E85

[ak215371]

Okay my little town that I live in just recently got a gas station with e85 fuel. I have a 2014 Sonic sedan 1.4 t automatic. My understanding is that e85 delivers a lot more hp? Right now I'm running 93 octane with trifecta tune. What all do I need to do to run e85, and is it really worth doing? Right now when I take my car to the dealership for service, I flash the stock tube back. With e85 could I flash stock tune back without any problems? Last question, that gas station is like 30 min from where I live but 3 min from the college I go to. But my work is 50 min from there, if I couldn't make it to get e85 one day, could I put 87, 91, or 93 octane in my car with a e85 tune?

 

[AdorableKaren]

To run E85 you need bigger injectors. Bosch 42lb injectors can be found on ebay, usually $250 for a set of four. I believe BNR sells generic injectors for less but they are not true Bosch. You will also need a different tune to run the bigger injectors and E85. I wanted to make this switch a couple months ago but the cost was a little more than I wanted to spend. Depending on which Trifecta tune you have, the new tune will run you $200-400. Only way to use different gas E85, 91, or 93 whenever you want is to make your car flex fuel. To do that you need to install an alcohol sensor and iirc a different tune as well. Yes, e85 is more octane and could give out hp but you use more. If you commute far or care about mpg might not be for you. Sorry a lot of info but you can read more here: http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/build-threads/5772-karens-build-51.html#post309334

 

[TopazRS6spd]

Burning more sucks, doesn't help we already have small tanks. I thought about switching but for the availability right now it wasn't worth the cost to switch. Since i would rarely get the chance to run E85, driving an hour to fill up, didn't make a whole lot of sense. However if it's readily available to you go for it. Just as stated, it's a few thing involved, and will certainly void the warranty.

 

[AdorableKaren]

It would have been well worth it a few years ago. Back then bnr/trifecta were offering returns for $70. If you already had the red cable and full tune you could pay for a retune, buy bigger injectors, and boom you were E85 ready. Now that trifecta has changed all of the tunes to elite calibration and what not, the cost to change over has gone up. I live close to a few E85 gas stations but I travel constantly and E85 may not be readily available. I probably will not make the change but it was fun to dream of more hp.

 

[rsSteve]

Okay my little town that I live in just recently got a gas station with e85 fuel. I have a 2014 Sonic sedan 1.4 t automatic. My understanding is that e85 delivers a lot more hp? Right now I'm running 93 octane with trifecta tune. What all do I need to do to run e85, and is it really worth doing? Right now when I take my car to the dealership for service, I flash the stock tube back. With e85 could I flash stock tune back without any problems? Last question, that gas station is like 30 min from where I live but 3 min from the college I go to. But my work is 50 min from there, if I couldn't make it to get e85 one day, could I put 87, 91, or 93 octane in my car with a e85 tune?

Yes E85 does give you more HP. It is basically like race fuel but much cheaper. It will also help with running higher boost and bigger turbos as it keeps your combustion temperatures down, increasing the longevity of your motor. Swordsmith runs flex fuel and has calculated it in his area (PA) due to the decrease in mpg with E85, even with the lower cost per gallon, the cost per mile is higher with E85. So if you are looking at it as a cost savings long term it is not worth it. Its only worth it if you are looking for that extra ommph out of your car.

It would have been well worth it a few years ago. Back then bnr/trifecta were offering returns for $70. If you already had the red cable and full tune you could pay for a retune, buy bigger injectors, and boom you were E85 ready. Now that trifecta has changed all of the tunes to elite calibration and what not, the cost to change over has gone up. I live close to a few E85 gas stations but I travel constantly and E85 may not be readily available. I probably will not make the change but it was fun to dream of more hp.

I would like to do E85 as well but there is only 1 station in a 50 mile radius of me so i would have no choice but to do flex fuel. I believe BNR was going to release a kit for it but i would hate to see the price on that.

 

[ak215371]

I would like to do it just for the increase in hp. I figured it would void warranty lol. It's probably not a good idea for me to do it unfortunately

 

[rsSteve]

Im not so sure about the warranty part to be honest. These cars were suppose to be flex fuel from the beginning but as a last second decision they decided not to (i forget why). So all they did was take out alcohol sensor and drop in smaller fuel injectors. It is actually safer to run e85 then pump gas as well due to lower combustion temperatures. I guess it would come down to the dealer and depend on how "flexible" they were.

 

[BNRacing]

BNR sells only genuine bosch injectors, we had generics originally in like 2013 but spray pattern issues killed those very quickly and anyone that purchased them was given more expensive genuine bosch replacements for no additional charge.

BNR does sell a true flex fuel conversion kit with the injectors, flex fuel sensor, and tuning with our handheld for $1200 total. If you already own a BNR tune, it's $700. Updates are always free with BNR tuning.

 

[TopazRS6spd]

The reason why I mentioned the warranty, because I was under the impression the new sensor was not plug and play and would have to be wired in.

 

[Swordsmith]

That is correct, there's a place on the ECU to plug the sensor to, but you have to add in a power line, anyone really looking closely will be able to see that you've done -something- even if you unbolt the sensor and replace the fuel line. There will also be some holes in the firewall or somewhere, where you had the sensor bolted in.

The sensor is not strictly necessary, though. You can instead get two tunes, one for running gasoline and one for running E85. Run the car down to nearly empty, then fill with the liquid of your choice and swap to the tune for that liquid. You'll be off a little, you might have E15 instead of E10 (regular gas is nominally E10) or you might have E75 instead of E85, but the tunes are reasonably flexible about that... they have to be, because pump gas is never exactly as labled, E10 can be anywhere from 0% to 10% alcohol, E85 anywhere from 75% to 85%.

Unless you are A) a rich hippie more concerned about saving the planet by running less gasoline or B) power mad, you won't run E85 all that often. I get about 33% worse mpg running E85, while the price difference is (today in PA) only 11% cheaper.

 

[ak215371]

That is correct, there's a place on the ECU to plug the sensor to, but you have to add in a power line, anyone really looking closely will be able to see that you've done -something- even if you unbolt the sensor and replace the fuel line. There will also be some holes in the firewall or somewhere, where you had the sensor bolted in.

The sensor is not strictly necessary, though. You can instead get two tunes, one for running gasoline and one for running E85. Run the car down to nearly empty, then fill with the liquid of your choice and swap to the tune for that liquid. You'll be off a little, you might have E15 instead of E10 (regular gas is nominally E10) or you might have E75 instead of E85, but the tunes are reasonably flexible about that... they have to be, because pump gas is never exactly as labled, E10 can be anywhere from 0% to 10% alcohol, E85 anywhere from 75% to 85%.

Unless you are A) a rich hippie more concerned about saving the planet by running less gasoline or B) power mad, you won't run E85 all that often. I get about 33% worse mpg running E85, while the price difference is (today in PA) only 11% cheaper.

Thank you! That's exactly what I was looking for. I don't want to put the sensor in the car. That was my main concern about switching over gas if I run. Out of e85. So if I do switch by to 93 octane do I have to switch the injectors back out? Or just the tune?

 

[BNRacing]

Just the tune. If you wanted to do a BNR tune for E85 and then also have one for 93 octane on the bigger injectors, we could do that no problem. The sensor is only needed if you want to swap fuels on the fly without retuning.

 

[ak215371]

Just the tune. If you wanted to do a BNR tune for E85 and then also have one for 93 octane on the bigger injectors, we could do that no problem. The sensor is only needed if you want to swap fuels on the fly without retuning.

Alright awsome thank you.. how mich would the diffrent tune cost? I already have the trifecta tune.

 

[WOT-Tuning]

Alright awsome thank you.. how mich would the diffrent tune cost? I already have the trifecta tune.

If you already own the TRIFECTA calibration and want to go E85, please feel free to come to us directly and we will take care of you

support@wot-tuning.com