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Posted by: zen motorcycle Dec 7 2006, 02:45 PM

Has anyone looked into what it would take to rebuild an engine to make it E85 compatible. I hear it is supposed to make more HP than 10% sounds like a good way to pick up some added HP's

Just wondering

Posted by: Crazyhippy Dec 7 2006, 02:52 PM

e-85 has less energy per gallon than reg gas, so your mileage will go down.

The re-build would require new rubber throughout (including inside the fuel pump and injectors) as e-85 eats regular rubber.

BJH

Posted by: bondo Dec 7 2006, 02:59 PM

Making it work is no biggie, taking advantage of the ability to make a little more power probably is a biggie. I'm no expert, but I'm guessing you'd have to at least change the compression ratio.

Posted by: messix Dec 7 2006, 04:32 PM

head temps would go down!

Posted by: alpha434 Dec 7 2006, 07:46 PM

Big compression difference to get comparable horsepower, efficiency

But I was thinking the same thing.......

and by the time you get the same h.p., you're making the same amount of heat.

Posted by: messix Dec 7 2006, 08:08 PM

no so young one.

you can go up to 12-13/1 compression with e-85 to get "some more power" on the t-4 maybe 10hp worth.

fuel consumption will still be higher than straight gas.

the evaporative nature of all alcohol fuel and the lower cumbustion temps will not get as hot as with gas fuel.

800hp 410ci sprint cars run a stupid small radiator and no fan, and still have a hard time getting heat in the the engine.

Posted by: messix Dec 7 2006, 08:10 PM

e85 might be the turbo friendly fuel for t-4s.

Jake any thoughts or tests planed?

Posted by: Crazyhippy Dec 7 2006, 10:56 PM

still will have the normal turbo problems... the heads will still try to seperate from the cylinders under boost, fuel wont help that.

I had a methonal burning outboard.. 375HP and could pick the motor (powerhead, not complete) up and carry it across the shop.

BJH

Posted by: cnavarro Dec 8 2006, 10:28 AM

The problem is availablility. Even here in the corn belt, there only one E85 gas station, and it is on the far side of the county - over 30 min away and nowhere near my normal driving routes. Fill-ups would be a pain. Not to mention, don't plan on going anywhere you can't find E85. Now a flex fuel type 4 with two different fuel maps, maybe even twin plug to allow a little more compression than normal on pump gas, that would be awesome :-) LOL

Posted by: MattR Dec 8 2006, 12:49 PM

I just read an SAE paper that said E85 has a 7% advantage on gasoline in specific energy.
edit: specific energy is a measure of energy per WEIGHT, not volume. So you will consume more gallons of gas, but the specific energy is higher, which is how efficiency is measured. Its the same reason audi is winning all endurace races now with the diesel p1 prototype.


To my understanding, the downfall of E85 is politics. I dont mean to make this a political thread, but I've done some research on it. E85, obviously 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, can be derived from many things. The E85 in the US is made from corn, which takes eight times more energy to produce then sugar. Sugar would be a great alternative. In fact Brazil uses 20% sugar based ethanol in every gallon of gas they pump. The hold up is congress. Domestic sugar is very expensive and tarrifs prevent sugar to be imported as a cost effective alternative. The US has a 54 cent per gallon import tariff on sugar based ethanol to protect corn producers from competition. So, if the US drops the cost of their domestic sugar (which would mean wealthy white men in the sugar industry would take a hit in their pocket book) OR if the US allows foreign sugar based ethanol to be imported at a lesser tariff (which would mean wealthy white men in the corn industry would take a hit in their pocket book), sugar based E85 could be the alternative fuel of choice.