Here is a article comparing E85 to Regular unleaded.

E85 vs. Gasoline Comparison Test

I don't think it's worth the extra cost and lower gas mileage. But you can read the article and choose for yourself. Good Luck!

 

Extra cost? It's a 1.50 cheaper a gallon...

 

That's the worst testing ever lol those cars don't have a performance tune so it's irreverent to what I'm asking. E85 is proven to give around 10% hp gains. And the price was only 40 cents different where I live premium gas is usually 3.60 and e85 ranges from 2 to 2.50 so it would be huge in saving even with worse gas mileahe

 

There's quite a few stations around SE MI with E85. I've never run it and don't plan on it. I thought your car had to be E85 compatible to run on it? You just can't run it in any car. Back when I had the 03 SS, and the whole "Flex-Fuel" thing started to become more common, I looked into it for that car and it wasn't compatible.

 

For e85 you need a bigger fuel pump injectors and a tune. I got big injectors so that's why I thought about it another 200 and would give me around 10% hp gains and be cheaper

 

The downside to that article is that it doesn't at all touch on performance from the viewpoint that we like to use it for in the aftermarket- as a cheap race gas.

Putting E85 into a stock NA engine designed to run on either is going to help performance as much as running full race gas in the same engine: not at all. The engine can't increase compression ratio, or add boost to take advantage of the higher octane rating.

The way many boosted cars like to use it is as a substitute for, and readily available (depending on location) source of race gas. Here, the cost is far lower for E85 vs race gas (usually at least 1/2 the price)- and many areas have E85 available at many local stations. Then you can crank the boost and timing, and make gobs of extra power- just like you could on on race gas.

If your plan is to just run straight E85 instead of gas, with no other mods to the car- then yes, it does need to be labelled as 'flex-fuel'. The factory flex fuel cars come with a sensor to measure the ethanol content, and can adjust the fueling accordingly to compensate. Putting E85 in a car that isn't labelled for it's use is a very bad idea.

However, if you're modding your car, and don't mind doing upgrades to be able to run it- then many modern cars are able. You need to add extra capacity for the higher required fuel flow (ie bigger injectors, bigger pump)- especially if you're already making more power than stock- and adjust the tune to compensate for the new fueling requirements.

IMO, for anyone not running boost, it's a waste of time. No one seems to run high enough compression in the NA builds to make the higher octane worth it. With boost though, there is plenty of performance benefit to be had.

 

Another thing gou need is e85 compatable gaskets. Ive seen the 10% eth eat head gaskets

 

And what has 10% ethanol? Never heard of anyone blowing a head gasket from e85 but I guess good to know...

 

All gas has up to 10% ethanol in it already.

 

A lot of the normal gas stations put up to 10% ethanol in their normal gasoline brands. Out here it's actually a bit tough to find a place that sells 100% gasoline, as the bulk of stations have the disclaimer about having up to 10% E.