Why the aversion to E85?

[almost heaven]

+1. Chaning all the seals is the big problem I see.

[RSI]

the injectors I can totally understand. That makes sense.

hmm as for seals, I know we arnt talking about OLD cars here...but I have done several "E85 conversions" if you will to 1983 Volvo's...my 1989 station wagon has the same fuel system though, we've been running it now for 3.5 years on E85 on the stock fuel system and seals.

No leaks yet

[shwah]

I don't race for image. If you want to that's fine with me.

[Z3_GoCar]

Since my intake manifold is made of ABS, as are all BMW 6-cylinder intake manifolds since '92, can I install a custom built aluminum one

[steve b]

If you want to race on renewable fuels, might I suggest horse racing. :026:

[itmanta]

Hmm, not much support. And only a couple of intelligent responses. If more people had actual experience with E85 it would be much different. The plus sides of 105 octane and virtually no pollutants deposited in the engine oil are maybe a plus? E85 will always be more renewable and cheaper than"race" gas maybe. Oh and the carb issue has been handled a long time ago with new rubber gasket compounds. You know most gas in the US already contains 10-20% ethanol... I think the hurdle is still ignorance at this point.

[Gibson]

I think the hurdle is still ignorance at this point.

In your case it is mostly arrogance.

[JoshS]

I'm confused ... that's an option? I mean, I live here in the heart of Silicon Valley and the closest E85 station to me is 25 miles away from home. And it's not sold at the track. Why do I care?

[shwah]

Hmm, not much support. And only a couple of intelligent responses. If more people had actual experience with E85 it would be much different. The plus sides of 105 octane and virtually no pollutants deposited in the engine oil are maybe a plus? E85 will always be more renewable and cheaper than"race" gas maybe. Oh and the carb issue has been handled a long time ago with new rubber gasket compounds. You know most gas in the US already contains 10-20% ethanol... I think the hurdle is still ignorance at this point.

While it is not applicable to my race engine, with shorter oil change intervals, could you point me towards some data on the 'virtually no pollutants deposited in the engine oil' part? I had not heard that before.

My understanding of the E85 spec is that it has a pretty wide tolerance for actual percentage of ethanol, which will impact the octane rating. Is 105 on the high, or low side of that tolerance?

E85 may be 'renewable', so is hydrogen, but both are energy negative when the whole process is taken into account. It consumes more fuel/energy to manufacture/distribute than you can get out of it, and more than comparable energy content gasoline. Changing the source of organic matter could improve that, but corn -> fuel is not the best approach.

To take your point a step further we should be racing all electric 'zero emission' cars, which would actually be displaced emission cars that have a much larger carbon footprint dedicated to battery manufacture and disposal, and a smaller carbon footprint moved from the car to the power plant for the energy used. I'm not interested in 'appearing' to be green.

Yes most, but not all, retail pumps have ethanol in them, there should not be a material compatibility problem in any car 30yrs or younger.

I don't care if people run E85, but don't build a faulty case for why we all should.

[europeanspec]

Hmm, not much support. And only a couple of intelligent responses. If more people had actual experience with E85 it would be much different. The plus sides of 105 octane and virtually no pollutants deposited in the engine oil are maybe a plus? E85 will always be more renewable and cheaper than"race" gas maybe. Oh and the carb issue has been handled a long time ago with new rubber gasket compounds. You know most gas in the US already contains 10-20% ethanol... I think the hurdle is still ignorance at this point.

If you are looking for "intelligent responses," the internet is the wrong place to look. Regardless, here are a couple of responses. Rebuke correctly or I'll make fun of you.

Why would you need 105 Octane in IT unless you were running high-compression, which is illegal?

I change my oil often enough that I don't worry about pollutants. I'm looking for metal in my oil.

You have to burn 40% more so you would have to carry 40% more. Weight is bad.

E85 is also harder to extinguish than straight gasoline. It takes different chemicals. How will the safety crew differentiate what you have when you are on fire?

Alcohol is for drinking, gasoline is for racing.