Be really careful running ethanol (E30, E40, etc.)

[Chrisklol]

Here is my question, I have an E85 station 2 exits from my house. I have heard about the very very bad gas mileage it gives.
As I commute about 50 minutes one way I kind of thought that it would be a terrible idea. What is the average gas mileage decrease we have seen in our fiesta's of someone running straight E85 and blended E30/40?
I know the difference in power, and seriously am considering it because 91octane is the highest premium octane gas we can get in utah.

 

[Zenga11]

It means that place is mixing 87oct with E85 to give you a mix of E30 (etc ) but at a much much lower than standard octane. Like normally adding 4 gal or so to 93oct results in almost 100oct. But they mix it with 87oct ( not 93oct ) to reach 92-94oct total while still taxing your fuel pumps the sameway the good E30 would.

You def have to mix it yourself. Its really not to hard once you get used to it. If its local to you to get E85, and you don't drive 500 miles a week to/from work, your crazy not to get a E30 tune

Higher octane, smoother engine, quieter running engine, engine runs cooler, and of course a really nice % increase in power. Its addicting.

It definitely sounds the way to go is getting a e-tune. Could you tell me easy tricks or ways to properly mix e-30. My biggest thing is going from one gas station to another trying to find 93 and then a e85. There's not one gas station with both unfortunately.

 

[westcoaST]

if you plan on switching between 91 (SoCal) or 93 octane and e30 it is a good idea to get the Razorlab ethanol content system.
i have mine installed in the glove compartment of my car with plugs that make it easy to remove when I go to the dealer. Also, as i learned yesterday, Accessort has an output called fuel level input which provides a percentage of fuel gallons left in your tank. Multiply this percentage by 12.4 and you have gallons remaining in the tank. I use an android app called e85 mix calculator to determine how much e85 and 91 octane to add, depending on the e number in my tank (usually e10 or e30). It helps if your e85 stations are close by each other. There are 2 gas stations along my route to work that have e85. I either use Arco and Propel in Fullerton, or 76 and e85 in corona. I've noticed it takes about 2 miles for the egauge to register a difference from e10 to e30. Those of you will long distances between gas stations should get a couple of 5 gallon cans from Jegs, and then add them to your tank, along with 93 octane. Its easy to do this once it becomes routine. The first time it was kind of daunting.

Also, I recommend getting an ethanol analyzer test tube from Jegs, or you can get a test tube or tall and thin glass bottle to determine the actual ethanol percentage in your e85. Propel was right on e85. the 76 place is unknown, until they open and I can check them out, probably by next week. I use a holly kit to determine ethanol content. Add e85, then water, mix and then let stand, then read out your ethanol percentage.

 

[Vanilla2]

I've always wondered why E85 isn't used on these cars.

What is the reason behind that

 

[Wimp Lo]

The direct injection system can not handle the fuel volume needed for e85, especially if the car has a tune that takes advantage of that fuel.

I plan on budgeting around $2,000 for a DIY e85 fuel system that will feed a big turbo. That is a bigger in tank pump, new lines, Boomba aux fuel spacer with injectors, GM flex fuel sensor and a microsquirt to control the aux fuel. It is very complicated.

 

[yackyz]

Whats the MPG for a e30-e40 mix?

 

[Wimp Lo]

For me, probably about 12. YMMV

 

[Sourskittle]

Whats the MPG for a e30-e40 mix?

22-ish

 

[Fasta123]

would you guys say the power jump to stage 3 e30/40 from ots 3 is equivalent to stock to ots 3? for the butt dyno and real numbers? I'm stage 3 right now working on 91 etune (1st revision)

 

[Sourskittle]

Vs 91oct ? I'd say its like going from stocl to stg3

 

[golfhack]

Agreed, it's pretty significant.

 

[92FOX]

Subscribed to this thread for future reference. Lots of good info in here.

 

[SQFiST]

all you need to run e30 is a tune? i might have to do this... 2hr drive one way to get the e85 though

 

[jeff]

Hey fellas, great thread. So give me your perspective - my tuner says 10-15hp gain with e30 for me. The nearest pump is about 30 miles away which means I fill a bunch of 5 gallon gas cans every few months and store in my garage mix myself which seems like a bit of a hassle for 10hp.

For those of you who do the same, as the months go on, is it worth the hassle?

Also, more comments on MPG drop would be helpful - a few people gave their "after" MPG but I don't see much info on before E30 vs. after E30. That's a serious consideration for me - I'm getting 34 mpg with mixed city/hwy driving right now on my usual commute, if it drops into the 20s I think I'd regret the E30 tune.

Thanks!

 

[Rhinopolis]

Hey fellas, great thread. So give me your perspective - my tuner says 10-15hp gain with e30 for me. The nearest pump is about 30 miles away which means I fill a bunch of 5 gallon gas cans every few months and store in my garage mix myself which seems like a bit of a hassle for 10hp.

For those of you who do the same, as the months go on, is it worth the hassle?

Also, more comments on MPG drop would be helpful - a few people gave their "after" MPG but I don't see much info on before E30 vs. after E30. That's a serious consideration for me - I'm getting 34 mpg with mixed city/hwy driving right now on my usual commute, if it drops into the 20s I think I'd regret the E30 tune.

Thanks!

Perhaps it's in the way that you drive it? I never trust the onboard gauge, and I always calculate actual mpg at each fill up. I run my car hard because it's a fun car and only used when I want to hoon, and I'm still returning what I feel is a very respectable 23 mpg average utilizing E30 and on the X37 turbo.

I'm sure that if I wasn't getting in to full boost as much and if I were cruising at reasonable speeds in 6th for longer trips on the hey, that I could likely average out much higher. I doubt that I would break in to the 30's, but 27-28 mpg seems very reachable. Total speculation though and I'll likely never test this out.

 

[frankiefiesta]

With the cyborg turbo I usually average 27-29mpg with e30

 

[jeff]

Perhaps it's in the way that you drive it? I never trust the onboard gauge, and I always calculate actual mpg at each fill up. I run my car hard because it's a fun car and only used when I want to hoon, and I'm still returning what I feel is a very respectable 23 mpg average utilizing E30 and on the X37 turbo.

I'm sure that if I wasn't getting in to full boost as much and if I were cruising at reasonable speeds in 6th for longer trips on the hey, that I could likely average out much higher. I doubt that I would break in to the 30's, but 27-28 mpg seems very reachable. Total speculation though and I'll likely never test this out.

Hey man I really appreciate it. Yeah my driving is part of it, I definitely drive economically. But I do go WOT all the time.

My 34 figure is calculated at fill-ups, mileage divided by gallons, I don't trust the mileage computer. It's increased slowly from 32 to 34 average as I've done various mods/tune.

Thanks for the info!

 

[jeff]

I'm still returning what I feel is a very respectable 23 mpg average utilizing E30 and on the X37 turbo.

With the cyborg turbo I usually average 27-29mpg with e30

Anyone else who can chime in on realistic mpg with ethanol? I found a station 20 minutes away that sells ethanol, so I'm considering getting an e30 tune later this summer, just curious about mpg....I'm getting 340-370 miles/tank with my current setup (93 octane, x47 turbo, about 70%city/30%hwy driving). Wondering if that will drop below 300 on e30.

Thanks!!!

 

[Meowoosh]

27 mpg on the high end. But.. i bought a sports car to have fun not save gas. My foot is down on the gas a lot of the time

 

[alexrex20]

23.5mpg avg on E30. And I drive it like an asshole.

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