Any power gain going from gasoline to E85?

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Just wondering if it would be worth the trouble to switch over from gasoline (93 octane) to E85 in a street/strip car with a 418" smallblock. Will E85 make any more power?

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I cant say for fact but when I switched to E-85 I
went exactly the same ET BUT I havent tuned up the
timing yet to see ... plus for me its CHEAP fuel
and I buy it at my local Meijer so its easy to get
(summer fuel only)

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Has anyone encountered any long term effects of E-85? The new "Flex Fuel" cars mention more maintenance and degrade of the fuel system with the use of E-85 in their owners manuals.

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Nothing yet but its only been a couple of years now

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Has anyone encountered any long term effects of E-85? The new "Flex Fuel" cars mention more maintenance and degrade of the fuel system with the use of E-85 in their owners manuals.

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It should make a slight gain, but it depends.
What is your engine/car combo now? What does it run? Is E85 available near you? Do you plan on running it in the winter? Winter mix (70-75% ethanol) should not cause you any detonation issues due to your "low" CR and octane requirement, but it will require a tune-up adjustment (mixture) when you change from 80-85% to winter grade.

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It should make a slight gain, but it depends.
What is your engine/car combo now? What does it run? Is E85 available near you? Do you plan on running it in the winter? Winter mix (70-75% ethanol) should not cause you any detonation issues due to your "low" CR and octane requirement, but it will require a tune-up adjustment (mixture) when you change from 80-85% to winter grade.

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The motor is a 9.7 to 1 compression 418 with Indy 360-1 heads, a bullet roller cam, and a 1000 cfm Pro systems carb. Its in a 72 Scamp and runs 6.60's on motor and 5.90's on spray. I mix some 110 with the pump gas when I spray it. Any issues or problems with running E 85 all the time?

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The only issue you would have running it all the time
is that using a carb you would need to re -tune it
in the fall and again in the spring for the winter
summer grade fuels... injected cars its done for you
in the computer (larger injector pulse)

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Has anyone encountered any long term effects of E-85? The new "Flex Fuel" cars mention more maintenance and degrade of the fuel system with the use of E-85 in their owners manuals.

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I don't have any experience using any alcohol/ethanol in a race engine. But I have seen several fast alcohol bracket cars, and they run cooler. They also require a much richer air/fuel ratio. I have not heard of anything good from its use in street vehicles and this site backs up some of what I already knew, and offers some more information.

Negative ethanol info.

(Don't mean to turn this into a political thread, just adding to the info pool and people can make their own determinations.)

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The link you posted is propaganda, plain and simple. Further I cant see that it has bearing on us hobbyists or racers. You have to understand there is a HUGE difference between E10 gas and E85. Of course E10 gas is going to cause some problems(Esp in newer outboard engines), the typical passenger car fuel system was not designed for E10. E85 is a completely different animal, when your fuel system is right for it.

FWIW, in regards to your statement of a much richer fuel mixture. Sort of a false statement. FWIW, my street car get about 9-10 MPG on gas, about 7 on E85. FWIW, the 9-10 was with a pig rich carb and 3.23 gears. THe 7 is with a decent tune and 4.30s.

To the OP, you need to find better info, say raceon85.com and go from there.