[Cichoskiss]

hey all multiple questions on e85.
before we start my search button isn't working if you have a link to these answers just post that.
1. what all is needed in changing to e85 car is all stock except headers and no cats.
2. live in michigan it gets very cold car is driven all year unless there's snow I heard cold will cause problems when you have e85.
3. when you run e85 can you switch back to 93 octane like a flex fuel car just run it empty then fill.


thank you for help

[SSDanny]

If you go flex-fuel, which there's lots of kits out there for our car, then yes you can switch from e85 or 93 whenever you'd like or run both. Regarding not driving your car when it has e85 sitting, generally if it's sitting for more than a month it can cause a problem, but others say they haven't had a problem with e85 sitting in the tank for months.

[exxit]

All you need is a flexfuel kit (like EFI or skidmarkperf) and a retune. I would find your friendly local LT1 familiar tuner and see which one he likes working with.

[Baker]

I would be more concerned with winter e85 mixes then I would the actual could having an effect on the car

[Cichoskiss]

would running the flex fuel so the same performance as just running e85 all the time.

baker...what do you mean more worried about mixes. is it like 93 where they have a winter and summer mix

[SSDanny]

Originally Posted by Cichoskiss

would running the flex fuel so the same performance as just running e85 all the time.

baker...what do you mean more worried about mixes. is it like 93 where they have a winter and summer mix

If you mean flex fuel as in 93 and e85, then no, performance is not the same as just e85. But if you mean running the flex fuel sensor and only e85 in the tank, then yes, same performance.

[Cichoskiss]

Originally Posted by SSDanny

If you mean flex fuel as in 93 and e85, then no, performance is not the same as just e85. But if you mean running the flex fuel sensor and only e85 in the tank, then yes, same performance.

I meant straight e85. i was wondering if having the flex running would be crappier performance over just e85 only tune.

[JohnE]

Originally Posted by Cichoskiss

I meant straight e85. i was wondering if having the flex running would be crappier performance over just e85 only tune.

If you are going to do a tune specific to E85 it would make sense to buy and install the flex fuel sensor hardware which is cheap compared to buying the tuner device or having someone tune it for you. With the sensor, the car will work with any blend of ethanol, so you can fuel up with a mix of fuels, or one or the other. Without it you would be stuck purchasing E85 fuel only which could be problematic.

The ECU in the Camaro has a table that has a blend factor for the different amounts of ethanol sensed in the fuel line. There is a separate "adder" table present in the computer that is used to add spark advance to the normal gasoline spark table. So for example when the sensor sees 50% ethanol in the fuel, it will blend the two tables values.

[bybcous]

Other than the price of e85, there is no benefit of running it for daily driving use to me. I run 93 up until i know im headed to a track then i run e85 for about two fillups to flush all the 93 out my car. This picture is with one gallon of 93 in my tank and 16 gallons of e85, next tine i fill up i should be arouns e80. Most of the e85 around here measures out to only e79

[SSDanny]

Originally Posted by Cichoskiss

I meant straight e85. i was wondering if having the flex running would be crappier performance over just e85 only tune.

When your car is tuned with the flex fuel sensor, they do a 93 tune first, then they do an e85 tune only. So that way the parameters are set to either 93 only, e85 only, or a mix of both. So no, running the flex fuel sensor won't cost you any gains compared to an e85 tune only.

[1slowssm6]

Originally Posted by bybcous

Other than the price of e85, there is no benefit of running it for daily driving use to me. I run 93 up until i know im headed to a track then i run e85 for about two fillups to flush all the 93 out my car. This picture is with one gallon of 93 in my tank and 16 gallons of e85, next tine i fill up i should be arouns e80. Most of the e85 around here measures out to only e79

your exhaust tips stay clean if you run it daily

[SSDanny]

Originally Posted by 1slowssm6

your exhaust tips stay clean if you run it daily

You def are not lying! But it's either frequent stops at the gas station or constantly cleaning your exhaust tips lmao.

[JohnE]

Originally Posted by bybcous

Other than the price of e85, there is no benefit of running it for daily driving use to me. I run 93 up until i know im headed to a track then i run e85 for about two fillups to flush all the 93 out my car. This picture is with one gallon of 93 in my tank and 16 gallons of e85, next tine i fill up i should be arouns e80. Most of the e85 around here measures out to only e79

You must get more power out of E85 though right? The cost savings for me are substantial. So far I am getting about 83% efficiency out of the E85... I paid $1.63 for E85 near O'Hare airport today. That is equivalent to $1.63 / 0.83 = $1.96 for a gallon of premium fuel. 93 Octane at the same station was about $3.00 per gallon. So thats a savings of $1.04 per gallon.

Out of curiosity, what are you paying for E85 and what is the price of 93 Octane in your area?

Note, my 83% efficiency factor is based on me averaging 20.5MPG for 4,000 plus miles on premium unleaded. I have been burning E85 for 400 miles so far and am averaging 17.2 MPG. So 17.2 / 20.5 = 0.839.

[Cichoskiss]

I just want to say thanks to all. e85 is usually around a dollar cheaper by me and a lot of stations sell now. but I was told e85 is not friendly with the cold which is why I am so curious on the flex fuel.