Thread: 370Z's and E85?
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Old 07-10-2012, 11:22 AM   #29 (permalink)
DR_
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MightyBobo View Post
Cool story.

Are you boosted? Because if not, you're wasting your money, really...
Not quite so cut and dry but for the most part I agree. I suspect on a NA application we would need bigger injectors along with a tune to see any gains. The gains come from the advancing the timing a lot more before knock. Once VVEL is cracked you can run lots of lift before knock, which would give good gains.

The question should be is it really worth the hassle for the limited gains on a NA application? I suspect as it sits now there might be a 10hp increase with a good tune. Is that 10hp worth being tethered to e85? If you just race your car the answer could be yes. If you live in the Mid-West where a lot of gas stations carry e85 the answer could be yes. But if you use your car normally and you don’t live in the Mid-West it would be one big hunt after another looking for fuel unless you have a way to swap ECU maps. So for the majority I think it probably isn’t worth it.

Here is a quote from a friend of mine that tried it on a heavily modified NA daily driver S2000. He is really good at tuning as well.
Not worth it. I got a few ft-lbs of torque, but I could only get 200 miles out of a tank on the highway. Since there are so few gas stations that carry E85, you have to really plan your trips perfectly. It’s also a bit of a pain to switch back and forth between E85 and E10, since mixing them creates E??, which throws off the tune. You basically have to drive until it’s almost totally empty, then flash to the other tune while filling with the new fuel.

Last edited by DR_; 07-10-2012 at 11:30 AM.
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