E85 Vs Conventional Gasoline - Factroy Turbo

4 Cold starts can become an issue for those who use E85. As we experienced with our test EVO, it took more than a minute to finally get the engine to crank over. This can be a problem for those who live in colder climate areas, but in sunny California, we don't see this as a major concern. To remedy this problem, you can increase the percentage of standard gasoline used in mixture with E85 to initiate cold starts.

5 Since cars running E85 require more fuel, a tank of E85 will not run as far as a tank of gasoline, and more frequent refueling will be needed. Properly tuned, E85-burning cars will range only 80 percent as far as those burning conventional gasoline.

6 Playing with ethanol-to-gasoline mixtures or periodically switching from gasoline to E85 requires changes in fuel pressures. Switching over isn't a simple run-to-the-pump-and-fill scenario

7 Although E85 is not a corrosive material, ethanol has been known to damage certain rubber, seals, and internal engine components. Most vehicles produced prior to 1987 are not compatible with the chemical composition of E85, and some retrofitting of fuel lines, pumps, and vacuum hose may be needed, depending on vehicle.

Converting a vehicle to run E85 could be done in a day's time, by simply draining fuel, changing injectors and tuning. Bigger injectors, a good fuel pump, and E85 are nearly all that is needed. Everything else can be done in the ECU. Shawn Church, owner of Church Automotive and tuner of our E85-powered EVO VIII test vehicle, prefers to tune E85 with a good standalone engine management system, like the AEM EMS. "I'd say that if you have a regular source for E85 available, it's a hell of a good deal; cheaper than gas-especially race gas-and excellent performance. And the owner of this EVO VIII is averaging 16-17 mpg in the city on E85, so the drop-off in economy isn't that noticeable."

Mitsubishi EVO VIII Specs

HKS 272 degree camshafts and adjustable cam gears
ARP headstuds
BC titanium retainers and valve springs
Walboro 255 fuel pump
RC Engineering 1,000cc injectors
AEM EMS converted to speed density
Buschur front mount intercooler and hard pipe kit
AEM intake
EVO IX factory turbo
3-inch exhaust
3-inch downpipe (cat delete)

After a series of dyno runs and proper tuning using E85, the EVO was able to extract an additional 48 whp and 66 lb-ft of torque over our previous pump gas pull,
After a series of dyno runs and proper tuning using E85, the EVO was able to extract an ad
Prior to the customer bringing his EVO VIII to Church Automotive, the vehicle was running a reflashed stock ECU. The reflash worked well, but as Church states, "Any more timing or boost and we were seeing too much indication of knock. On the stock ECU, we made about five hp less than on the AEM EMS, both on pump gas and the same boost." Recording boost data on the dyno revealed the reflashed ECU topping out at 21.84 psi before leveling to 19.77psi
Prior to the customer bringing his EVO VIII to Church Automotive, the vehicle was running
After some final E85 tuning, the boost was peaking at 26.70 psi before dropping to 21.3 psi, and out EVO VIII posted 400.3 whp and 403 lb-ft of torque-an overall gain of 66.9 whp and 72.8 lb-ft of torque over our baseline numbers!
After some final E85 tuning, the boost was peaking at 26.70 psi before dropping to 21.3 ps