[AZIROC]

Sorry for such the noob question but E85/flex has never really been on my radar and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. I've seen alot of people say they broke their engine by going lean. how does this happen? Putting to much E85a in?

For me/my vehicle, id probably have to go more with a mix E40-E50? Mods will be full exhaust, roto, and 2.3 upper. Car is 90% track (HPDE) maybe port the blower and put a 103 on it down the line, that's about it.


Getting E85 isn't the EASIEST but not impossible

[Chrome383Z]

I’d reach out to Ted at Jannetty, he has a 125 package for ZL1 that sounds very close to what you are looking to do. He’s done a lot of those.

E is awesome, but I have two stations within a mile or two of my house. If I had to drive a ways to get it not sure what I’d do. Fortunately you have a ZL1 so you aren’t as compression limited like I am with my SS. I pretty much have to run E to keep things safe…

[CW3SF]

E is really not that hard. I’ve only read of one person damaging their engine (read on this forum) and it sounded like maybe he ran a higher content than normal without data logging real time to monitor it. If you just don’t try to push the envelope and stay under what your tuner tells you is your max, you’ll be fine. I can run full e85 but I normally cruise around on e70, which is what my closest pump provides, so I don’t have to mix at the pumps. On my build E85 produces over 90whp more than 91 octane gas. Well worth it.

[cjperformance]

Originally Posted by AZIROC

Sorry for such the noob question but E85/flex has never really been on my radar and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. I've seen alot of people say they broke their engine by going lean. how does this happen? Putting to much E85a in?

For me/my vehicle, id probably have to go more with a mix E40-E50? Mods will be full exhaust, roto, and 2.3 upper. Car is 90% track (HPDE) maybe port the blower and put a 103 on it down the line, that's about it.


Getting E85 isn't the EASIEST but not impossible

Short answer to how to be safe is ensuring you have a proper tune applied, and not exceeding the fuel system capabilities. You may need some minor mods on the low side fuel system such as a fuel pump voltage booster. Im not an expert there.

As you said, having an ethanol content higher than can be accommodated by the fuel system for a given set of conditions such as ambient air temperature (or more accurately the temp of air that is injested by the engine), will cause more volume of fuel to be required than the system can handle. If you get a gauge that reads e content in the tank, or other means to read e pct, then there are some simple phone apps that will calculate the proper amount of eth and gasoline to add on a fillup to attain your desired final mix ratio.

[KingLT1]

It's pretty simple...don't run more E content then your fuel system can handle. For what you are looking to do E50 is probably where your limit will be. It's not hard to mix...60/40 mix of E/pump gas will get you close.

I would also purchase a 20.00 obd2 bluetooth dongle on Amazon, download torque pro app, and you can check E content with your phone.

[MartinLe]

Originally Posted by AZIROC

Sorry for such the noob question but E85/flex has never really been on my radar and I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle. I've seen alot of people say they broke their engine by going lean. how does this happen? Putting to much E85a in?

For me/my vehicle, id probably have to go more with a mix E40-E50? Mods will be full exhaust, roto, and 2.3 upper. Car is 90% track (HPDE) maybe port the blower and put a 103 on it down the line, that's about it.


Getting E85 isn't the EASIEST but not impossible

I purchase a 55 gallon barrel of e98 from Tyree Oil. I'm sure you have a local oil/gas distributor near you.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by MartinLe

I purchase a 55 gallon barrel of e98 from Tyree Oil. I'm sure you have a local oil/gas distributor near you.

The station that sells it is about a 15 minute drive from my house. Sounds far but I am in that area atleast once a week as it is. So remembering to bring some fuel cans wouldn't be difficult.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by KingLT1

It's pretty simple...don't run more E content then your fuel system can handle. For what you are looking to do E50 is probably where your limit will be. It's not hard to mix...60/40 mix of E/pump gas will get you close.

I would also purchase a 20.00 obd2 bluetooth dongle on Amazon, download torque pro app, and you can check E content with your phone.

Got it. That's what I figured...but again, wasn't sure. So if I was tuned for E50...basically don't try to get E51. Haha

[Joshinator99]

Originally Posted by AZIROC

Got it. That's what I figured...but again, wasn't sure. So if I was tuned for E50...basically don't try to get E51. Haha

You won’t be “tuned” for E50, you’ll be tuned for E which means any amount. The car will scale the AFR and timing automatically. King’s point is that your tuner will help you figure out where your fuel system can no longer flow enough fuel to support Wide Open Throttle (WOT). If your case probably E50 will likely be the safe spot, but E51 isn’t going to kill your motor. But just don’t go pushing your luck. Now if you happen to have a bit too much E, you can still drive the car, just don’t get into boost until you can splash some regular 93 into the fuel tank to get the mix down to your safe spot.

[Chrome383Z]

Originally Posted by KingLT1

It's pretty simple...don't run more E content then your fuel system can handle. For what you are looking to do E50 is probably where your limit will be. It's not hard to mix...60/40 mix of E/pump gas will get you close.

I would also purchase a 20.00 obd2 bluetooth dongle on Amazon, download torque pro app, and you can check E content with your phone.

I was afraid of mixing at first but found out it’s not bad at all. I have a banks gauge and actually have it as the largest output on the display. People just look at you funny after you fill up with E and then throw the 93 pump in for like a gallon or two. Haha

The only thing you’ll have to remember is to watch the temperature. I can run E75 at 85F but it’s on the edge, still playing around with E content at lower temps but looks like I’m good at E70 around low 70s (5.5ms). Or just run a safe E content all the time. Seems like E60 is where it’s at for most of the gains anyways.

[AZIROC]

Originally Posted by Joshinator99

You won’t be “tuned” for E50, you’ll be tuned for E which means any amount. The car will scale the AFR and timing automatically. King’s point is that your tuner will help you figure out where your fuel system can no longer flow enough fuel to support Wide Open Throttle (WOT). If your case probably E50 will likely be the safe spot, but E51 isn’t going to kill your motor. But just don’t go pushing your luck. Now if you happen to have a bit too much E, you can still drive the car, just don’t get into boost until you can splash some regular 93 into the fuel tank to get the mix down to your safe spot.

Oohhh. Ok. I get it now. So I really got to make sure I find a tuner who knows his shit which since I'm local, it will be cordes

[SSallday]

I was just at Janetty Racing in June. I got the 125rwhp package which includes the flex fuel kit. For the dyno, the car had E70 but that was probably just for testing purposes. He said anything up to E60 would be ok for cruising. I’m guessing the stock components in the engine can’t handle full E. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

[CW3SF]

Originally Posted by SSallday

I was just at Janetty Racing in June. I got the 125rwhp package which includes the flex fuel kit. For the dyno, the car had E70 but that was probably just for testing purposes. He said anything up to E60 would be ok for cruising. I’m guessing the stock components in the engine can’t handle full E. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

Not correct. I’m able to run full e85 (Denver) You just need more fuel pump and more injector. Internals are fine on it. Most people don’t change HPFP and injectors because they are expensive. I did it because I love running ethanol and I wanted the most power I could get without generating more heat for road course tracking (stock pulleys).

[Camaro1973]

Originally Posted by CW3SF

Not correct. I’m able to run full e85 (Denver) You just need more fuel pump and more injector. Internals are fine on it. Most people don’t change HPFP and injectors because they are expensive. I did it because I love running ethanol and I wanted the most power I could get without generating more heat for road course tracking (stock pulleys).

Your making less power because of your elevation. The stock system can only handle e50 with bolt ons and no pulley with a low side. People don’t sometimes understand this.