Who uses E85 in their V8 commodore?

[swingtan]

I've been running United E85 for 4 months now which includes a period of two weeks where the car sat and was not started. VZ L76, cam, exhaust, a bit of tuning........ I don't really understand the idea of running two separate tunes when you have a VE though. If you swap between ULP and E85, all you get is some unknown blend between the two, meaning neither tune is optimal. Use the Ethanol sensor (SII) or turn on the calculations, at least you have some chance of blending between ULP and E85 and getting the correct fueling / spark / etc.

Overall, the average fuel usage has gone from 14.5L/100KM to 21/100KM. The average price difference has been around 70% cheaper for E85 compared to 98 ULP. Doing the maths over the 4 months has seen a very slight improvement in cost per KM with the E85 and there is a significant improvement in power delivery.

With the ethanol based fuel, peak torque appears slightly lower in the RPM range compared with ULP. Other drivability has not changed at all and it's a very nice car to drive. The next task is to enable the flex fuel tables and play with blending, just because I can.....

Also, people should remember that Caltex E-Flex is not "E85". It's a blend with "up to" 85% Ethanol and from what I've heard, not many people have actually seen anything like that from the pump. Normally it's a bit more like E75, whereas the United E85 is pretty much dead on the money and has been consistent over the last 4 months.

[team illucid]

I am still not convinced that saving $10 a week is worth stopping 2 times at the servo for. If saving that little money is important, perhaps rethink V8 ownership.

[macca_779]

I've been running United E85 for 4 months now which includes a period of two weeks where the car sat and was not started. VZ L76, cam, exhaust, a bit of tuning........ I don't really understand the idea of running two separate tunes when you have a VE though. If you swap between ULP and E85, all you get is some unknown blend between the two, meaning neither tune is optimal. Use the Ethanol sensor (SII) or turn on the calculations, at least you have some chance of blending between ULP and E85 and getting the correct fueling / spark / etc.

Overall, the average fuel usage has gone from 14.5L/100KM to 21/100KM. The average price difference has been around 70% cheaper for E85 compared to 98 ULP. Doing the maths over the 4 months has seen a very slight improvement in cost per KM with the E85 and there is a significant improvement in power delivery.

With the ethanol based fuel, peak torque appears slightly lower in the RPM range compared with ULP. Other drivability has not changed at all and it's a very nice car to drive. The next task is to enable the flex fuel tables and play with blending, just because I can.....

Also, people should remember that Caltex E-Flex is not "E85". It's a blend with "up to" 85% Ethanol and from what I've heard, not many people have actually seen anything like that from the pump. Normally it's a bit more like E75, whereas the United E85 is pretty much dead on the money and has been consistent over the last 4 months.

Simon I can confidently say eFlex is ~74% all year round. I've tested it 4 times throughout a 12 month period every time I come down to melbourne and run on it and its very consistent.

While yes it isn't E85 and subsequently won't have the full octane rating of the united stuff. Its still well up there and in an N/A or low boost application you'll be hard pressed to see any power decrease.

The bonus is that because its got a smaller ethanol percentage you'll get better millage out of it. Take that into consideration and the fact that its pretty much on par with the united price and in my opinion its the better fuel to use in addition to it being far more available.

[macca_779]

I am still not convinced that saving $10 a week is worth stopping 2 times at the servo for. If saving that little money is important, perhaps rethink V8 ownership.

How about better performance and reduced carbon build up in the cylinder. Hell I'd pay more to run on it, the fact its cheaper is just a bonus

[team illucid]

I'd pay more to run on it, the fact its cheaper is just a bonus

I seriously doubt you would. If money wasn't an issue, you would be driving around on AVGAS.

I don't see many Commodores with more than 300000 KMs on the clock, so the carbon build up is a mute point. Better performance maybe, but not many of us race cars for a living, so a few extra ponies is hardly here nor there.

[macca_779]

I seriously doubt you would. If money wasn't an issue, you would be driving around on AVGAS.

I don't see many Commodores with more than 300000 KMs on the clock, so the carbon build up is a mute point. Better performance maybe, but not many of us race cars for a living, so a few extra ponies is hardly here nor there.

No I seriously would. How many guys run on 98 when 95 does just as good a job only sacrificing minimal power.. Plenty.

You think it takes 300 000k's to build up excessive carbon. How many engines you pulled down?

[benjo]

hi all

One thing to be mindful of with E85 is if you change your exhaust to a mild steel one it wont last to long.

[JimmyXR6T04]

From my calculations, eflex costs about as much as running 98. There was minimal cost savings from eflex. Eg: 98 returned between 12-13L/100km. Eflex returned between 15-16.5L/100km. Doing the maths, eflex worked out to be about 20-30c cheaper per 100km... I feel the car is more responsive, and pulls harder using eflex, the down side is that i drive it harder as a result, therefore using more than 15L/100...

Using 91 is the cheapest, as when i used it for a few tanks i still averaged between 12.5 and 13.5L/100... Making it a little cheaper than eflex....

I primarily use a mix of eflex and 95. Usually a few tanks of 95, then a tank of eflex.

[dogsballs]

I am still not convinced that saving $10 a week is worth stopping 2 times at the servo for. If saving that little money is important, perhaps rethink V8 ownership.

not about $$'s. better fuel higher octane etc. i run 12.0+:1 compression and it loves e85. only issue i have is dead cold starts i have to crank it a couple times (although need to take back to tuner for a fiddle). also an in tank aeromotive 340 died after 9mths.

[VendeTTR]

I love it, yeah have to fill up more often, but it's no real inconvenience. I average 21L per 100 with my combo. Pretty safe to say that I'm not goin to average 14.5 on 98 just to break even. No trouble with cold starting yet. I use the united fuel and it tests at E92

[macca_779]

not about $$'s. better fuel higher octane etc. i run 12.0+:1 compression and it loves e85. only issue i have is dead cold starts i have to crank it a couple times (although need to take back to tuner for a fiddle). also an in tank aeromotive 340 died after 9mths.

Fixable in the tune. Mine cold starts like stock

[bad88u]

ive been using it for 2 months now. went from 12L per 100kms on 98 to 17-18L per 100kms. saving of about 35cents per litre if filled on the right days..

driving ssv s2 ute.

[Tre-Cool]

I have switched to it recently, but i get it by the drum. Unfortunatly it appears my drum is not quite 85% ethanol. Atleast I haven't seen it over 71% through my new guage.

As mine is a series 1 it doesnt have the built in flex sensor, but this will be resolved soon thanks to the new sensor that will be wired into the ecu.

[JimmyXR6T04]

ive been using it for 2 months now. went from 12L per 100kms on 98 to 17-18L per 100kms. saving of about 35cents per litre if filled on the right days..

driving ssv s2 ute.

So, you save 35c off the price of 98, but you do realise it's actually costing you more per 100km than running 98 right? Based on your figures of 12L for 98, lets assume that 98 is $1.60 so it's costing you $19.20 to drive 100km at 12L/100... On eflex/e85 at 17L/100 and assuming the price is 35c cheaper at $1.25 it's actually costing you $21.25 per 100km...

So, in actual fact, you're not 'saving' anything.

[white lie]

Thats a big increase in usage... I always thought it was around a 20% increase in consumption and a 30% cost difference so you end up saving around 10%.