Running on E-85

Is anyone here running E-85 on the street? I'm planning on building my engine to run on it and I'm wondering how others have set their cars up to run on ethenol.

Thanks.............Ted

Well 8.1:1 comperssion will not work!!! More like 11.2:1 or more with some Elde Alumumn heads. Carb must be sized for more fuel flow. There are more mods that must be done too. But not a bad deal to work out.

what compression do the new flex cars have that run on e85.....???

certainly not 12 to...probably 9 to 1...

search google for E-85...a ton of info out there.

Flex Fuel cars/trucks must run on pump gas too so they have lower compression. When you run them on E85 thier a total dog.

12-12.5-1 will work real well with e-85 along with iron or aluminum heads. DTHemi run 15.9-1 on his big stroker Hemi on E-85. Dave

I don't want that $hit in my 440.

A low compression engine will run just fine on it, even better than gas, however... it will suck fuel like crazy. If you don't want to build an even bigger gas hog than a 440 already is you need to bump the compression way up as in 12 to one. Flex fuel cars still have low compression gasoline engines not e-85 engines. I have never heard anyone (that actually owned one) claim they go slower, as a matter of fact they go faster and the gas gauge goes down faster also. If the engine was desighned from scratch to run on e-85 then the mpg differance would be little if any. I ran it in my 5.9 durango 99 neon 68 cuda with the MPG motor 95 maxima on a regular basis, none were flex fuel engines and MPG hardly changed at all and in some cases (maxima)mpg improved, the flex fuel computer dumps in more fuel. The only time I had a problem with e-85 was the neon but after the first 1/2 tank it was fine, I think it removed water in the bottom of the tank.

Yep, low compression is just fine on E-85. A bunch of us who run dirt track cars are running it now, and in the hobby stock class we are limited to 9:1 comp. Runs great and runs cool! Everyone that I know that is running it with succecss has had a carb worked over specially for it, though. We do burn through it more, though, like Dave said.

I understand that to get the full benefits from e-85 the engine must have more compression than a gas engine. My plan is to run iron heads to maintain heat better.One of the rumors is that hardened valve seats are a must. I'm hoping that someone here can shed some light on that subject.

Thanks.............Ted

E-85 brings extra oxygen with it chemically. Since the big limiting factor in most engines ability to make HP is the air and more importantly oxygen they can take in, E-85 can make more HP if you increase the fuel flow at the same time you switch to e-85, it is like pouring in liquid oxygen witch has a lot more oxygen molecules than oxygen in a gas state like air.

Also since the whisky in it evaporates very quickly it cools the air and lets the engine breath in even more oxygen and it allows more compression on top of the already high octane rateing.

Contrary to popular beleif you do not HAVE to add more fuel for the engine to run, yes it will lean it out but it still does not burn as hot as a lean engine on gasoline and in my experiance never hurt anything.

I'm considering building a max MPG 318. Would it be worth it to do the E85 mods (high CR/carb mods etc) from scratch?

I would have loved to try about 11 or 12 to one compression on mine. I don't think it would get much better MPG than a gas motor but it would have more power for sure.

Aint gonna get in to the pros and cons again as I participated in that venue on the race forum. Bottm line - performance gain is less than 2.5%. The negatives ( which mostly go unspoken - for obvious reasons ) are for the most part unmeasureable. so, how many E85 stations are , say, within a 150 mile radius of your house?? How many tracks are selling it?? Without getting too technical, those two questions alone were enough of a deterent for me - for the time being. Race gas aint cheap ( I just paid $7 a gallon for 110 ), but it was available accross the street from the track I raced at - that was last Saturday. Also remember, if you build specific for E85, backing up ( so to speak ) aint gonna be for free.

Basicly if you have or build a high compression race motor you can run it on race gas or with a modified carb,run it on E-85. If you can buy E-85 locally use it, it's generally cheaper than pump gas. Other than the carb change you can go either way,(that's assuming your fuel system is up to the extra volume, most race cars fuel systems are overkill to begin with). The motor will run 10-20 degrees cooler,and make a little more hp.
What's not to like? . On the street I generally got within 10% of my best gasoline mileage IF I drove nice.
E-85 LOVES compression, I'll say it again E-85 LOVES COMPRESSION. You'll have a hard time making as good a mileage with E-85 but you can come real close. If I build another E-85 motor it will be at 13.5-14-1. Dave

Don't forget stainless fuel lines or a good braided hose, I wonder how long they will still offer e-85, seems to not be as popular.

you can drink ethanol so it is not gonna hurt your fuel lines. Methanol on the other hand, bad stuff, very corrosive.

you can run the new plastic fuel lines for e-85 and e-100, correct?

I wouldn't. Teflon or stainless would be my choices.

The engine that I have now was dynoed at 595 hp on 93 octane pump gas. It has 10.4 cr.
If I bumped the cr to 13.5 or 14 and used e85 would I see any bump in power or is the hassle not worth it?
Do you need to go to forced induction to see good power?

E-85 alone makes a few more HP no matter the compression. 3 points of compression make a big differance in power, especially TQ. Now imagine doing both at the same time. By makeing those changes alone you should get a very nice boost in power, I would expect around %10 more power give or take a little from there. Also the smell of combusted e-85 is much easier on the nostrils and eye balls than gasoline.

I think it would be worth it, even if it meant pulling the motor down and swapping pistons. I sure wish we had e-85 here. I would bump the compression a little in my cuda and put in a smaller cam, the one I am putting in is a little bigger than I like so it can bleed off a little cylinder preasure.

Here is the cam I am using now.
248/254 @ 50
.600/.604 lift
110 centerline, installed at 106
Is this cam alright? It is a solid roller.

i dont run it on the street yet but i will next summer when everything is togheter..
9.7:1 compression stockstroke 340 with edelbrock heads and a 242/248degre@.050 solidroller
and a twinscrew blower it what i think will make it good..
from what i have been told the fuellines will be costly

That cam should build some decent cylinder preasure, it will not take advantage of the e-85s high octane and cooling ability but it will run very good and make a few more HP than pump gas just because of the extra oxygen in the ethanol. I would not be afraid to bump at least another 2 points compression, personally I like living on the edge and would add another 3 points.

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That cam should build some decent cylinder preasure, it will not take advantage of the e-85s high octane and cooling ability but it will run very good and make a few more HP than pump gas just because of the extra oxygen in the ethanol. I would not be afraid to bump at least another 2 points compression, personally I like living on the edge and would add another 3 points.

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noticed what i wrote wasnt realy clear, i will get my 2-3 extra points of compression from a litle 3.3liter twinscrew supercharger i also like living alitle on the edge this combo but with alitle more compresion ran pretty good on pumpgas not that long ago