Hey y'all...

I'm N/A at the moment, and have no forseeable plan to be. But I'd like to know what psi you can safely run on E85 with stock internals. In case it's brought up, E85 has a 105 octane rating.

If this stuff is the next big thing, I may put a Magnachrger on the T/A.

 

Probably enough to put the stock pistons & rods at risk even at a safe AFR and tune

 

stock vettes can make 450rwhp with a magnacharger so u can make 450-500 with intake and exhaust so i cant see why u couldnt do that safely with E85 if thats the octane rating,unless im missing something

 

what kind of stuff would have to be changed to be able to run that fuel in our cars?

 

currently Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) have minor modifiications but converting your current engine to ethanol could be tricky. You would have to uprade your fuel lines and tank to withstand ethanol corrosiveness, this would be easy. The main problem lies in a sensor that lets the engine know your running on ethanol opposed to 100% gasoline. Fuel injection would be difficult to convert but carbs are easy and wouldn't need the sensor plus its already been done.

 

The E85 has a higher octane rating, but creates less energy when combusted. So, while it would be less likely to detonate, it will take more fuel to make the same power as gasoline. The exact amount of extra fuel needed Im not positive about, but with 100% methanol (at the racetrack) it takes twice the fuel as gasoline to produce the same amount of power.
Im sure the safe boost limit would be the same or just slightly higher than what LSx's can handle on gasoline. Whether it ever detonates or not, your still going to be on borrowed time with stock internals.

 

Forged internals... gotcha man. With gas going the way it is, I'm really considering a changeover.

What got me thinking on this was actually a propane conversion article in a 4wd magazine... it read that propane has 110 octane, but wouldn't make as much power as gas due to the lower compression ratios that gas runs at. So that got me thinking that if higher octane needs higher CR to make more power, then going FI would be an alternative to replacing internals with higher CR stuff.

Should I not read that deep into a magazine article???

 

You are thinking correctly, just don't forget to cool down the boosted air, or else it will not do any good.

Also, your LSx already has 10 to 1 or slighlty better compression in it, which is pretty good compared to older stuff. What I would like to know is how much more power will your engine make if you run that fuel and add more timing, the way it is now? Might be something you could try and let us all know.

 

Yeah, the 10:1 makes for the limit of safe boost you can run on stock innards. I used to wonder how the crap they could make it run N/A without pinging before I looked at the head design and other stuff, because back in the ol' skool days, muscle cars ran 10ish:1 on 100-octane or better(I wasn't here yet, so I dunno the exact details).

As for cooling the charge, that'd be hard to do with a Magnacharger considering it replaces your intake. And isn't it a twin-screw, like a Whipple??? From what I learned years ago(which is subject to change now), the twin-screw was the most efficient at moving air, with the Roots-type 2nd and centrifugal 3rd. Am I still right, or do I need to hit Car Craft more often?

 

Okay, I'm an idiot.

Just finished reading about Manguson's intercooled twin-screw.

 

my gut is that you will see stock engine e85 fueled hp figures in the 650rwhp range on boost with a decent intercooler