E85 is AWESOME!

SwampRat said:
FoMoCoSHO said:
I would love to see your AFR, FRP, and fuel trims with the current tune.
When my MX OBDII  adapter gets here Sometime  this week I'll be on a learning curve with Torque and I'll post it .

I think Torque calculates AFR indirectly for our cars (yes even with wide band) rather than measuring it.  The best we've got, but perhaps not good enough... dunno
 
BiGMaC said:
SwampRat said:
FoMoCoSHO said:
I would love to see your AFR, FRP, and fuel trims with the current tune.
When my MX OBDII  adapter gets here Sometime  this week I'll be on a learning curve with Torque and I'll post it .

I think Torque calculates AFR indirectly for our cars (yes even with wide band) rather than measuring it.  The best we've got, but perhaps not good enough... dunno
Torque takes the lambda measurement and then applies stoich calculations based off of settings in the profile of your vehicle. You can choose your gas type. I wish I could just see lambda, I'd rather see that due to fuel mixing but since they're calculating off of lambda as long as you know the numbers you're expecting you're good.

Another explanation:
The best ratio for gas mixture is 14.7 parts air to 1 part fuel.
The best ratio for e85 mixture is 9.8 parts air to 1 part fuel.

The O2 sensor does not know how much air or fuel you started with. It only knows oxygen levels left in the spent charge. The O2 sensor reports in terms of lambda. If the lambda value is 1.0, the fuel is burned optimally, and started with the right mix. Whether you start with gas at 14.7:1 or e85 at 9.8:1, the lambda will be the same at the O2 sensor.

When you see a value reported from a wideband, the value is typically converted to a gas equivalent AFR. Some widebands (like the PLX) will let you change the display and show lambda, or show ethanol-equivalent AFR's. So, let's say your wideband is set to show gas equivalent AFR, but you are running e85. Cruising around, the display will show 14.7:1. This means the lambda is 1.0, and in reality your e85 mix is 9.8:1. When you go WOT, the wideband display shows 11.76:1. This means your lambda is .80, and if you are running e85, the actual mix was 7.84:1.


More info:
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/1307_wideband_oxygen_sensor/

This table is what is important notice the Lambda of max power rich and lean of the various fuels. It varies but I personally tune for around .80 Lambda and then add fuel if we see knock. Around here it's very easy to knock on 91 octane so richer is better to an extent. With E85 or E85 mixing the ethanol heat removing properties helps immensely to stop knock. This is why both my Flex and V are running around at approximately 26-28 degrees of timing at WOT, can't even consider that on gas and meth injection.
Air/Fuel (A/F) Ratios of Common Fuels
FuelA/FLambda (λ)
Pure Gasoline Stoichiometric14.71.000
Pure Gasoline Max Power Rich12.50.8503
Pure Gasoline Max Power Lean13.230.900
E10 Stoichiometric14.081.000
E10 Max Power Rich12.00.8523
E10 Max Power Lean12.70080.9020
E15 Stoichiometric13.791.000
E15 Max Power Rich11.750.8521
E15 Max Power Lean12.43620.9018
E85 Stoichiometric9.7651.000
E85 Max Power Rich6.9750.7143
E85 Max Power Lean8.4690.8673
Ethanol Stoichiometric9.00781.000
Ethanol Max Power Rich6.4290.7137
Ethanol Max Power Lean7.80.8659
Methanol Stoichiometric6.451.000
Methanol Max Power Rich4.00.620
Propane Stoichiometric15.71.000
Propane Max Power Rich13.180.8395
 

 
Thanks Mike.... Excellent write-up on AFR measurement methodology for folks like me who needed a primer.  :bigthanx:
 
Hey 4dr, there is a specific section in there for the ECO 3.5 fuel system (Pg 158)

My research indicates that the Bosch fuel system we have will support 2900 PSI at the rail(The rail sensor does 3770PSI!)

The way I read this, the only thing keeping us from increasing FPR is tuning.

I'm also thinking along with the 2013 LPFP change, our programming may have changed also which could be why I have so much rail pressure unlike gen 4.1

I'm curious about your thoughts on this.
 
Just for fun, I bumped my blend up to 30%.

Hopefully I can get to the track this week and see if it has any positive effect on my 1/4 times.
 
Can I just say that E85 is not awesome in the long-term, because the fuel is made up of our food?  Ethanol fuel comes from corn.  Have you priced corn lately?!?  Just sayin'.
 
Lanson said:
Can I just say that E85 is not awesome in the long-term, because the fuel is made up of our food?  Ethanol fuel comes from corn.  Have you priced corn lately?!?  Just sayin'.
I have posted my views about this. I am sympathetic to this position but the fact of the matter is all food is going up, E-85 makes a great scapegoat for bad economic policies across the board.

Hopefully E-85 will evolve to the point we can manufacture cellulosic ethanol and be able to use all forms of plant waste to make it.

A mid gap solution would be to use hemp, but that's a whole other discussion.
 
I would very much like the dream envisioned in the Back To The Future movies to come true.  Although many, many successful experiments have been conducted with biodiesel type fuels, they have a long way to go to see the light of day in significant production.

Besides, farmers will grow what they will get paid for.  One crop replaces another as the economy dictates.  I am just glad we have not gotten to the Soylent Green reality for fuel yet.  Compared to that, ethanol from corn is easily acceptable.
 
I decided to throw 3 gallons of E85 in with E0 91. That put me to E13 and 93 octane. The car feels stronger with less hesitation vs 91 octane. I'm definitely going to get an Unleashed tune now and tune for E30 since I have E85 all around me. E30 will get me 96 octane and will be much cheaper than the 1 gas station that sells 93 octane!
Thanks for this thread!
 
92BlackGT said:
I decided to throw 3 gallons of E85 in with E0 91. That put me to E13 and 93 octane. The car feels stronger with less hesitation vs 91 octane. I'm definitely going to get an Unleashed tune now and tune for E30 since I have E85 all around me. E30 will get me 96 octane and will be much cheaper than the 1 gas station that sells 93 octane!
Thanks for this thread!
Actually your effective octane is much higher.....

Direct injection is like steroids for E85.
 
WickedSHO said:
If I threw in a gallon or two of E-85 into my 2014 with out being tuned for it. Is there any benefit?
Yes definitely...I am doing that with my untuned 2013 right now and it definitely helps with acceleration, overall responsiveness.  The knock gauge indicates the car is a lot more willing to add timing to back it up with actual data.  FoMoCoSHO posted earlier he picked up like .4 in the quarter just blending E-85...
 
SHOnUup said:
Just remember to add a fuel additive that lubricates the system every few fillups.

Rich
E85 inherently has lubricants built in and combined with a top tier fuel you will be fine. If you don't run top tier fuel it is definitely something to consider though as no E85 is top tier so I consider their add packs suspect

I'm curious about archoil as it is a friction modifier which may or may not have positive effects for us corn addicts....




 
One last question.....I usually fill up once I get to about half tank, just a habit I have formed.

Any caution I should use if I add 1 gallon at half everytime I fill up?
 
Back
Top