Anyone running e85 on their 2.3?

[VETTE_50_TH]

So does anyone run e85 with their 2.3? I havent seen much about people running e85 and wanted to know why? Ive seen a bunch of people saying they cant run a lot of timing but i know e85 you can. Let me know if you do and what your experiences are..

James

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

I ran it for a while but with my small turbo there wasn't much point . 2.3 or 2.0 the amount of timing is pretty much the same. There are a few local guys here running it with any timing issues. Compressor is going to be the bigger factor in timing. Even a 2.3 with a HTA35R @ 34psi still runs around 20* on the topend and more than that during spoolup. You can still be very aggressive on the timing on a 2.3 as you would with a 2.0, it just all depends on what psi your running, plugs, altitude...Lots of things.

 

[Calan]

I do every now and then. I'm back on 91 now as I try to do some more tweaking on the VE table.

I'm still on my Evo3 16g until I can find something bigger, so I'm limited on what I can get out of it even with E85. I think at one point I hit an estimated 400whp (ECMLink and 70-90 times), which was somewhere around 25psi, AFR of 12.5, and 14* of timing up top.

My car is possessed though... it just isn't very consistent as far as what I can get out of it with either E85 or pump. The 400whp was a freak occurrence on a cool night; I can "comfortably" hit about 370-375 on most days with a good tune on E85.

BTW - A good tune on an AWD stroker+Evo3 16g = complete insanity in low gears. Launching from first and shifting at red line into second happens NOW. (Sure wish it pulled like that through 3rd to redline)

 

[2gGSX]

I run it, and it works well. It is all I've run for the last two and a half years or so... so I can't exactly give any comparisons.

 

[400hp93talon]

e85 all the way!! I will use it till I die!!!!

 

[Kaotic_red]

Im a 2.3, AWD w/FP3065 on E85. What kinda of things would you like to know?

 

[VETTE_50_TH]

Basically i didnt see a lot of people running it and wanted to know peoples experiences. I kept reading from threads years ago you cant run a lot of timing and im not sure if thats the case anymore on pump or on e85. What is your setup and how does e85 work with it. Does it make it harder to tune? Is it even worth it to run or are the gains not significant? Thanks

James

 

[Calan]

It's fun stuff, but kind of finicky IMHO. For WOT pulls, it's great because you can lean it out and up the timing a little for good power. But for idling around town and highway cruising, it isn't the best. MPG drops significantly and the car just isn't as "smooth" feeling, for lack of a better explanation...at least with my car.

I haven't gotten my car dialed in at the edges enough to see significant timing gains. I normally run 1-3 degrees more with E85, but I still seem to be limited by the higher compression pistons and small turbo.

 

[roostinds]

I run e85 all the time on my set up but I am not a 2.3L stroker but I am on a 2.4L. ported head dual walbro 255 bluemax 1450 dsmlink v3 and the list goes on. I have all the bells and whistles. you can run upwards of 20* of timing on a WOT pull. I just dyno'ed my car with a boost leak with a hx-35 on a port BEP .55 A/R housing and did 457hp on E85. That stuff is great and is CHEAP!! Here in Cali its about 2.65/gallon. Better than paying $12/gallon for q16 IMO. Only thing that sucks about e85 is one your mpg's drop alot. about 170-200 miles on full tank but then again I drive my car hard. Second, cold starts suck ass. Takes a couple of cranks to get it going. NO FIAV really sucks. Have to keep foot on pedal to keep car on until it has warmed up a bit. As far as if its worth it. If it is close enough HELL YEAH!!! If you have a big enough turbo it is about 100-125 HP jump over pump. At least here in Cali where we have crap 91 octane.

 

[thecman02]

I run e85 in my 2.3 with 9:1 compression and a hx40. Its an absolute terror.

I think you don't see too many posting or talking about it because they are too busy driving there car with a shit eating grin.

 

[Calan]

Yeah... I want an HX40 8-blade for my 2.3l SOOOOOOO bad.

 

[turboAWDfanatic]

roostinds is right. I haven't run e85 myself but some guys in our club have had enormous gains with a decent sized turbo when switching from crappy CA 91. Higher boost and more timing, but it takes a LOT of fuel to get there. I made the mistake of going with the 8.9:1 pistons when I had my 2.3L motor built, and it has severely limited the amount of boost I can run on pump gas here. At first I thought it was b/c of the 16g I was running, but I've recently put on an HX35 and can't run more than 20psi safely, even with timing pulled significantly. Another route is water/methanol injection. I may be going this route since e85 is still scarce in SoCal.

 

[Kaotic_red]

I run e85 in my 2.3 with 9:1 compression and a hx40. Its an absolute terror.

I think you don't see too many posting or talking about it because they are too busy driving there car with a shit eating grin.

Sorry about not getting back earlier but^.

 

[bsbllfit7]

i personally havent ran it yet but what i have heard from the research that i have done is that it allows for people to run way more timing and lower afr's. It also has like 110 plus octane or something like that so its better than racegas and way cheaper. If it is readily available around you i say go for it! I know i am going to!

 

[talondave]

i personally havent ran it yet but what i have heard from the research that i have done is that it allows for people to run way more timing and lower afr's. It also has like 110 plus octane or something like that so its better than racegas and way cheaper. If it is readily available around you i say go for it! I know i am going to!

The octane rating is 105 for e85, and cheaper yes, but better no!

 

[viperlp01]

E85 and I get along well together.. 2.29 a gallon and twice as many fill ups a week still keep me happy. 23 psi and adding timing with dsmlink is the shizznick.. 1.98 70-90 mph in a full weight 2g.

 

[diambo4life]

The octane rating is 105 for e85, and cheaper yes, but better no!

E85 is better than race gas imo. I would never go back to race gas if you paid me.

 

[bvass]

I run e85 in my 2.3 with 9:1 compression and a hx40. Its an absolute terror.

I think you don't see too many posting or talking about it because they are too busy driving there car with a shit eating grin.

I have a very similar set up (e85, 2.3l, 9:1 CR, FP3052) and I can't run more than stock timing at 15 PSI or get leaner than 11.8:1 afr without knocking. I am still breaking in the motor (800 miles on it), and it is pretty hot in here - 104F at 8pm when I was tuning, but I was expecting to be able to run 12.2:1 afr and 2-4 degrees more timing.

Can you tell me what plugs you are running and what do you have them gapped at? Any chance you can post or PM me a log file?

 

[95blackGsTurbo]

Boyan - A general rule of thumb is run the hottest plug you can. It is pretty much opposite what you would tune for gas. I know Phuong made 702hp on the GSX with BPR7ES plugs gapped down to .018". Too cold of a plug will cause fuel knock. Which will get picked up by the knock sensor but isn't really an engine knock.

 

[evileclipse909]

I love the stuff. Its been a while since I've had a running dsm but when I did it was awsome. In my 1g with the faiv blocked off it started right up in 20* weather when there was 2ft of snow all around so I'm not sure on some of the hard start issues. But on a 2.0 forged internals, 8.7/1 base timing set at 10* I ran 35psi on a 6152 with 82a/r housing and never saw any knock.

 

[bvass]

Boyan - A general rule of thumb is run the hottest plug you can. It is pretty much opposite what you would tune for gas. I know Phuong made 702hp on the GSX with BPR7ES plugs gapped down to .018". Too cold of a plug will cause fuel knock. Which will get picked up by the knock sensor but isn't really an engine knock.

Adam, in theory I completely agree with you. However, when Phuong tuned me on e85 before (stock motor evo316g turbo) the 7s were completely useless. He took the 8s off his eclipse, the one you are referring to and put them in my car and voilà, no more knock and breaking up in the higher rpms. We closed the gap on 7s to .018 while trying to make them work and i was still blowing the spark, they just did not want to work with e85 on my car. Phuong also had Dynatec ARC-2 and COP in his car and I am on a stock ignition. He could have run anything from 6s to 9s with a reasonable gap and gotten away with it.

I spoke to him a few days ago and he told me to lower the gap on the 7s if you still knock go on the 8s. That is why I am confused. There is so much contradicting information online, it makes my head hurt, so I think I am just going to pick up some BPR6ES, BPR8ES and BR8ES(i read somewhere the tip on the protruded plugs can be a hot spot and cause knock so I will try these as well) plugs and try them out. I have already tried gaps from .018 to .032 on the BPR7ES and i know my engine does not like them much.

 

[diambo4life]

I definitely would not run the hottest plug. You must still follow the rule of thumb of running a colder plug depending on your power level. That doesn't change because you are running E85. I run on BR8ES plugs year round. Some guys making much more power than me even run BR9's. That's all on E85.