I plan to dynotest my RX-8 in the following weeks on alcohol that is E85 Testing will be done on a RotoTest hub dyno and with Unichip piggyback (that i'm dealer of).Main goal is to make more torque with E85 and so more hp Is there anybody that already has done some testing and have some numbers This gonna be interesting and fun

/Lasse

 

I predict less hp, less tq.

 

cool.....let us know how it works out

 

it would be great if you could get a cobb map lol

 

good luck. what fuel mods do you have? Can the stock injectors even flow enough for E85, even if you aren't turbo?

 

I thought e85 was bad for our seals........

 

I have done some E85 testing a year ago with a Haltech Interceptor piggyback there i saw almost 11 rwhp at 5000 rpm but the lambda readings were almost 1. I could not adjust anymore fuel from the Haltech becausse it could only alter the fuel 30%.Now that i have Unichip i have more room to play with. If i have the time and money i would try the Cobb but who has? I have no fuel mods except the Unichip. I think the stock injectors can flow almost 300 N/A hp on gasoline. If the injectors is maxing out then i will add 2 extra injectors on a plate between lower intake and upper plastic one. The Unichip controls the extra injectors in the map.
I don't see any problem with apex seals and E85, remember that drag racers is using methanol on high hp engine set ups. Sure you might add some premix for alcohol such as VP and Motul sells. Can't wait to get starting with the E85 testing...

/Lasse

 

This sounds impressive!

 

E85 has less energy content that straight gas or E10 (common in US) - therefore there is no way for it to produce "more" power on an "ounce-for-ounce" of fuel basis. It will take significantly more E85 to produce more power than you are getting today.

As for use in a rotary, Ethanol has quite a bit more solvency than gas and will help keep combustion chambers, etc clean. But for a rotary, it will also severely reduce the oil film required to protect the Apex and Side seals. You will need premix or an OMP rate increase to counteract this additional solvency or you will increase your wear rate.

I personally will not even run E10, all things being equal, as it will increase your seal wear rate versus standard gas due to the higher total fuel solvency. I am lucky enough to be able to still avoid it, but if you live in an areas that you can't, you should consider regular use of a Lubricious Cleaner, Premix, or an OMP rate increase (MM's ECU maps via Cobb) to counteract.

 

 

jax,

please tell me what brand you are using that is not e10????

would love to know..

beers

 

Hey Swoope,

Even here in the 'Corn Fed E10/E85 belt' we have lots of stations with Efree. Why? All the snowmobile manufacturers and utility vehicles used in the winter.

Lots of us drive 10 miles out of the way to get to these stations...they are still everywhere if you go to Northern MN.

 

Thats a bad assumption. It has less energy content per unit of measure, but the increase of knock resistance can lead to more aggressive fuel strategies and a more efficient burn - increasing power. It also lowers charge temperatures leading to better engine performance.

The effects are more noteable with FI engines, but some results can be attainable for some NA engines.

 

THere is also Ethanol Free gas at many stations in the winter as older cars don't take the E10 well.

Our governer tried to mandate E20 and every outdoorsman group came out against him to his surprise (since they put him in office).

 

wow,

i would love to pump some gas that from a hose that did not say 10 ethanol.

beers

 

Here in Fredericksburg VA all the off-brand and most of the name brand have gone to E10 - only Shell and ExxonMobil have stayed (so far) with standard gas w/addtives.

Note that I am not in a high pollutions zone, but all the counties north of me are the rest of the way to Wash DC and they all have E10 mandatory

 

I did not say you cannot get more power, you may be able to with much more fuel and the A/F ration correctly set - assuming E10 is less prone to knock, but it has the same rating, so I doubt it is.

What I said it that if you can achieve more power, it will take much more fuel than gasoline to do it - heck Indy Cars achieve lots of power running on ethanol, but they also get about 1-2 MPG, while a Nascar engine produces just slightly less gets around 3-4mpg on pure gasoline (albeit racing gas)

 

E85 seems insanely pointless without forced induction. I've never seen any controlled testing that it can make more power than gasoline on an n/a setup.

 

E85 is gonna use 30-40% more fuel to gain a solid increase in horsepower. But take in concern that you also might add a stronger spark to burn those alcohol in an efficient way . Here in Sweden there is numerous of tuners that had good results with E85 on piston engines but how good is it for a Rotary engine? That am i gonna to test with my N/A Unichiped RX-8 I am not gonna premix the first dyno pulls then i will add Motul RC oil and see what happenen powerwise. Becausse the timing maps are so high in stock configuration, so think i that there is no need to advance the timing to much. To be continued

/Lasse