I can get E85 for a buck 60..yes a $1.60 a gallon. I was wondering what would be the down side of using it in my cars (In particular my 328GTS, OBDII spec BMW 750iL, and 04 SL600 biturbo) It is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline with a 105 Octane rating. Also, how well does it keep? I might buy a drum and keep it in my garage. (This is based off a suggestion from one of my friends who uses it in his Supra, with no ill effects...I just want to make sure it works ok without damaging anything in my cars.)
There was a thread on this a while back, and as I recall, the outcome was not too much in favor of the stuff. I certainly wouldn't want to store it due to alchohols affinity for absorbing moisture (water) from the atmosphere. While it is a different type of alky (methonal) that racers run, they must drain the injection system completely, and flush it with gasolene to keep corrosion from screwing up the injectors, IME. I believe it would be OK to run in most newer systems that are sealed to the envoirnment (the tanks, etc), but would watch out for corrosion issues. HTH
how long has your friend with a supra been running it? is it stock or modified??? these are important bc if he hasn't been running it long and it is stock, he will probably kill it soon. if the car is modified, like new fuel lines, tank, pump and the ecu has been dyno tuned he will probably be ok. as mentioned above by kermit, e85 absorbs moisture, so besides corroding exspensive metal parts inside the motor, it will trash stock fuel lines, the inside of your tank, the fuel pump, and storage will be an issue. if you keep a big drum of e85 around, it will not be as good at the end of the drum. all of the cars i work on that are flex fuel vehicles (e85) have different parts and even a different oil they take. the ecu's are programmed differently to compensate for the difference in octane. this is just my .02, if your friend has had no problems so far with his supra, try it in the bmw and see what happens. i definately wouldn't experiment with the f car first!!
My friend has a heavily modified 500+ hp Supra he uses as his daily. I would never put in anything that might hurt my 7, I love that thing more then anything else by far. Since my cars end up sitting a bit, looks like the stuff is definitely out for me, due to, as Matt pointed out, its propensity to absorb water. Thanks for the info guys!
I would bet that any savings in purchase price will be eaten up by increased consumption. Alky is not as dense a fuel by quite a bit. If you do it keep track of mileage changes. I would like to know the difference.
I would bet E85 is blended with low octane components to match the R+M/2 rating posted at the pump; so it is 87, 89 93 octane. I would not use it in your car. E10 maybe but never E85 in a older vehicle.
