Premium was $3.929

 

WTF is this for real?

 

What mods have you done to your car, in order to run E-85?

 

Yes, today only. I replaced the 24# injectors with 32s. That was optional but I was having to run max FP on the 24s and they were maxing the duty cycle. I replaced the 23 year old rubber fuel lines under the hood with teflon core lines, just for safety. And also reprogrammed the chip to give it more fuel and advance.

 

Nice to see you did a E85 conversion right. A lot of people would just put it in.

E85 can be good it your car is setup for it. Gas mileage will stink on ice. The stoicometric ratio for E85 is 8:1 compared to gasolines 14.7:1. It will allow more timing advance, compression=more power. This because it has a high octane rating and resists pre-ignition. At that price the cost of converting might be worth it. What is E85 every other day?

 

For the last month, E85 has been hanging around 80¢ cheaper than premium.
Just noticed, I Joebucked the thread title.

 

LOL

What the Hell is Earth Day ?

I know damn well that publicity campaign for E85 was not created by an Illinois Politician.
They are famous for stealing money from the rest of us poor SOB in Illinois.
I know you know that too.
Indy is not that far away from Illinois.
Old news travels fast.

Is daily driveabilty and throttle response always good for you in all weather conditions on E85?

I know you are a Racer too but roughly how many miles do you get per tank full with E85 in your Vette?......

Driving normal meaning fast footed driving like you love too and slowing down when you see the Hawaii 5' O or your fuzzbuster goes off 2-3 miles before you see that cop approaching you ?

Thanks,

Brian

 

If you didnt sniff the exhaust, you would not think anything was different in the tank. Winter or summer. I do have it a bit rich for the winter. Wanted to be safe and its not, fouling spark plugs rich . Just a little. Throttle response is fine, I have a lot of advance in the bin. Its not possible for me to just putt around. I have a lead foot and it takes very little throttle to get the car past the speed limit. Thats why I drive this car. Every trip to the grocery store is like riding a roller coaster. It saves me $5 on a fill up per week on average.
Edit, I get about 14 mpg, compared to 16 on premium. It still gets 20+ on the highway.

 

My 2011 truck has the flex fuel option.. I ran one tank of E85 then I looked at comparisons on the cost per mile. In my truck it made no major difference in cost per mile so I switched back ...

 

I am believing your testimony and results.

Because there are always one or 2 negatives going about doing things different from the rest of the bunch including myself.

What sort of an ignition system do you use?

I do not want to put a magneto on your Vette.
There are some negatives using them on the street.
It can be a SOB to get your car started in cold weather using a Vertex magneto because the engine oil gets so thick slowing down the magneto rotation speed.
Need at least 160 crankshaft RPM's to fire a Magneto reliably on the street.
But above 2k rpms they work hot & at 7K there is no contest of the longer duration spark present & higher current shines above anything else used.

But if you are using a stock HEI, you could benefit from a longer duration and higher current ignition coil.

MSD's are OK. I have used them in the past before I discovered MAGS.

Some Mallory Ignitions Ignitions shine, light alcohol based fuels nicely with a long duration & high current hot spark.

Its one of those things that you have to try out for yourself.
It may help, then again it may not on E85.

But if E85 is like Methanol alcohol & Nitromethane to light properly in a performance based engine ....... a very hot(BRILLIANT BLUE) high current spark with around 25-30+ crankshaft degree rotation - duration spark like a Vertex magneto(30-40) has will be extremely beneficial in your application & use.

Stock style GM HEI ignitions maybe have 10-15 degree crankshaft rotation spark duration.

Takes longer spark time to light methanol alcohol & nitro I know for A FACT( tries to go out at 1st)

I may swap out to E85 this year & try it out myself.
I am in the cornbelt too.

I can or will set up your dana 36 or dana 44 with a gear ratio swap for free if lend a hand if needed to complete the conversion.

Almost positive I will with some details.

Figure out something.
We are not that far apart Indy & Peoria,IL.

Brian

 

Stock HEI is fine in my car. Th e E85 likes compression. If you up the compression, then you would have to up the ignition. I only have about 10.6 to 1.

 

Ignition Current & spark delivery requirements are unique to every engine build and driving or racing use.

You have a modified C4 motor by yourself, and you drive fast likewise.

The Predetermined & set Static Engine compression is just a small factor at play.
The actual running dynamic engine compression and work load is 100 times more important.

An ignition coil only puts out as much High KV voltage as needed, perhaps 4-8kv @ engine idle.

At 5-9K RPM's the ignition coil will put out 35- 100KV + depending upon how hard the engine is working and actual work load of the engine.

Spark Current & spark duration time remains constant.

You can verify this yourself with an old SUN TV Cathode Ray Tube style ignition scope with vacuum tube circuitry or older Snap On Counsler series Digital storage oscilloscopes.
I have and use both oscilloscopes.

SUN is my favorite. It is not affected by the extreme EMI interference from a Vertex magneto unshielded spinning close to 10,000RPM's.

Something you cannot say about more modern digital TTL based electronic oscilloscopes.
They tend to shut down or freeze up from EMI energy present in the airwaves nearby.

Like I said, ignition upgrade may not help 1 bit for you.

But it may help alot too.
Just have to try if you want & desire more torque & HP.

I have almost always found more power with a better ignition in place and used correctly.
I did on my 87 Vert too with the stock TOP END GM TPI & cylinder heads.
I did my own tricks of course elsewhere in the motor & drivetrain.

Brian

 

In otherwords,......

if you can ignite that E85 fuel completely somehow down to every last molecule or speck or it,

You will be rewarded with more power, higher attainable speeds, and faster acceleration rates to 100 MPH + on your trip to the grocery store.

LOL

I like using my 87 Vette to run to the store 15 - 50 miles away of my choice at 2-3 AM to get a pack of cigarettes and cup of coffee.

Old habits don't die.
Just old dogs do.
Used to use my 70 TA for that errand.

Brian

 

Every time I have done the math it pretty much works out the same as far as cost per mile. The increased octane is about the only advantage I see. E85 isnt readily available in NE FL as far as I have noticed so it doesnt make sense to have to hunt it down. I probly would run it if it was.