I'm curious... seen a lot of threads on here referencing running e85 in Zs... I know (or think I know) from a bit of research none came stock with that flex fuel option, so it means you're spending time and/or money converting the car to accept it.

In my experience in the past, with various rental cars and friends whose vehicles were flex fuel, even with a lower at the pump price, your mileage is worse, enough so that it is more $/gallon than running normal gas. Also, you're limited to a lower octane rating (85 vs. 91+).

I am absolutely certain there is something I don't know/understand which makes this a good choice for some. But everything I know about this corn based gas says it is worse than unleaded. So what's the deal?

 

Look more into the octane part

 

350Z members are converting their car to run flex fuel? I didnt know that. Can you name 3?

 

Nice Fred!

 

I am flex fuel converted...

Cooler burn, ~110 octane, faster spool, more timing.

Much cheaper than C16

 

The "85" refers to the % of ethanol, NOT the octane rating. E85 has a higher octane rating than premium (91+), not lower. My guess is that only a few heavily boosted people are using it.

 

Hmm let me thing , more timing, more boost, more knock protection, more octane, cheaper then race gas. Only down side would be the closest station is 30miles from my house +$15 in tolls

 

Now 4 stations within 4 miles of my house have E85, all are $1.00 a gallon cheaper. For as much as I drive the Z its perfect poor mans race gas.

 

That would be where I was mistaken.

Here in Colorado, it is roughly $0.50 / gallon cheaper, and in my experiences, has always dropped MPG enough that it ended up costing more per mile... but then again, most performance enhancers do that. I did not realize the octane was that much higher.

So... what all is required to make such a switch?

 

There is no reason too unless you are FI or run N20.

In that case, Bigger Injectors, Fuel Pump, Fuel Rails, RFS, Haltech pro EFI With Flex Fuel Sensor or ProEFI with flex fuel sensor.

 

E-85 isn't called that because of the octane rating. It's called that because it's 85% Ethanol. The octane rating of E85 is more like 105 on the AKI scale (which is what all pump gas in the USA is rated with). In addition to being about 105 octane, it cools the cylinders better which reduces detonation.

The bold part pretty much sums it up. It's the Poor Mans race fuel. You get performance comparable to C16 fuel, at a much better price. And it's almost always easier to find.

 

ditto. Now we can all have some thread closure...

 

I know there's more than 3 people using e85. Unless ur boosting there's really no reason for u to run e85 imo. But I love it and I'm never going back

 

High compression NA can also use it, i know of one Z that has the setup NA. Mine may be next.

 

Sounds Awsome. Im sure a lot of setups can benifit from it. I guess I'm manly saying for the guys with a few breather mods and exhaust don't need it. But I don't know for sure.

 

It does cost more on initial investment and more per mile but if it's a high compression NA or high boost vehicle it is well worth the cost. Running a high octane race gas would cost about 10-15$ per gallon and will not provide the cooling effects that alcohol (e85) would. It has double benefits. On top of that you can pump it from a station instead of buying drums to put in your car.

So really it's a matter of comparing 10$ a gallon race fuel to 3$ a gallon e85.

 

The other problem with methanol -- it's extremely corrosive to rubber and aluminum.

 

Good thing methanol and ethanol differ by 1 carbon and aren't the same thing...