistakenly add E85 to your tank, you may notice reduced performance and gas mileage. Your check engine light may also appear, but the mishap likely won't damage the engine. They recommend topping the tank off with regular gasoline several times.
Cold temperatures make this harder. So the colder the weather, the more time and energy it takes for ethanol to vaporize. Ethanol takes more time than gasoline to vaporize. This is why a car with E85 doesn't necessarily run or idle the best in cold weather until the engine is warmed up.
If you put lower-octane fuel into your high-octane vehicle, whether by mistake or to save money on gas, you'll probably notice the effects right away: things like poor fuel economy, reduced acceleration, and spark knock, which sounds like a high-pitched pinging or rattling noise.
The drop in fuel economy is because ethanol has lower energy content per gallon than gasoline. E85 also burns faster than regular gasoline because it vaporizes faster. So your engine may eat through E85 faster than regular gasoline.
“So, every gallon of ethanol that gets blended comes with an RFS credit that is today worth about $1.50 a gallon," he says. "Some marketers and blenders are passing along some or much of the value of those RIN credits to consumers in the form of these lower prices.
The highest energy density fuel is hydrogen, the simplest chemical component. Gasoline, which is derived from refining crude oil, contains much more energy than coal (twice the lower grade bituminous) or wood (three times).
Can you run E85 without a tune?
Using E85 in your vehicle without an E85-specific engine tune can quickly ruin your engine. That's because more fuel is needed when E85 is used. If you were to try to run E85 in an engine that was tuned for gasoline, it would run lean. Running lean can lead to serious engine damage.
By blending pump premium (or 91 if you like) with E85, you can create a custom blend of high-octane fuel.
Fuel Economy – E85 vaporizes at a rate of 30-35% on average faster than traditional gasoline. Because of this, vehicles that operate on E85 fuel will typically see a reduction in fuel economy by that same 30-35% rate compared to what the vehicle would experience on gasoline.
Rather than a straight linear curve, the benefit of ethanol is that the first 10 to 30 percent blend of ethanol with a pump gasoline like 91 will radically increase the octane rating of the fuel. So creating an E30 fuel by blending 91 octane pump gas with E85 would generate a fuel with an octane rating of 94 AKI.
Using this calculator Octane Calculator - www.bazellracefuels.com it suggests 11 gallons of E85 and 8 gallons of 93 octane will give a 100 octane formula.
Simply the best non-oxygenated unleaded racing gasoline on the market, C10 does not contain any metal compounds and will not harm catalytic converters or oxygen sensors. Its performance record includes many past SCCA and Ferrari World Challenge championships.
The use of pure E85 in standard gasoline car engines will void the manufacturer's warranty, may disrupt oxygenation control in fuel-injected cars, and may result in power loss. It may also interfere with proper operation of the catalytic converter.
Since ethanol contains less energy per volume than gasoline, FFVs will generally get 15%-27% fewer miles per gallon when fueled with E85, depending on the car and the driver's driving habits.
Sea Foam is safe in flex fuel [SOLVED] | Sea Foam.
E85 flex fuel not only powers your engine but also cleans your engine, fuel lines, and fuel injectors. That's because E85 contains a high amount of ethanol, up to 83%. Ethanol is an excellent cleaner. It clears the engine, fuel lines, and fuel injectors of deposits.
How can I make my exhaust sound deeper?
A cold air intake is one of the best options for getting a resonant, deep-sounding exhaust note from your vehicle. When you rev your engine and finally release the throttle, you'll hear the sound of air flowing through your intake and changing the notes of your engine to a louder, more aggressive sound.
Please be certain to run your tank as empty as you can before switching to your new fuel an mapping. I recommend that with your first two tank of E85 fuel, drive gently until your tank is nearly empty again, fill up with fresh E85 --again: do this twice before feeling confident to drive aggressively.
Not as important if you're previous fill-up was with the same ethanol ratio, but if you're changing ratios, or going from straight pump to an E85/93 blend, just stating that it takes around 2 minutes or so for that to make its way to the sensor.
Ethanol has a corrosive action on fuel-system components, magnesium, aluminium and rubber. Running E85 on older model engines without tuning and replacing some components will ruin the engine in short time. Replacing fuel hoses, fuel pumps, gaskets, seals, fuel filters, fuel injectors, throttle bodies, etc.
E85 has higher octane than regular gasoline. This means that E85 is a lot better for your car's engine than regular gasoline. It is also a cleaner fuel with lesser harmful emissions. On the downside, E85 burns faster and produces lesser energy than gasoline.
It can last years, or it can go bad in as little as three months. Its longevity depends on a lot of factors, including: The amount of moisture in the air.
Do the math and you'll discover that E85 must be priced roughly 28 percent less than gas just to break even. For example, if gasoline is $3 per gallon, E85 would have to be priced below $2.16 per gallon. There are regions in the Corn Belt where E85 reaches this threshold, making it cost effective.
Lastly, the energy density of E85 is significantly less than standard gasoline. This means fuel economy will be reduced, and injectors and the fuel pump might need an upgrade (more on this below).
So the colder the weather, the more time and energy it takes for ethanol to vaporize. Ethanol takes more time than gasoline to vaporize. This is why a car with E85 doesn't necessarily run or idle the best in cold weather until the engine is warmed up.
| E85 | GASOLINE* | |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel economy, mpg | ||
| City | 7 | 9 |
| Highway | 15 | 21 |
| 150-mile trip | 13 | 18 |
Does E85 burn faster then 87?
The drop in fuel economy is because ethanol has lower energy content per gallon than gasoline. E85 also burns faster than regular gasoline because it vaporizes faster. So your engine may eat through E85 faster than regular gasoline.
