My old work truck gets bad gas mileage anyway. I understand e85 may be 30% worse. 30% worse than a low number doesnt seem like a big deal to me. Ive got two fuel tanks, so range should still be acceptable. I'm seeing that even n/a motors can make more power on corn, and this 5.0 can use all the help it can get.
What all do I need to do? Just a tune? Injectors and a fuel pump? All? More?
watching thread as this sounds like a fun thread :)
why not lpg?
I've seen a few LPG cars/trucks around here... love the idea... don't know how it would be in the real world though
IIRC I believe you need stainless everything for the fuel system, because E85 can cause a lot of corrosion on a gasoline system.I also believe you need E85 specific injectors.
not sure why you would want to unless you were running boost or high compression.
Is the engine use distributor-less ignition? I'm not sure there's enough adjustability in the the ECU and ignition parameters to make E85 work... at least not without a substantial investment in R&D (dyno tuning and/or an aftermarket EMS). I guess the question is "Why?". If just to see if it can be done, sure - go for it. But in an attempt to amortize some level of fuel cost savings? Probably not. It's sort of like taking a gas truck and converting it to diesel - the end result will be more fuel efficient, but the money spent getting to that point would buy a lot of gas.
I have a buddy that switched to E85 4 years ago on a Digi2 Golf. IIRC all he did was larger injectors and an adjustable FPR and set it up using basic math.
He hasn't had any fuel system corrosion troubles or anything. All stock early 90's VW components.
Ian F wrote: I guess the question is "Why?". If just to see if it can be done, sure - go for it. But in an attempt to amortize some level of fuel cost savings? Probably not. It's sort of like taking a gas truck and converting it to diesel - the end result will be more fuel efficient, but the money spent getting to that point would buy a lot of gas.
But gas to e85 will get worse mileage and cost more. Here in San Antonio, E85 is only 13% cheaper than regular gas. A fuel economy hit of at least 20% should be expected, if not closer to 30%, no?
Though I suspect the differential is alot better than 13% in NE.
You will probably gain more by doing some mustang Bolt on's than you ever would gain from e85.....
well, it's a newer explorer motor. with long-tubes.
I'm just remembering the grm article testing different fuels.
m4ff3w wrote: But gas to e85 will get worse mileage and cost more. Here in San Antonio, E85 is only 13% cheaper than regular gas. A fuel economy hit of at least 20% should be expected, if not closer to 30%, no? Though I suspect the differential is alot better than 13% in NE.
NE - Nebraska or NE - New England/NorthEast?
Here in PA, E85 is difficult to get. I've only seen it at PATP rest stops. I vaguely remember it being about 50 cents (or maybe a $1?) cheaper than RUG. The only car I know using it is a trailered autocross Street Modified prepped Evo MR and I don't think that car has seen street use in 3 years.
I understand E85 is cheaper and easier to find in the corn-belt.
one annoying thing about E85 is if you ever want to drive long distances and leave and area where it is plentiful.
I was going to E85 my subaru until I realized that most of where I live around out west doesn't carry it unlike when I was living in Illinois.
I know more places that carry race gas or air fuel than E85, lol. If you are staying local with this truck, go for it.
Definitely need bigger injectors. You'll need a lot more flow to get enough E85 in there. That might also mean more fuel pump. Likely at least a Megasquirt to tune it.
Uh... 30% is pretty huge when you're talking with such low numbers to begin with. Let's say it is at 15MPG right now, a 30% hit takes it to 10.5MPG, we'll round up to 11. That is $8 every hundred miles with gas at $3.25, and $14 from 10 to 7.
In reply to mtn:
This, MPG is a E36 M3ty scale, as it graphs as a hyperbolic curve, when doing such math, things come out a lot more truthful in gallons/100miles. If you look at it this way, it suddenly makes sense why cars haven't gotten much more MPG in the last 20 years(besides the obvious size and weight increase).
Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to mtn: This, MPG is a E36 M3ty scale, as it graphs as a hyperbolic curve, when doing such math, things come out a lot more truthful in gallons/100miles. If you look at it this way, it suddenly makes sense why cars haven't gotten much more MPG in the last 20 years(besides the obvious size and weight increase).
Yup... Check out my post from a few months ago: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/spreadsheet-i-made-showing-diminishing-returns-on-mpg/69195/page1/
If I were going to all the trouble of setting up an engine to run E85, I'd be force-feeding it as well.
Might as well take full advantage of the fuel.
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