is e85 feasible in my area?
 

I am still really new to the club but I am super fascinated with the car and its potential. After seeing so much on e85 and the power that it can hold, I am really interested in getting it down the line. However I see a problem I expect a lot of others may have and I want to know whether they just ignore it and stock up or what their route is. The nearest e85 gas station is 17 miles away, aka there and back would cost almost 1/4 of a tank. In this case, is e85 just completely unfeasible or what?

Just run a flex fuel set up so you are never stuck.

They may add/remove pumps in the future.

I use the AFDC site to find stations. it was good when I took a cross country trip, there was a big 350+ mile gap in my route.
https://afdc.energy.gov/stations/#/f...arest?fuel=E85

You can either:
- Get a flex fuel kit
or
- Have a tune loaded up for 93 and one for E85 so you can switch out if things don't go as planned.

Since my car is completely stock right now, should the first thing to save up for be an OFT? Im getting the feeling that I need that no matter what component I buy first. I am interested in getting an n1 exhaust and then headers, do I need an OFT to tune the car after those too?

If you plan on driving your car in NJ in the winter, the first thing I suggest you save up for is a set of winter tires.

If you are going to put an aftermarket catless header on you car, it would benefit from some sort of tune.

There is lots of good information on this forum, try searching using google and preface your search with - FT86club.

Before you start messing with the car their is a couple of considerations:

* how will your messing effect the warranty?

* renewing the re-registration your car with the DMV?

I would recommend that you just put a cat-back muffler on and leave the rest of it alone - :)


humfrz

Where do you live in jersey? Im in Essex county so nearest one to me is Newark Airport, consider buying a few gas cans if you dont want to make the daily trip, ive seen a few people set up a 55 gallon drum in their garage and order fuel from shops also.

Also, i recommend you get comfortable with the car first. Personally, i got wheels and tires first, plus winters on my stocks, and then coilovers. IMO that makes the biggest difference in both handling and appearance

Dont forget that this is your car and you dont have to listen to anyone on these forums (except for humfrz! listen to him)
but in a reality do what makes you happy

Narf is correct.

Also to answer your question OFT has a flex fuel kit available now so I don't see why not. For the N1 only there really isn't a need for a tune.

For the headers they definitely need a tune.

Also even the stage 1 tune is a bit more peppier and has better performance even with a simple catback with the n1. I would get the n1 and OFT first so then you can dabble in e85 if you feel like it.

I was looking at the UEL catted header, but yea I am covered under warranty til 125k, nearing 20k now. The only thing that may mess with the warranty that I see is the OFT, other than that I should be good with the N1 exhaust. Also for the tires, I have been looking at Pirelli P Zero All Seasons, would these work for winter? I was thinking I could just use the OEM tires for summer until they wear out. Im currently just saving money and planning the build, I wont be pulling the trigger on any $400+ purchases (other than tires) for at least a few months.

In reference to FRSBRZGT86FAN, I think this will be the first step for me honestly. I didn't learn about the OFT flex fuel kit until today.

Im in south jersey towards philly, Im definitely going to be getting better tires soon, just searching for the best summer/winter tires currently as I am staying on the stock wheels for atleast a year or two from now. I believe coilovers are a little out of my price range, lowering springs may be more my speed but Im unsure about them due to speed bumps and the like.

It has been my experience with my FR-S, that any good all season tires in the winter, in cold climates, is better than summer tires. All season tires allow me to comfortably drive on cold and wet roads. They are "OK" on lightly covered snowy roads, if you take it slow. For deep snow or ice covered roads, I just leave my FR-S in the garage.


humfrz

Awwww.....that was nice of you - :wub:


humfrz

Do you really have Summer tires on there right now? Or are they all seasons?

Since it sounds like cost is a big factor, the way I would go about it, is Tires-->OFT-->Header-->Catback-->Flex Fuel Kit.
When I started modding my car, I lived in Arizona so i actually got OFT & Header at the same time instead of tires. However I grew up in Chicago so I know how important good tires can be. I've missed class before because my brand new FWD Civic couldn't go up a slight incline with snow :mad0260:


The catback requires the least work to get going which is why a lot of people get it first, but it is the least effective if you are looking for a little more hp.

Believe me though, while E85 & Header will make the car feel GREAT especially if done at the same time, you will still not be beating anyone around town, it's still only 190-200whp. The car would be great for track & autocross events though =)


And personally, the reason I would save flex fuel kit for last is that I have pumps very close to me with E85 (and all are at least 70% ethanol) so I rarely have to change out. But, if I have to switch back to regular gas, the OFT allows you to save up to 5 tunes on it which can be uploaded to your car in about 10 minutes (find the threads on here on how to do it).
I currently keep the v4 Gas, v4 E85, v4 Gas + Pops, and two v2 tunes because i don't have anything else to keep.

34 miles is not 1/4 tank unless you've contracted with GE to replace your FA20 engine with a turbofan. I routinely get around 240-260 miles per E85 tank in the city and closer to 270-290 miles on the highway at 70-80 mph. I run a Flex map from OFT using their kit. When I briefly ran an E85-only map, I actually saw slightly higher fuel economy.

But, of course, you can always fill a fuel can to help extend your range if the station is truly out of your way. Or run some intermediate mix of E85/93 to boost range while retaining most of the added performance benefit of E85. On straight 93, I will get between 340-360 miles on a tank at highway speeds (80 mph). I have no idea what my fuel economy is in the city on 93...I almost always switch to E85 when in the city.

And I just realized you're in the Northeast (I'm in Michigan). In the winter with lots of stop and go traffic, your E85 range can plummet to 180-200 miles in severely cold temps. I would never run E85 below about 20*F....it can cause serious startability issues. I typically switch to running only 93 below freezing as fuel economy drops like a stone around 45-50*F in this car (as is typical for a lot of vehicles). E85 in Michigan becomes E55-E60 around Thanksgiving anyway thanks to the refiners and state laws.

I agree with many who've posted above - go with sorting out a winter tire/wheel set before anything. This includes investing in the tools you need to do the job (jack, stands, 1/2 drive torque wrench, etc.). This car is one of the best purchases I've ever made; that said, if I didn't buy winter tires, I would have been a very sad panda about 4 months after I purchased the car in 2014. Winter tires turn a frightening driving experiet in freezing rain, slush, and snow, into a very manageable, and even somewhat fun, experience. But they aren't cheap. I run 205/55/R16 Bridgestone Blizzak WS80s on cheaper 16 inch Sparco rims. All told, from TireRack, the set costs around $800 shipped mounted as winter approaches. You can find them for cheaper right about now if you're okay with 1-year-old tires / old stock. I've found I get right around 3 winters of use out of a set of Blizzaks running around 12-15k miles per winter, mostly at highway speeds. Our winter season runs from Thanksgiving to mid-April. I always get my set of winters in early summer to save $25-50 per tire since I'll burn through them before they "expire" anyway.

I've driven my friend's BRZ in the dead of winter in 6 inches of fresh snowfall. It's a seriously unfun experience if you're not just hooning it in a parking lot. I had to dig the car out of its curbside parking space and spend a good 10 minutes slowly maneuvering it down a few streets trying to avoid a complete spinout the whole way. While I've always run winters on my car, that brief experience only served to confirm that winter tires are perhaps the greatest invention ever made for driving in the snow.

Save the OFT for later if you're trying to manage finances. I strongly recommend OFT and FlexFuel but winter tires are absolutely the most important thing. A set of RallyArmor mud flaps also go a long way to helping prevent damage to rocker panels...nice cheaper fun upgrade to do in the meantime as well with a lot of benefits.

The other big reason to avoid FF at this time is you'll probably want to take advantage of the email mapping service offered by OpenFlash if you go Flex. It really helps with getting rid of some of the idle RPM inconsistencies that exist in many of their maps. Since that service is another couple hundred, you will want to try to do it after you get all the mods done, such as a header, if you're able to get one. Headers add another 500-700 to the project, so that's something else to consider.

This ^ <3 I was looking at fitment industries and it looks like I could get a pretty solid set of winter tires and wheels for <1k, which seems pretty reasonable. Im running the OEM tires/wheels right now, which Ill just use for summer for now until I can afford some better summer tires. Flex fuel is definitely gonna be at the end, as I want to eventually try to boost the car to 300hp. Looking for that sub 5 second 0-60 in the end haha. After realizing I could just leave the stock exhaust and still run a better setup I think I will in order to keep the "sleeper" feel. Header, hell yea I still think. Budget setup now is going $1k for winter tires/wheels, $500 for OFT, $1k header, and $550 FF kit, so all in all $3k, and I might look to turbo later.

Im in jersey and I drive probably 40k miles per year. The mud flaps, I love the idea. Definitely doing them. For the flow of things and being "prepared" for later mods Im going to purchase the OFT "early." I have virtually all of the tools needed due to my dad working on cars for the past few decades, so Im lucky there haha.

Flex fuel and some extra jugs to make the trips worth it, possibly.

Also depends how much you normally drive

That AFDC site lists several stations in my area as having E85, when in fact they don't. In addition, the only station here that has it is not on the AFDC site. Search engines phrased in different ways all produce long lists of stations that allegedly have it but in fact do not. Gas Buddy is also no help. I wouldn't take a trip relying on any searches.


I would have gone with flex fuel if I had realized there's only one place to get it in a near 50-mile radius of me. Fortunately that one is just down the street from me. He says he sells a lot of it because he's the only game in town, but he ran out for two days last week.

P Zero
 

My Porsche came with Pirelli P Zero summer tires. Great traction...but they wear terribly and are too expensive for their serviceable life. Replaced one year tire due to a flat and another due to wear. By the time the rears wear out again, the front will be ready for replacement...won't be Pirelli's. Many others feel the same. Not the all seasons, but I wouldn't go that way.

You can provide feedback on each station on the AFDC site or suggest additions.