E85, E 85, E-85

[Hardrocker Motorsports]

Is anybody out there that is willing to give our team a breakdown of what they use for components, build up, and type of engine for running E85. Even engine builders or company names would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Wayne Baker
SDSMT

[Hardrocker Motorsports]

Is anybody out there that is willing to give our team a breakdown of what they use for components, build up, and type of engine for running E85. Even engine builders or company names would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Wayne Baker
SDSMT

[VFR750R]

To get started is fairly easy. Pick injectors large enough for the extra fuel flow and go. You could get by with a complete gas setup except injectors(size adjustment only) and just flush the system with gas after each use if you had to.

I think Bosch has an alcohol compatible in tank pump, and racing injectors from Denso can handle the extremes of alcohol use. Teflon lined fuel lines instead of rubber probably should be required as well. Sorry for no part numbers but you can call those companies and see what's currently available. I think we got our fuel lines from Earls but i'm not positive.

E85 of course is great for either high compression or turbocharged but runs great in a stock 600cc engine too.

Disclaimer. Make sure you have a supply of E85 to use and have a reason to run it because it is more trouble then Gasoline and the I'm sure the judges will want to know why you went to such trouble and if you are taking full advantage of it.

[Mechanicaldan]

We ran a Kawasaki ZX-6R on E-85. We sized the injectors correctly, and got them from one of the flex fuel vehicles. Somewhere around 25 lb/hr.
((Power x BSFC) x (1 + Safety Margin))/Number of Injectors = pounds/hour BSFC is roughly .5 for NA, .65 for boosted, safety margin is roughly 15%.
We had our aluminum fuel tank and fuel rail anodized, and used anodized aluminum fittings.
I forgot where the fuel pump came from, but it was inside our tank. I think our fuel lines were also from Earls, or Summit Racing.
Check this list for vehicles with E-85 components that can be used:
http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/flexfuelvehicles.php

[Kirk Feldkamp]

This is why this forum kicks ass! I just found out we have one of the four E85 stations in California literally up the street. I wish I had known about this sooner!

I would be careful with your BSFC numbers too. I thought the BSFC for E85 would be much closer to that of straight ethanol. I know a guy that was a calibration engineer for Cosworth's Champ Car engines, and he said straight ethanol yielded BSFCs more like 1.1. Does anyone have any indication of what E85 has yielded? I understand BSFC will change according to a bunch of different factors, but an indication of the range of BSFC's you recorded would be great.

As for gasoline (GT100), last year we were seeing .5 BSFC up until peak torque at which point it progressively ramped up to .6 by our lowered redline. The only way we could keep the engine happy was to run surface gap plugs and throw a bunch of fuel at it up top. This was turbocharged (GT12), non-intercooled, stock injectors in the stock location, and significantly lowered compresson. The combo made 92hp and 55 ftlbs.

-Kirk

[Chris Davin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by turbotwig:
This is why this forum kicks ass! I just found out we have one of the four E85 stations in California literally up the street. I wish I had known about this sooner!

I would be careful with your BSFC numbers too. I thought the BSFC for E85 would be much closer to that of straight ethanol. I know a guy that was a calibration engineer for Cosworth's Champ Car engines, and he said straight ethanol yielded BSFCs more like 1.1. Does anyone have any indication of what E85 has yielded? I understand BSFC will change according to a bunch of different factors, but an indication of the range of BSFC's you recorded would be great.

As for gasoline (GT100), last year we were seeing .5 BSFC up until peak torque at which point it progressively ramped up to .6 by our lowered redline. The only way we could keep the engine happy was to run surface gap plugs and throw a bunch of fuel at it up top. This was turbocharged (GT12), non-intercooled, stock injectors in the stock location, and significantly lowered compresson. The combo made 92hp and 55 ftlbs.

-Kirk </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Formula SAE rules use a correction factor of 1.4 for the energy content of E85 relative to gasoline. They are not very far off.