Ive read so many things on E85 in in non flex cert. cars, and all of it seems to contradict each other. It seems to me that any car can run it that wasnt made in the 80s, and the only real recommended change is MAYBE some larger injectors. Has anyone actually put this in their TT to try it out, and is anyone fully schooled on how the stuff works. It seems like the only problem is the car adapting to the difference in oxygenation in the ethanol which is out of the normal parameters of regular gasoline. So Id like to now if the TT is able to automatically correct to the right settings, and if its ok to run it in an APR 93 chipped car.

 

car not designed for it.
then you need a "black box" that attaches bet. the injectors and the CP's to lenghten the injector time.

cost is about $500 for these items.

 

Why would you do this?

 

IS IT POSSIBLE TO CONVERT A VEHICLE THAT WAS DESIGNED FOR GASOLINE TO OPERATE ON E85?

Yes. However, there are no conversions or after-market parts that have been certified by the EPA as meeting the standards to maintain clean exhaust emissions. Technically speaking, converting a vehicle that was designed to operate on unleaded gasoline only to operate on another form of fuel is a violation of the federal law and the offender may be subject to significant penalties. No after-market conversion company has successfully certified an E85 kit that would allow a gasoline vehicle to operate on 85 percent ethanol.

The differences in fuel injector size, air-fuel ratio, PCM calibrations, material composition of the fuel lines, pumps and tanks are just a few of the components that contribute to making an E85 conversion extremely complex. It is our understanding that at least one company is working to obtain EPA certification. We will monitor the situation closely, understanding the certification process can be time consuming, difficult and expensive.

(stolen from http://www.e85fuel.com/e85101/faqs/conversion.php)

The primary differences from non-FFVs is the elimination of bare magnesium, aluminum, and rubber parts in the fuel system, the use of fuel pumps capable of operating with electrically conductive (ethanol) instead of non-conducting dielectric (gasoline) fuel, specially-coated wear-resistant engine parts, fuel injection control systems having a wider range of pulse widths (for injecting approximately 60% more fuel), the selection of stainless steel fuel lines (sometimes lined with plastic), the selection of stainless steel fuel tanks in place of terne fuel tanks, and, in some cases, the use of acid-neutralizing motor oil. For vehicles with fuel-tank mounted fuel pumps, additional differences to prevent arcing, as well as flame arrestors positioned in the tank's fill pipe, are also sometimes used.

E85 has an octane rating of 105, which is higher than typical commercial gasoline mixtures (octane ratings of 85 to 98); however, it does not burn as efficiently in traditionally-manufactured internal-combustion engines. Additionally, E85 contains less energy per volume as compared to gasoline. Although E85 contains only 72% of the energy on a gallon-for-gallon basis compared to gasoline, experimenters have seen slightly better fuel mileage than the 28% this difference in energy content implies. For example, recent tests by the National Renewable Energy Lab on fleet vehicles owned by the state of Ohio showed about a 25% reduction in mpg [1] (see table on pg 5) comparing E85 operation to reformulated gasoline in the same flexible fuel vehicle. Results compared against a gasoline-only vehicle were essentially the same, about a 25% reduction in volumetric fuel economy with E85.]]

Fuel injector, carburetor jet sizing, and fuel pump requirements can be estimated by using the following guidelines as a starting point. For a naturally aspirated (NA) engine (carbureted) on gasoline most need a brake specific fuel consumption (BSFC) for gasoline of 0.50 lb/(hph). On E85 the same NA engine would need a BSFC of about 0.65 lb/(hph).

Turbocharged engines typically need BSFC fueling of about 0.60 lb/(hph), a reasonable first guess for fueling required on E85 would be 0.77 lb/(hph).

For a simple conversion to replace gasoline with E85 take the current "flywheel horsepower" as a reference point. With E85, power should increase by about 5%, so the estimated E85 fueling would be:

(BHPgasoline x 1.05) x BSFCe85 = Estimated E85 fuel requirements.

(Stloen from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E85)

So in short, yes you can, but no I wouldn't.

 

Foolish IMO...

 

better octane, cleaner burning, runs cooler... oh and the environment thing

 

I read in a lot of sources that many of today's cars are built to withstand ethanol, as opposed to the older parts listed in the article. I think most of the problem is with them not being able to certify that all vehicles are safe, and so the ones that are are not given the go ahead.

 

I like how someone named "BioTTech" is asking this question. lol

 

It's actually worse for the environment.

 

What scares me is the whole needing specially coated parts, no exposed rubber or aluminum in the fuel system, and the fuel pump has to be insulated. (Ethanol is electricaly conductive)