Has anyone converted their SS/TC to use E85-E100? This is purely out of curiosity because it'd be interesting to see what kind of torque the LNF can produce using E85.

Would our standard fuel system handle the E85? What about the injectors and fuel pumps? How would the tuning be handled? Is there a way to install an ethanol sensor to switch tunes when it detects the use of E85?

 

To answer your questions, I have no idea how the fueling system would keep up, but general rule of thumb is about 30% more fuel for E85. Flex Fuel Sensors are placed in-line and detect changes in ethanol content. it relays that message to the PCM, which compensates for the change in the stoich ratio.

 

I did a search here and couldn't find many threads related to the SS/TC with the direct injection fuel pump, injectors, etc... The turbocharged engine should surely make more power with a proper tune when using the higher octane E85.

Update: Here's an older thread: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/show...ight=Flex+Fuel

But there's a lot of debate over fuel economy - I'm more interested in power output.

 

flex fuel is not the way to go for power. an engine built for E85 should be engineered differently than a gas engine, so the two should not be combined imo.

 

That's not totally true. I know there are A LOT of DSM guys that run larger injectors and have been making crazy power with an E85 and tune vs a 93 oct. gas tune. They compare it to running full on race fuel. I don't know that it would be possible with these direct inject engines though..

 

Flex fuel is a BAD idea for DI

 

Aren't they running E85 in the HCCI engines that use direct injection?

 

um why would anyone wanna do this i dont c the point at all

 

Like I said it's comparable to race fuel because the octane is considerably higher than just the regular 93 pump gas you can get. I think they tested it out to be about 105 octane or something. It's like being able to get race fuel from your local E85 gas station.

 

the point is more power and less knock, terminator guys have tried it and they pick up mad torque

 

e-85 is higher octane yes, but that's only it's resistance to detonation, it yields much less power per burn than gasoline, and although it is slightly cheaper, the fuel mileage if sub-par. Use gasoline.

 

less power. you can't argue physics.

 

wow do some of you guys get out much at all? LOL I mean really. E85 is ******* sweet when it comes to turbo cars. I would be on it if I had stations close to me. But I do not know how it works with DI. Do some research about it, its out there. I know how they work on evo's, not cobalts though.

did you really just say that? Its better then running race gas man, its bene proven and proven again.

If you guys want power then E85 is the way to go (if it is readily avaliable and and you dont mind losing a few mpg).

 

sorry i meant safely tuning for more power..... and the torque difference people are seeing is BIG

 

It is actually compared and actually BARELY outperformed C16 and Q16. They are also starting to use E98 on some cars

 

you're talking about heavily modified cars, with much higher compression ratio's. This guy is talking about running it in his car for better fuel economy and a slight power bump. It doesn't work like that.

To run regular gasoline in an engine that makes comparable power on e-85, the compression would have to be so high that it would cause catastrophic detonation on 93 octane fuel.

Lifted this right off wikipedia: E85 consumes more fuel in flex fuel type vehicles when the vehicle uses the same compression for both E85 and gasoline because of its lower stoichiometric fuel ratio and lower heating value. European car maker Saab currently produces a flex fuel version of their 9-5 sedan which consumes the same amount of fuel whether running e85 or gasoline,[13] though it is not available in the United States. So in order to save money at the pump with current flex fuel vehicles available in the United States the price of E85 must be much lower than gasoline. Currently E85 is about 5-10% less expensive in most areas.[14] More than 20 fueling stations across the Midwest are selling E85 at the same price as gasoline.[15] E85 also gets less MPG, at least in flex fuel vehicles. In one test, a Chevy Tahoe flex-fuel vehicle averaged 18 MPG [U.S. gallons] for gasoline, and 13 MPG for E85, or 28% fewer MPG than gasoline.

 

I have E85 up the wazoo around my area. In fact my favorite gas station has:
BD5 (Biodiesel), Diesel, E85, and regular pump gas. If I want 94 octane I can drive over to Sunoco. There's a Turbo Blue Pump also that has race fuel. Drag racing is a big time thing in this area.

I am curious if the stock hardware on the SS/TC is E85 compatible. If so, then it is a matter of the tune and electronics for use as a flex-fuel vehicle.

PS: I never talked about fuel economy. I'm interested in power using E85 in the LNF. If GM made this car a flex fuel vehicle, one could potentially run straight E85 for the track and then regular gas when its not being raced.

 

did you read what i said though? flex fuel vehicles don't make more power on the e-85 than on gasoline because you keep the same compression ratio, that was my point.

go for it, most fuels use partial ethanol anyways.

 

Different AF which allows for huge adjustments to timing up top which you cannot do on
93.

10% increase in power is on the low end if tuned for E85...Do a search for it sometime

Just not enough places around here to bother tuning to looking into it...but those that are in the mid-west I'm sure you could find someone that is tuning for E85 (105 ocatne), just have to be the guinea pig so to say

Edit:

I dont think we have the ability to start running E85 w/o a proper tune and items needed. Injectors have to have flow increased (not sure ours would be large enough), fuel delivery might not be adequate.

 

that and you would have to make sure the fuel pump and what not are compatible, as e-85 is conductive. all fuel lines need to be compatible with high alcohol content fuel as well.

 

http://www.mustang50magazine.com/tec...tor/index.html

pump and injector change, fuel lines were fine

 

we are talking about a cobalt....

 

Dude check out the DSM forums there's been tons of comparisons. They dyno tune a car with E85 and make waaaayyy more power than regular 93 can make. All done with the same motor and same compression on the pistons. E85 offers as much power as the cars they test on race fuel. Granted the fuel economy sucks a bit more with it but if power is what you want...E85 is where it's at. I doubt it can be done on these cars though...I mean it's taken GM months to get a freaking air duct for a stage kit to work with how picky these computers are let alone convert its fuel type.

 

wow, really?

 

yeah really, you both keep talking about DSM's and mustangs, but this the question asked was about a direct injected cobalt.