Danpatters583 Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 I am mainly curious, has anyone ever added a flex fuel system onto their buick? Heard alot of benefits to doing it. Mostly for performance cars but for other reasons too. I thought it may be beneficial? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon L Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 Are you talking about E85 conversion? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 In theory your car would run on E85 now, but the tune would be way off when open loop and you would need a much larger injector to operate on the lower energy fuel, probably 35-40% larger to be safe. It isn't a simple matter if you want to take advantage of all of the possible benefits of E85. Are there kits made for this sort of switch? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted August 6 Share Posted August 6 Is there an advantage to running E85 flex fuel? Is it cheaper than regular gas? Does it produce more horsepower? Although my Chevy Equinox says "Flex Fuel" on the back, I've never considered running it and I don't know anyone else who has run it it their car. I guess it's available around here but I've never noticed it being advertised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchemist Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 All I have ever experienced when running E85 (in a certified capable vehicle) is substantially increased fuel consumption to the tune of 50% greater than when using 'normal' 10% ethanol fuel. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 Racers do use it as a less expensive hi octane fuel, approximately equivalent to 105 or so, depending on exact ratio and where you get the information. Alcohol has a high natural octane but lower energy than gasoline by volume. It carries extra oxygen as well. Most engines are airflow limited but you can burn more alcohol with the same amount of air for a net gain in output. The other side is of course the amount of actual liquid fuel is increased for similar output and to take full advantage of the octane, higher compression and of course boost will optimize and lessen the impact of the greater volume for same power. The driver needs to decide if it makes economic sense. Generally it is less expensive, but only testing and the math will tell if it is a winner or loser in the pocketbook. Fuel mileage will be lower unless the engine somehow adapts to take advantage of the fuel, variable compression ratio, perhaps boost, variable tune in the operating system etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danpatters583 Posted August 7 Topic Author Share Posted August 7 This is what i was thinking too. The idea came to me cuz I have a different cat that's Stirling to pass emissions. Some one told me the fuel runs cooler and so forth so forth. I've always thought the same thing with fuel consumption. I just thought that if any one had tried it on their buick if it made a difference or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted August 7 Share Posted August 7 15 hours ago, 2seater said: Racers do use it as a less expensive hi octane fuel, approximately equivalent to 105 or so, I use to run methanol in some my motorcycle engines . To get it to run right, the main jets had to be huge and the ignition timing needed a lot more advance because methanol is a slower burning fuel than gasoline. The methanol burns slower and longer during the power stroke giving the engine a lot more low end torque. You could actually feel the extra torque at low RPMs when you twisted the throttle. It was much easier to lift the front wheel off the ground at low RPM. Oddly enough the engine running methanol didn't like to turn high RPMs compared to gasoline. That was the good ole days when I was experimenting with stuff like that... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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