alcohol?

[tyrannix]

with gas prices what they are now.... US price supposed to be over $3/gal by 2006

anyone tried running alcohol on a CA? i hear ethanol is about $1.25/gal when you get a 55gal drum..

ive heard it needs to run at about 9:1 AFR .. anyone have experience? (im about to get some 720cc injectors... might need to go bigger if this is true)
Modified by tyrannix at 3:03 PM 8/30/2005

[tyrannix]

after a little searching, it still looks feasable... and runs cleaner... even at a 50% mix of normal gasoline and alcohol..... i need some equations to figure out what it will end up with... but it seems it will run alot more boost, without pinging, as long as the fuel system is even more hoss to cope with the lower AFR....

huge injectors it is then ... and again... like with everything else.. i will post results (once i get the engine built... still waiting on oil pump.. thats it)

[c-rad]

You don't gain HP by running alcohol or any other race gas. You just reduce the susceptibility of knock. Also, there was a thread about this already about using E85 and it's just not possible/feasible.

[tyrannix]

yeah, i found the thread about e85

and it looks to be very feasable

edit> im not trying to get hp by running race gas, if alcohol costs less, runs cleaner *and* increases octane levell... and the only thing is you need to flow more fuel to compensate.... then it looks like a good tradeoff to me

upon some more research to figure out exactly which alcohol is right for me (ethanol being cheap) will try running it

i just want to know if anyone has done it before me with a CA ... as there was only one other thread here sofar besides this one that even has the word alcohol in it

editII> just my point of interest... i get 87 gas here for $1.70/gal .. and 91 is over $2.70 ... nevermind 93,94+ if even available

if i can get 87 gas up to a 95 octane rating... and have it cost *less* then premium... damn.. less than the 87 even... and i just have to flow more fuel... then thats something i am very interested in
Modified by tyrannix at 3:11 PM 8/30/2005

[NeedCAforS13]

if you have to use more fuel, who cares if its cheaper per gallon? you're going to use more gallons!

[tyrannix]

well..... because i pay almost a dollar per gallon less than any pump in the rest of the US for 87... but i can only get 87 here

it comes with the territory, kind of an offset for having to live about 1.5 hours away from anything, and i refuse to drive that far, just to get some gas that my car needs to run

and ethanol is apparently around $1.25 per gal

at a 50/50 mix, that averages to paying $1.50/gal for 95 octane, or whatever it mixes up to be (and better for the environment...hell i might even pass emissions with that and a modest map on the PowerFC)

even if it goes down from 14:1 to 10:1 (that a big drop) to get stoich, thats not going to cost anywhere near as much as driving 130 miles to get to a gas station that serves up 93

(i am up in the mountains of eastern california.... theres *NOTHING* near me... i need to innovate to save money... and get better fuel in the process)

[float_6969]

Toluene. Look into it.

[tyrannix]

toulene... thats what i thought too, at first

then i found that other thread about e85... and turns out toulene is bad (environment, and not really good for boosting octane)

but a pure alcohol/gasoline mix is good.. boosting octane, staying low priced.. even for 2006, and maybe even passing emmissions (i have mass plates on my car now... wether it will pass emissions with everything i can do is wether or not i switch to southwest nevada plates (no emmissions in nevada... period, unless you live in reno, sparks, or vegas... soon to be carson as well .. everywhere else just does a VIN check when you register.. then nothing else.. ever

on top of raising the octane level

before i put anything but staright gasoline in *my* tank, i will do more research tho.... and let everyone know my findings.... .. on both the research and when/if i run an alcohol mix in my car.. although, that other thread about it seems pretty well informed, he uses facts to back up theory and opinions.... im going to use that as a base and build from there

and ill post results on a dyno tune... if i find enough evidence for me to stick any concoction in my tank

above wanting to drive fast, i am also very cheap... i just have a lot of really nice goodies because 1 i lived in japan for awhile, and 2 im an ebay whore bargainhunter ... other things that can be skimped on... well, theres no helping that (like engine internal work/parts) so they have to be paid for at straight value

[biosehnsucht]

toulene / xylene both 'work' but nothing is going to raise 87 to anything usable. that and they stink horribly..

not sure if sustained t/x use would cause issues but alcohol does over time **** up the rubber fuel lines and such

if you can really only get 87 then you're kind of screwed. you could retune the ecu to run horribly rich.. thats about it.

[float_6969]

He could pull timing out of it too. That would be my first avenue before I started making it run rich. Running rich to prevent detonation, in some circumstances, is a bandaid for too much timing.

[81na ZX]

Not adding anything usefull to this post

with gas prices what they are now.... US price supposed to be over $3/gal by 2006

Gas is already 2.98 or 2.99 for 89 here in central michigan

[Dattebayo]

not sure if sustained t/x use would cause issues but alcohol does over time **** up the rubber fuel lines and such

Sounds like a great excuse to get braided lines and stuff. I imagine you get get them for just about any line at any length due to what I have seen in track cars...

[tyrannix]

i was thinking the exact same thing

funny thing tho.... around the time id be doing this is around the time i would be putting in *all* braided lines anyway

im starting with oil lines, then next season im doing the rest

and yes, you can get them in any size that youd need, even radiator hoses

summit, and the big napa stores even make them for you if you bring them dimensions or an example... but i dont think its that difficult for a DIY project

and they can handle rediculous temperatures and pressures

either way, until more research tells me otherwise, 50% ethanol is teh win

Sounds like a great excuse to get braided lines and stuff. I imagine you get get them for just about any line at any length due to what I have seen in track cars...

[Dattebayo]

Hey you got piping with that SMIC, tyrannix?

[/thread jack]

[iliketocrash]

i remember the thread on e85. you need a lot of expensive specialty stuff like fuel pump, injectors, o-rings, and all kinds of misc. crap that will bleed you dry of your money. you have to use special rubber like components that are decently expensive because the high alcohol is quite corrosive. there was a website somewhere, i believe it was linked in the e85 thread of some people who converted a standard gasoline car to run e85 and it seemed like a fairly, long, pricey, and complicated process if i remember correctly.

[tyrannix]

then its even better for me to do it now, before im done even assembling the engine