Or for a hell of a lot cheaper. Adaptronic ECU - $1400-ish Flex fuel sensor - $170-ish Walbro 460LPH E85 pump x2 - $378 Top Feed and 1000cc+ injectors if wanting over 400rwkw - $1500 I just don't see the point in changing the lines/fpr/etc and will not be doing so on my own zed. Few more fun facts about ethanol fuel, you can max out your ignition timing at around 35-38% of ethanol.....seen MANY cars hit MBT within this ethanol content range, but there is still a bit of a power gain going to E85 over E35 due to the extra cooling the fuel will have.
You will need to change your rubber fuel lines tho. Stock stuff will get eaten up slowly. This will clog your filters. Not sure about the FPR but better to be safe than sorry imo.
Its the old rubber lines that aren't ethanol compatible . todays synthetic rubber lines are ethanol compatible Plus I think 20 year old rubber lines should be changed anyway even for 98 as maintenance .
I did some additional research on using the flex fuel function. What i stated before with regards to interpolating between 2 distinctly different tunes was incorrect and referring to something entirely different and older. My bad...... The Adaptronic ECU uses a single tuning map done in VE and based on the ethanol content sensed by the flex fuel sensor, and taking into account the stoich ratio for each fuel type applies corrections to that one VE map. Having a quick look at Haltech, they employ the same strategy by simply applying corrections to a single tuning map for petrol. So, nope sorry, no multiple maps used by at least these two premium ECU manufacturers. I didnt bother looking any further. The basic VE requirements are essentially identical for both fuels and any additional fuel trims between the fuels range usually from nothing to a maximum of +-10%. So no funky tuning schemes for different ethanol percentages. Further corrections to timing can be invoked to take advantage of the higher octane rating of E85 (105) and these corrections are applied proportional to the ethanol content. The only power to be gained simply from changing fuel is possibly some additional inlet charge cooling. Not a lot be gained with typical injector placement so close to the valves and subjective testing on various cars showed no real increase in HP over straight petrol without more aggressive ignition settings the ethanol will support. E
Yup agreed, the rubber line replacement was in reference to the stock lines. Speaking of which, i have 7m of Gates Barricade E85 5/16 compatible hose if anyone needs some
The key reason you would want to run E85, especially in a turbo car, is so you can run more timing. Typically with a PULP98 fuel, the more boost, the more timing you need to take out to prevent detonation. With E85, you can keep this timing in and then some. On many engines you can advance the timing as far as you want (until it starts losing power) without any risk of detonation. This and the cooling effect on the fuel/air charge are the primary reasons you'd change to E85. It allows you to run high boost with advanced timing for more power. So regarding flex fuel tunes, if you don't run multiple timing map tunes, are you really benefitting from the whole exercise?
I applied the typical 50% loading for all the things you forgot to get and underestimate in first budget, plus you didn't include a tune in there and gaskets/hoses that generally get replaced when you pull apart the plenum. So I only exaggerated a bit
Little real world note for those considering e85. It does have bad points when running real rich and little timing http://www.yellowbullet.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11715860 Doesn't like to be rich at all from my limited experience
Depends on the whole setup tbh, i've seen a few big blocks on blow through setups running 10.8AFR but at 20PSI or so. The main problem i think is people running pump fuel timing numbers, low boost and running that rich. Meh, mid 11's is where i'd be at 98RON or E85(converted ofcourse).
Regardless of the fuel, as the timing is retarded, the EGT rises. Exhaust valves and sundry sharp edges in the combustion chamber, hot enough, can result in pre-ignition (NOT detonation) and all sorts of dramas come with that. As in that thread!!! CHT's must have been thru the roof to result in that land melting like that. E
