[gearjammer]

Due to the continued rising cost of fuel (TORCO $6.69) and I have a street strip car I have been thanking of making a change to E85 and I would like to hear some PROS & CONS experiences from those of you that have tried it.

Thanks for the help

Phil

[Big Dave]

Pros: higher octane allows you to run high compression ratios again; which equates to free horsepower. There is a 4% increase in horsepower with an engine that raises the compression ratio one number. So a SBC that makes 370 horse at 8.5:1 compression will make 370*1.12 or 414 horse if the compression ratio is raised to 11.5:1 (3*0.04=0.12 or 12%, and you stick a one in front to get the overall increase from the base power) with no other changes made. If you run nitrous with E-85 you are now burning nitro methane with the same power potential as those guys who run top fuel (all you need is a blower and a motor able to handle 60 pounds of boost). That's the good news.

Now for the bad news:

First it is not universally available and if you go beyond pump gas compression to take full advantage of the alcohol it will leave you stranded if you run out (there is only one E85 station in Florida and it sits in the parking lot of the state capital building so politicians can point to it say how progressive they are (as they take money for their reelection funds from gas companies to keep E-85 away from the populous).

Second you burn more fuel than with gasoline (40% more by volume) to get the car to run at all, and you need to burn twice as much by volume to generate the same heat in the combustion chamber as you would with gasoline (gasoline is a more complex fuel and the heat generated by breaking all of those chemical bonds is what powers the car). You will have to have a carb set up for alcohol (anodized) that has larger passages for the fuel (needle and seat to main wells). Holley will cheerfully sell you one but once again once you go over to the dark side you can never go back to pump gas (it will run beyond pig rich if you can even crank it up).

Finally: the E-85 fuel absorbs water and becomes acidic when it does so. This means it will eat your aluminum carburetor, fuel lines, and fittings, and eat through most plastic seals. If you have an aluminum fuel cell it will probably last a while but keep checking the welds for leaks. Alcohol also dissolves paper fuel filters (the water in it does the dissolving) so you will need a stainless steel mesh or perforated one to strain your fuel. You will need a bigger fuel pump and bigger diameter fuel lines to handle the increased flow rate of alcohol.

It sounds bad but it is still cheaper overall than racing gas, and not as carcinogenic. That is why my next 540 motor that I have designed will run alcohol/E-85 (I just can not leave that free horsepower on the table; because I am a Scott).

Big Dave

[Novaz]

This guy is really helpfull and is where i will buy my kits next year when i convert to dual 1050s

http://www.raceone85.com/