dont quote me on this and someone correct me if im wrong..... but i believe the octane rating on the pump is the rating of the gasoline w/out any ethanol added, so if you buy 87octane w/ 10% ethanol, your octane rating will techically be slightly higher than 87, but will never be lower than 87 (or whatever is listed on the pump).

 

The calculator that I used:

http://www.intercepteft.com/calc.html

Scroll down to the bottom to use the blending 2 fuels calculator.

The numbers do match somewhat with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
In the USA we use AKI (R+M/2).

NOTE: On the calculator website they say E85 has a typically octane rating of 105 maybe they are quoting the RON scale rating. IDK. Pure ethanol is only ~99

Here's a link with about people playing funny games with blended fuels octane ratings: http://www.racegas.com/article/11

 

Here's a spreadsheet in Excel format you can use as well.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...5%20Blends.xls

 

Excellent tool, thanks for the link.
WTF is it doing on an EFT/ACH site??? Stealing my bank account info? Not gonna find much in there, lol . Seriously though, didn't explore the site too much but couldn't figure out why an e85 calculator would be there, of all places... Useful nonetheless. Haven't followed the other link yet.
Also - it's odd they do the 105 rating in default, as it seems unlikely to be that high at a pump, I put in a 'factor of safety' and used 99 octane.

 

Thanks for this too, Tigger.

 

Both E85 and torco are excellent octane boosters. Toluene is also an equally effective octane booster. I have used all 3. E85 and tolune are a bit more tricky to measure and keep track of dilutions and volumes. I don't buy the argument that torco gives you a more accurate octane boost. If you look at the science behind it, the amount of octane boost varies considerably depending on the original fuel. The better and higher the octane of the fuel, the less boost effect you get. As you point out, you never quite know what you are getting from the pump as a start point.

E85 has one other significant advantage that the others don't. It also has an evaporative cooling effect. Ethanol does not have as significant effect as methanol, but it still is there. This is the reason why people spray methanol in intakes, it has a potent cooling effect.

Both ethanol and toluene have a slighly slower burn, which has some antiknock effect separate from octane boost.

One disdvantage of e85 is it does not store well, and is prone to water absorption, so not ideal if you want to keep a can at home and at a bit at a time.

I think any of the three alternatives above work, and it is probably just a question of what is convenient for each individual

 

What is the most E85 everyone is running? 3.2 gal?

 

i believe it is ill advised to add more than 30% which by my maths is 3.75 assuming you are adding 12.5 gallons........personally ide probably keep it right around 3 gallons to be safe.....

 

Exactly, especially in direct injection applications. See the attached SAE summary paper on E85 in turbocharged DI applications.
http://papers.sae.org/2009-01-1490/

There's also this which is a pretty good read.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles...%203-29-11.pdf

Also I modified the Excel spread sheet by removing the dynamic cell naming. That way it can be saved and used on smartphones if you have an app to let you edit excel files.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...5%20Blends.xls

 

30% is a good safe number without having to monitor. You can add more but you'll have to monitor your fuel trims to make sure they don't max out.

 

I finally got a data run in - 80% meth with JB+ at 50%. Timing is pretty steady, advances slightly (maybe due to a decrease in boost - who really knows), only drops on shifts (what you'd expect). Intake temp is almost 10F below ambient. I believe the boost drops because of this decrease in temperature.



This second graph shows how my timing steps down in the beginning of the run:

 

That's impressive that you have lower IAT's that ambient air

Sent from my iPhone Office

 

Can you post which kit, nozzle size and where on the pipe you are spraying?
Thanks
Mario

Sent from my iPhone Office

 

As I posted yesterday, I put in 4.15 of e85 on a fill-up from 'vapors'/empty, that's about 33% (and this was after 2 fill-ups on straight 91 and consuming most (90%+) of the tank before (re-)filling. When doing e85 I have found that using the ratio of fuel gage bars to determine room in the tank and then shooting for an e85 volume based on that and desired percentage to be very effective/accurate.
Have been reading up on e85 DIY blends and e85 effects on non-FFV and becoming less and less leary of generous blends. The spreadsheet from Tigger is excellent for calculations. I will slowly be uping the dial on JB+ along with blends of e85 & report on outcomes.
(maybe the Countryman will crack 140mph...)

 

It's the HFS4. I'm using 0.6 mm jet with 0.7 mm restrictor which gives me ~270 cc/min. It's installed in the cold pipe next to the dipstick. Currently it's about 80% methanol. I will transition to 100% as I refill the tank.

 

Are you monitoring your fuel trims?

 

That SAE paper seems intereting. I came to the Countryman downsizing from my 2010 FLEX Ecoboost (which is twinturbo DI). That is a bad-***, fat-*** stationwagon btw (4500lb), total sleeper too and hauled 7! Anyway I mention that because it admonished any thing over e10/15, even so for as to have an e20 crossed-out on the fuel filler access, I also had no knowledge or desires to pursue e85 blends with it, but now with my MINI I am jumping into the e85 blends head-first. I guess I am just wondering 'aloud' why the Ford had that stance, nothing I am seeing or expiriencing seems to indicate that e20 is 'bad.'

 

No. I think I kinda know why I should, ...as the ethanol blend goes up the stoichiometry requirement gets 'richer,' so the LTFT may exceed a preset parameter & illuminate the CEL, but is there a concern beyond that?

 

Thank you. I will check out their website

Sent from my iPhone Office

 

Exactly were I have mine.

You certainly wrapped up the meth line lol, mines all exposed haha.

If you ever go .8mm with no restrictor, you'll be close to 30 degrees under ambient.

 

I totally agree with going up to .8 with no restrictor running 80-100% meth. I've run 50/50 using .7mm no restrictor and no problems. I want to try 100% meth but ordered my kit with .5, .6 &.7mm nozzles so I'll have to buy the .8mm nozzle.

I too have thought about covering the hose to hide it from prying eyes just like you've done it.

 

Is the system set up progressive and is it Injector triggered, not boost? When does the system kick on? Sent from my iPhone Office

 

The fuel trims max out at about 33. Depending in how much e85 you are running, you want to make sure you have room so the trims can be adjusted appropriately.

 

Here's a link that explains it much better than I could. I have everything at factory default settings.

http://howertonengineering.com/produ...quamist-hfs-4/

I'm still learning the system but I might adjust it so it triggers earlier, right now if I drive easy it will never trigger.

 

Straight-up honest here: No clue how I'd adjust the fuel trims, how to monitor them, how close they are to, or approaching 33, how one would "have room" for adjustment, etc.

Prolly know enough to get me in trouble though...

Maybe I should just take the plunge and get a meth kit (and leave it the hell alone, i.e., at the defaults), given what's being posted here, it seems like a good, 'safe' and effective route