Quote:
Originally Posted by Anthony
Well, between your, Sportsguy83, and mad_sb's comments I'm feeling pretty comfortable with the idea. I had already figured it was a pretty safe deal, I'm just trying to be really meticulous about it - prevent any long term problems by upgrading anything that needs it from the beginning.
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Definitely approve of the thorough approach. I am the same way when I commence a build---I want every single facet of the setup looked over and make sure nothing is missed. I was leery on the E85 front for many many years now, but after seeing literally hundreds of locals use it religiously for tens of thousands of miles, my concerns were assuaged significantly.
Mad_SB's post is spot on. Expect fuel consumption to be higher. 20-30% is a fair estimate, and usually the cost-savings per-gallon compared to 93 are insufficient to make up for the extra gas required to meet E85's stoich ratio. So you need to decide if the power's worth it for you (unlike what another poster stated, there WILL be notable gains over 93 tune, even without FI). Beyond peak power numbers, the entire powerband will be significantly smoother due to the aggressive ignition advance you can run on E85's ~108 octane.
I'm presently on Visconti's 93+E85 tune, but I second the vote for FA20Club. Tony's a great guy, with customer service that's second to none in my and others' experience. I'd recommend planning to run FA20Club's flexfuel setup in the future. E85 is notorious for inconsistency in the mix (you rarely get FULL 85%). Flexfuel Kit not only allows it to be perfectly adapted every time, but if you travel and can't find E85 (my E85 locator apps on my android phone have been wrong more then once), it's a nice backup to be able to add 93 to the mix without the laptop in the car.
Final point is, it's a good stepping stone in my eyes if you don't have $3000+ to drop on a forced induction kit right now. The stock map is absolutely atrocious (some might even say unsafe). Going this road with a proper flex kit from an attentive vendor is not a sunk cost if you decide to go forced induction down the road. You don't lose that investment, it only further benefit your new turbo/super setup.