E85

[nuttyn01]

I know the race cars are doing it but was wondering if anybody has tried the E85 in a turboed 2-stroke application. E85 is roughly 105 motor octane. Give me your thoughts.

 

[turbo800]

Depends on if your talking EFI or carbs...

 

[nuttyn01]

carbed application on 800 xp.

 

[gpr]

I have never ran it in a sled, but i have ran it in 2 and 4 stroke atv's and motorcycles. It works great as it has high octane, runs cool and makes more power than gas plus it is cheap. However fuel mileage suffers as you burn around 30% more. Which is why most will never run it in a sled as fuel mileage is important, or at least it is where i ride. (i have thought about converting my carbs to run it, but the mileage is a huge deal)

 

[turbo800]

As GPR said above fuel mileage is a concern. Its been stated that an Flex Fuel vehicle will loose 2mpg in the city and up to 6mpg on the highway. In FF vehicles, acceleration is said to be about the same. In a carbed application, I would question that...

It's my understanding that E85 has a different specific gravity than gasoline. Most vehicles need somewhat larger jetting when running E85 (~+30%). Some also run a different timing curve too. It does have some nice benefits, but unless its readily available, I wouldn't mix and match fuels.

 

[nuttyn01]

We have it at every gas station in the midwest but I didnt consider the loss in economy. Kind of a deal breaker on todays sleds coupled with a turbo as I think the tanks are a bit undersized to begin with. thanks for the comments.