mx5cartalk.com

I have heard of quite a few turbo 5's getting around but I never seem to hear of people running E85 of them? Are they able to run E85?

I'm just curious why it isn't more common

Not without the right tuning (ECU), injectors, fuel pump etc. E85 increases fuel use by about 33%.

As magpie says.

Plus mine has new fuel lines, rising rate fuel reg etc etc. I run it on E85 all the time even though it has a flex sensor which recognises any mixture of 98 and E85 thus enabling the ECU to adjust timing etc. It just runs nicer on the E85 and the extra cost of the fuel is neither here nor there for the kms I do.

E85 enables the motor to run cooler or produce more power or even both, to a certain extent. For me, running E85 with a very conservative tune was just part of the plan to avoid blowing up another motor.

davekmoore wrote:As magpie says.

Plus mine has new fuel lines, rising rate fuel reg etc etc. I run it on E85 all the time even though it has a flex sensor which recognises any mixture of 98 and E85 thus enabling the ECU to adjust timing etc. It just runs nicer on the E85 and the extra cost of the fuel is neither here nor there for the kms I do.

E85 enables the motor to run cooler or produce more power or even both, to a certain extent. For me, running E85 with a very conservative tune was just part of the plan to avoid blowing up another motor.

I know what it is but I just don't hear of many on it, I know you have the outlay but you nearly would do all of those modifications putting a turbo on an 5.

What about N/A does anybody run it? I know it's not really worth it but does anybody have any actual factual figures of gains for N/A mx5s?

I have a mate on E85 in his 86 and he says per week it will cost the same to run 98 or E85, it's just the inconvenience of having to go to a fuel station more regularly

The plan is to tune my on E85 at the end of the year. Everything has been done to the motor to run E85, this was part of the build plan.

The current estimate is about another 20+ HP, conservative? I will post details when it is done.

Be aware that there is a big difference between pump E85 and race E85. Australian standards allow E85 to be between 70 and 85 whereas race is 85% no questions.

doesn't dann run his on E85? the question comes up once a month. so you may find more detailed and older responses using the search function. then again, sometimes the function turns up nothing.

Magpie wrote:The plan is to tune my on E85 at the end of the year. Everything has been done to the motor to run E85, this was part of the build plan.

The current estimate is about another 20+ HP, conservative? I will post details when it is done.

Be aware that there is a big difference between pump E85 and race E85. Australian standards allow E85 to be between 70 and 85 whereas race is 85% no questions.

I assume you are getting the tune for United E85? also magpie who does your tune's GT AUTO?

I'd guess Magpie is going for surcogen or similar. As project said, Dann has been using pump e85, Said no upgrades required. Neither is the upgrades required for turbo (apparently)

Pretty much academic for me. It's almost a 400k round trip to the nearest bowser, which is more than the range I'd get using it.

I'm running e85 but everything is modded. United fuel is guaranteed 107 octane year round.
Runs like a pig cold but that is due to my setup. Might change back to 98 down the track.

angusis2fast4u - yes GT AUTO does my tune through Automotive Plus.

sailaholic is correct I will have it tuned on a race fuel E85. There is too much risk of bad quality fuel and I will not risk the engine. The sensor should adjust for a bad batch of E85 out of the bowser, but it will only make adjustments based on the initial E85 tune and the 98 tune.

I will only use E85 on the track so I will buy it in 205ltr drums, that should be enough for a track day.

I've installed a sensor, but have yet to fill it and tune, but will be soon.

Magpie wrote:angusis2fast4u - yes GT AUTO does my tune through Automotive Plus.

sailaholic is correct I will have it tuned on a race fuel E85. There is too much risk of bad quality fuel and I will not risk the engine. The sensor should adjust for a bad batch of E85 out of the bowser, but it will only make adjustments based on the initial E85 tune and the 98 tune.

I will only use E85 on the track so I will buy it in 205ltr drums, that should be enough for a track day.

Magpie, need to be careful where you store it buying it in 205 litre drums and whether you can due to your insurance cover or even what the Council will allow.

One of the reasons I am looking at staying with 98 for the race car. BCC regulations and also my insurance cover means I can't store a 205 litre drum at home. I can only store up to 80 litres of fuel in approved containers.

Another reason, I plan to do interstate meetings and would rather have the certainty of getting 98 anywhere and not having to carry extra fuel in the ute when towing long distances.

Plus the need to use the fuel whilst it is still "fresh". If I am not racing for a few months I can use the 98 in any of the other cars without worry about the final percentage of ethanol in the tank.

I'm hoping the sensor will do its job and adjust spark and fuel % as I degrade with 98 when E85 isn't available - can't see a problem with that yeah?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Anyone know if you could theoretically run E85 on a stock car, provided you could tell the ECU to pump more fuel in?
In other words, are the fuel pump and injectors up to the task of pumping 30% more fuel?