E85 and stock-ish fuel system

[Big Turkey]

I tried searching but couldn't find much info on this.

Does anyone know if the stock fuel system will physically handle E85? Before I go FI and upgrade my fuel system, I would like to do a test to run E85 on a stock car and see if I can pick up any power from tuning.

Also, how much HP are the stock injectors good for on gasoline if you're still NA?

I am almost out of gas, so Monday I will drain the lines and fill her up with E85 and let you guys know how it goes.

 

[NI-KA]

I don't know much.... But my understanding of the issues with ethanol surround the degradation of rubber parts and rubber seals. The car will certainly burn the stuff. I believe Ethonal has a lower BTU value and so it is a very poor value on dollar per dollar basis.

Think of it this way when purchasing gasoline or diesel. You are buying BTUs (to burn). If you actually adjusted the cost of E85 on a BTU basis it should sell for less to account for the BTU content. Everyone likes to complain about the cost of higher octane (or cetane) liquid fuels. Go over to one of the RV websites and do a search on fuel mileage which takes into account the dollars per gallon burned.
What you will find is that is that on a dollar basis it is really about BTUs per mile.

I haven't looked at the chemical reaction when burning ethonal. Perahps when it is burned it realeses oxygen which would create more complete combustion?

I do remmember running across an article where somebody ran a boosted application with a high ethonal content. It did state that one of the things they did was replace a bunch of incompatible rubber parts.

I wouldn't run E85 unless you are prepared to replace anything in contact with the liquid. Which would include the fuel pump and any rubber hoses, o-rings and seals that may fail after prolonged contact. Plus in order to run it efficiently I would think you would need a different tune on the car.

It sounds like alot of money and time to fix if you have problems.

 

[NI-KA]

Oh and don't forget there is nothing like burning our food supply.

Now I will get on my soap box..... this is not directed at anyone who uses it but rather a political system that forces people to use it.... Oh, maybe someone like Al Gore

Ethonol does not make sense financially, technically or spritually:

Financially .... See my explanation above regarding BTU basis.

Technically .... it produces more "pollution" than it elimintes since it is so very energy intensive to produce. It also makes a different set of chemicals when it is burned which may not necessarily be better than those of traditional fuels.

Spiritually ... what more do I need to say. Are we are brothers keeper? Lets make food more expensive......

From the popular politcal media since it applies so well.

From the Quinn and Rose Show

QUINNs FIRST LAW: Liberalism always generates the exact opposite of its stated intent.

 

[Viperless]

It's a great fuel for forced induction applications. Not so much for normally aspirated unless you're engine has high compression.