So on E85 the air/fuel ratio needs to be significantly richer, which means it contains a larger volume of fuel. Again, if you failed chemistry this means that on pump gas we need 14.7 parts air to mix with one part fuel.В On E85 however, we now mix one part fuel to 9.8 parts air. вЂStoichiometricвЂ™ is a chemical term that refers to the required ratio of fuel and air for complete combustion. Unless you have a Flex Fuel capable vehicle, the answer is no.В Normal gasoline has a stoichiometric air fuel ratio of 14.7:1, while E85 is 9.8:1. A colder intake charge is denser and improves power, but also has the effect of making the engine less prone to detonation. In plain English this means that when E85 is injected into the engine, it goes through a phase change from liquid to gas and during this process it absorbs a lot of heat from the intake charge. The octane rating of E85 is in the region of 105, but when combined with its cooling properties, the actual knock resistance of E85 is much higher than the octane rating would suggest.Д®85 also has a very high вЂlatent heat of evaporationвЂ™. Increase the octane rating though and we can often make more power. Too much boost or too much ignition advance can lead to detonation on pump fuels and hence the fuelвЂ™s octane rating often limits the power we can make.

Octane rating is a measure of a fuelвЂ™s ability to withstand detonation or knock. ItвЂ™s quite possible to see your engine power literally double in some cases when switching from pump gas to E85.В Obviously thereвЂ™s a bit more to consider than just the fuel, but stay with me and weвЂ™ll get to the good bits.Д®85 isnвЂ™t magic, and thereвЂ™s some basic science behind why you can expect more power.В The real merit of the fuel is in two of its properties: its octane rating and its cooling ability. ThatвЂ™s great for the environment, but if youвЂ™re interested in performance the real value of E85 is that it provides race-fuel properties at bargain basement prices.

E85 continues to increase in popularity on the merits of sustainability and reduced emissions when compared to pump gasoline. Unless youвЂ™ve been hiding under a rock, youвЂ™ll probably know that E85 is a fuel containing 85В per centВ ethanol and 15В per centВ gasoline. YouвЂ™ve heard of E85 right? AВ pump fuel that can offer huge power increases from your engine for a fraction of the cost of commercial race fuels? Before you pull up to the pump and fill up, read on to find out ifВ this is the new wonder fuel for youвЂ¦ So with the introduction out of the way, letвЂ™s talk about ethanol.

Speedhunters has invited me aboard as a technical writer, which means IвЂ™ll be putting together an informative, tech-focused story once a month that willВ hopefully fill in some knowledge gapsВ and create some interesting discussions as we go. OurВ aim is to improve the level of knowledge, results and professionalism in the industry and we do this by providing online training courses for EFI tuning. Over the time I owned STM I got frustrated with our industry due to the lack of knowledge and understanding held by a lot of engine tuners out there, and for the last couple of years IвЂ™ve been running High Performance Academy with my business partner. My own Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IIIВ known as DOCILE held the outright Mitsubishi 4WD record for several years with an 8.23 180mph and we also built and tuned an Evo IXВ known as DS9 that held the late-model Evo 4WD record until last year with an 8.34 169mph. While IвЂ™ve tuned just about everything from a 1,200hp jet sprint boat to private planes, my passion is import drag racing and over the years STM built or tuned cars that have set fiveВ world records on the drag strip. For the last 13 years IвЂ™ve owned a performance tuning shop in New ZealandВ called STM (not to be confused with US-based STM Tuned). Hi Speedhunters, IвЂ™m Andre SimonВ and since this is my first вЂњKnowledge BoostвЂќ article I thought IвЂ™d introduce myself.

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