E-85 conversion is it worth it?

Readout is showing 68MPG.

 

That better than Chongs econo box.

 

I got 16.6 MPG on my last tank of E with the majority of the driving being city and spirited back road fun. E was exactly $1.00 per gallon less than 91 at Holiday in Ramsey yesterday.

 

well this thread answered all of my questions! looks like i'm running diesel! thanks NF....

 

oh i second this! i have only noticed BP is the only station in the metro that really carries 93, i've looked at how many BP's compared to stations with e85(almost every holiday) and theres actually more with e85!

 

Is there a google maps I can save to my phone of all the current E85 stations?

 

Close



http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/locator/stations/route
.

 

68mpg? I have a hard time with that one...did you reset the trip when you filled up? if so, looking at your gas guage and mileage i would say thats off by quite a bit. Now if it was only 3 miles going downhill the whole way, i could believe lol

 

Ben is running much larger injectors than stock (which is very common for those running E85)...which significantly affects the OEM MPG calculation

 

You know what they say about guys with big injectors..

 

I use an app called "octane" by wex inc.

I don't use it for find the cheapest premium octane around town. Its collected data from transaction. They also have a function for E85 and its pretty cool.

 

The MPG reading is an average of the whole 223.8 miles as shown on the trip odometer.

 

well i'm sold

 

please dont be...

think about it, stock gas tank is 16.9 gallons, 223.8 miles if the trip was reset when he filled up and he is exactly at the 3/4 empty mark.

 

17.7 mpg, if that helps.

 

at 576 whp with 1200cc injectors, and big ol fuel pump. i think at that point there should be no care about fuel economy either way...just saying. Ben's not advertising it as a ecobox...or is he

 

The reality of the situation is, to put it simply, if you don't run E85 you just are not very cool.

 

I'm not cool working on it though

 

You guys think 3/4 tank is 16.9 gallons? That was actually 11.6 gallons.



I was getting about 19-20MPG's when cruising to Chicago and back.

They are 1600cc injectors with ~55psi base pressure, so output similar to 1800's.

 

^see point proven! thank you ben. so really with 850 to 1000cc injectors and stock turbo, intake, etc. maybe looking at 22 average instead of my 25 average...not a big loss imo! except for my heavy foot. that could cause issues on e85.

 

Lol!

 

I don't know what all the great white hype is all about... Can't I just get a tune for 87 and be done with spending money... That or can Obama subsidize my car parts so my car can afford to be drunk

 

Expect a ~25% drop from what you have now. Injectors are irrelevant other than how they make the readout look.

 

Did i say 3/4 tank was 16.9 gallons? No i said stock tank size is 16.9 gallons, you were at 3/4 tank and if your trip was reset at the time of fill up, we all know you are getting no where near what your readout is saying. I dont know much about the stock readout or how it calulates, however im sure your injectors are throwing that off.

I also know you are being sarcastic, but some newer member might not think that.

 

yeah i'm not worried about it, its part of the fun

 

First two fill ups have been 17mpg. I should note when I bought the car originally, it was tuned for 93 octane and also got 17mpg. I leaned out the low load range a small amount and bumped it to 20mpg. It's not something I've done with E85 though, but it's certainly something someone can do to tweak highway and off boost cruising mileage.

 

E85 burns the tongue!

 

I know that

 

oh and also have it known that there is no 93 octane near BIR There IS E-85 though not too far away. And 87, 89, 91, 92, 110 leaded race gas, etc...but no 93.

I should also note that I got about 7mpg's on 93. Looks like E-85 will help me out significantly!!!

(ok, 7 mpg was on the track, and I'm sure E-85 will yield the same or worse on the track. At least it will be slightly cheaper when refilling!)

 

Anyone use a GOOD app on android for locating E85?

 

Just tuned for e85. Yes, it is worth it.

 

I drive my 06 wrx wagon a lot for commuting to work. I average 18-19 on every tank. The weird thing is I use to fill up Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays depending on where I had to drive and what not. Even with a lower average MPG, I'm still filling up Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so whatever I guess. Overall the best decision I ever made. I love me some corn!

 

The only reliable one i know of is that government website. The apps don't always load data, so you can end up at a station that no longer has E85. I have had that happen to me before up north using an app from the market. So i just keep to the government website, it is always up to date.

 

Ok cool, that was one of my concerns about the AFDC website, but I'm glad to hear that it stays updated!

 

I use KeenDriver from the Android market. You can find many different forms of fuel including eletric, hydrogen and E85.

 

+1 for Keendriver, has their phone number and can give you directions.

Hasn't let me down yet

 

cool, thanks!

 

Okay so I've been doing some research about E-85 and have read the threads on here that I have found with E-85 as the title. I also read the iwsti.com link someone gave which has a lot of info about converting and gas mileage and how it works but little on how it works with the stock motor. I have an 08 STi with full exhaust and a stage 2 tune from NF. I am curious on the life of my motor when switching to E-85 with the power and torque increase. I'm in college so I can't afford to pay for a motor rebuild until I'm out of school. I am interested in doing an E-85 tune to get about 320-330whp as I saw a few people with those numbers on the iwsti site. Would that be pushing the capabilities of my motor or would I be in good shape with those numbers? Also, am I insane to think I could get those numbers reliably without other mods besides a fuel pump and injectors? Any input would be helpful as I've heard the motor can only hold 350whp, 400whp, and I've also heard it can't hold much more than 300whp reliably. I want my car to be tuned conservatively and be reliable for a few years as I won't be modding it anymore than that until I'm out of school most likely.

 

I've been running my 05 STI on E85 for the last 35K miles with no issues. Car was completely stock when I made the change.

 

Holy thread revival.

Yes you will need a fuel pump. Yes you will need injectors.

 

I didn't want to start a new thread and get yelled at for being new and not reading the old threads. So if I add injectors and a fuel pump is that enough supporting mods or do I need more to run reliably? Will my motor hold up long-term with that kind of power? I have a friend who is a mechanic and has a 350whp corn fed WRX and said my motor would not last if I switched.

 

Who did you get your car tuned by or who do you recommend now to get it tuned for reliable power?

 

He's not wrong. Plenty of people blow their motors with even more supporting mods than that and a conservative tune. To be brutally honest, if you can't afford to fix it you can't afford to mod it. I basically blew people off when they gave me that advice. It was really solid advice in hindsight.

Plenty more people run E85 with just a few mods for ages and have no problems. Just know you're rolling the dice.

 

Is it because I'd be pushing the horsepower maximum of the motor or would it be from the added boost associated with running E-85? I want to run it but I would want a very conservative tune. I don't need huge power gains but would want to be able to run E-85 for slight power gains.

 

People have issues with reliability on these motors bone stock, then at all ranges mods and HP. There isn't a magic number that's safe. They're just kind of explodey engines. If you're risk averse it doesn't make much sense to convert the whole fueling system and/or start adding more power because more power.

If you're hell bent on it I'd look really hard at flex fuel kits with inline monitoring and the ability to respond to changes in ethanol content. I'm looking at the COBB setup for mine.