Is Anyone Running E85?
 

I ask out of curiosity, and don't plan to convert. I have seen a few posts where it was discussed, and I the subject interesting, and very educational.

I am also wondering if I were to have trouble passing a tail pipe emissions test, would adding some E85 to the tank before the next test help? Say, 10-20% E85, and the rest prem dino? What problems with this cause for my motor? Would I run super lean, and risk detonation? Again, I ask out of curiosity, and have no plans to actually add E85 to my car.

I will take that as a NO.

Forum member 1badMX5 was, made just shy of 500 hp IIRC. Since alcohol has less energy density than petrol, he ran out of injector at 1000cc and stepped up to 1600cc injectors before parting the car out.

Seriously, "E85" is probably the easiest thing to search for here. You are only going to get hits about, ummm, E85. Not like trying to search "turbo" and get a zillion hits.

I did perform a search, but found a lot of threads where people are bickering about the merits. In fact, most of the threads were painful to read, and I never really got a feel if anyone is actually running E85. I was also trying to run up my post count since you can't do much around here until you hit 10 posts.

wondering the same thing. Planning on switching to e85 and would like to know what steps i need to take to switch. I have 600cc injectors, wallbro pump. So far i am planning to add 30% more fuel to my very conservative fuel map and see how it runs.

i make 340 whp now on 93 octane at 22psi

i can make 440 whp on E85 at around 27, 28 psi without changing a thing other than adding 1600cc injectors/advancing a whole bunch of timing and retarding the intake cam a whole bunch

yeah, i'd say it's definitely the easiest way to make more power.

All i need is for the state of Florida to hurry up and build those U-Gas stations up and down the FL Turnpike, currently, the nearest E85 station is 25-30 minutes away.

Been running E85 for over a year... no problem.

Add 30%+ more fuel and monitor your knock. No other changes made to the car... just it gets pissy in cold weather...

Cheers,
Prospero

30% more fuel? I can see some of the track guys running out of fuel pretty quickly with our tiny stock fuel tanks. More power is good, but on a DD I can see where 30% less fuel economy across the board would suck.

I don't know about there, but here in corn country, E85 is $1.89 vs $2.69 for premium, so the savings offsets the higher consumption. Still the same cents per mile.

I'm in corn country too, I don't even have that much access to the stuff. All I see are corn rows, and the crops have been bumper the last two years...

You know... I hadn't really thought about the on track fuel consumption thing. That could be a little bit of a road block. I'm only planning on running track days, TT, and Autocross though, so I might be able to get away with it. I was planning on running E85 just for kicks and giggles, since I'm only planning on making ~250whp. Might just have to go for 94 octane and skip my epic E85 fuel system build. :laugh:

a car on E85 will typically waste 30% more fuel under FULL throttle.
not regular driving.

Exactly what I wanted to hear:-). How much boost are you running?

11-13 PSI, IC only... no ignition management at all... on a 99. 325cc injectors with BEGi FMU maxxed out with 02 clamp. Jerry rigged as hell but it's my beater and been reliable as piss for the past 1+ year of all weather driving.

As for the fuel economy... I notice that a full tank does not get me as far as it used to; but on the flip side is that the e85 cost less and lets me run more boost. Win-win situation.

Ohh... car runs great without boost too.. the e85 made a difference even after the turbo came off. Left all the other parts on (FMU and whatnot) and e85 still makes the car feel better. Who knows........

Now on my 02 SE, not planning on E85 since Adaptronic let me use 600cc injectors and adjust timing. If I have time and some help, I will research how to do E85 on my 02.

Cheers,
Prospero

Go look on miata.net there are some recent discussions there about turbo E85 setups. Think BIG injectors.

Wow, this has to be a first, suggesting someone to to m.net for a real world turbo application and not which wiper blades or air freshener to buy. What's the world coming to?:cry:

Don't worry, hyper will be along shortly to propose that the E85 fuel be super-cooled prior to injection by passing it through the heater core backwards.

Yeah, kind of sad... There is a guy over there that just posted impressive dyno results for an E85 setup. I do not know if he posts here also, maybe under a different name. 425+ WHP, 1600cc injectors. Clearly he knows how to make E85 work.

1.8 Dyno GT30R - MX-5 Miata Forum

No doubt. Check out his recent question near the end of this thread...
1.8 gt30 - MX-5 Miata Forum
:facepalm:
Fortunately the OP set him straight, albeit in a polite, m.n acceptable manner.

I'd hate to see Travis lose a sale, but it would suck if Hyper buys an Adaptronic.