B7Night

Anyone had experience running their allroad on E85? Any drivability issues? From what I understand the fuel economy will drop about 25%. In my area, the price difference between premium unleaded and E85 is great enough that it will cost virtually the same to run the car with either fuel.

TREGinginCO

Not only is the fuel economy worse --- there are a number of studies that have been done showing E85 actually makes ozone levels worse during the summer months.

That said... there are a number of AR owners who have had E85 tunes done and they say the performance difference is crazy fun.

dropshadow

This is the only part that matters.

B7Night

So far, in my area E85 is about 55 to 69% the cost of premium, and with the current blend, gets about 79 to 80% the mileage. The car seems a bit peppier, and for some reason, and I don't know why, the transmission seems to be shifting smoother while running E85. While fueling, I noticed, that the E85 does have a different smell to it.

soonerfan

One forum member stated that the underside of his AR fuel cap stated that E85 was allowed as fuel. Oddly, I think he mentioned that this is the only model that has E85 capability.
Just wondering if that is fact, and what makes the engine in the Allroad E85 capable and not the other 2.0TFSI engines.

Anybody?

B7Night

I'm assuming that it's mostly the fuel system. You have to have a special fuel tank, fuel lines, fuel pump, and injectors, that can tolerate the more corrosive ethanol. The metals, plastics, and rubber that are normally used, can't survive the ethanol. Ethanol tolerant metals, plastics, and rubber, add about $200 to $250 to the price of the car. The car also has to have higher capacity fuel injectors since ethanol's lower energy content requires more fuel to be injected into the engine as compared to gasoline for the same performance. I also believe the catalytic converter has to have materials that can withstand the ethanol. The big reason that the allroad can run on ethanol, is that the government cuts the manufacture a break on the CAFE mileage requirements. It's not much but it helps boost the fleet mileage. The Allroad and other Audi SUV's don't get the greatest mileage, so the flex fuel designation helps keep the company from getting dinged as bad for the low mileage.

alphamike33

With APR Stage 1 it is literally like going from stock to tuned...again. From around 2400 up it is an absolute wall of torque. Going on dyno curves, stage 1 and E85 looks like the most "drivable" combo for daily use. I love it, def worth hitting the pump more often if weather is nice (doesnt really make a difference in rain or snow where I dont really get on it hard)
At least with the APR it took a refill from dang near empty (45 mi indicated range), and one more fill at about 1/2 tank to really kick in (It seems to default to the safest ie: lowest output option if in question). No changes necessary on the drivers end, the current stage 1 is for gas and E85 all in one. There's a meth sensor in the fuel system that lets the car know to change mapping (as well as to get away from the tweaker...BONUS)