E85 oil analysis

[vortecd]

My car was filled up yesterday with e85 and is driven daily. I have no plan to put 93 in it until I park it for the winter

 

[Speedy!]

Put a Micro Glass filter in after your pumps and there really is no reason to flush with gasoline that often. If your paranoid of E85 use the Lucas E85 stabilizer with each fill up. I’ve heard from guys that have been running corn for years, they use the Lucas Stabilizer and keep corn in their tanks year round even through winter storage, I use it as well. Me, I’ll probably never go back to gasoline again. I have my oil analyzed by Blackstone every oil change, even with my other vehicles from time to time, no fuel related issues oil wise.

I'm more of a KISS kinda guy, so no added filters or additives at every fill up for me. Running 93 through it once a month is easy and mainly for injector conditioning.

The problem you may run in to with running E85 exclusively is fillups. I drive my car A LOT and on E85 the only thing it can't pass is a gas station. E85 here is now $4.00 a gallon as well which is a rip off as it's priced exactly the same as 87 octane gasoline. E85 was $2.50 a gallon here last year and should honestly be about $3 a gallon at current prices. I get 18mpg on 93 and 8-10 on E85 and don't need 1000hp just cruising around so I'll probably run 93 more often this year based on the prices.

 

[BULL]

...and don't need 1000hp just cruising around...

Blasphemy!

 

[Speedy!]

I always chuckle when people think that. I have a buddy with a E85 pullied/tuned Trackhawk and he told me the other day he runs E85 "because he needs the power" and I'm like for what, driving to the grocery store? How often were you WOT in the last month?

 

[BULL]

Every time I get in it?


: p

 

[vortecd]

I'm more of a KISS kinda guy, so no added filters or additives at every fill up for me. Running 93 through it once a month is easy and mainly for injector conditioning.

The problem you may run in to with running E85 exclusively is fillups. I drive my car A LOT and on E85 the only thing it can't pass is a gas station. E85 here is now $4.00 a gallon as well which is a rip off as it's priced exactly the same as 87 octane gasoline. E85 was $2.50 a gallon here last year and should honestly be about $3 a gallon at current prices. I get 18mpg on 93 and 8-10 on E85 and don't need 1000hp just cruising around so I'll probably run 93 more often this year based on the prices.

So my station e85 is $3.19 and 93 is $4.80. So even at 30% more fuel it is cheaper to run e85

 

[vortecd]

I saw as much as $1.75 difference in the 2 last summer

 

[Speedy!]

That's a lot more reasonable, just be sure to check it for being "good" E85. We have it a lot around here at 3 or 4 different gas station brands. The only one that is consistently good is Speedway and it's always been awesome. Crystal clear and the lowest I can remember it measuring is E80 in the dead of winter which is like highs in the 30s around here. The problem is since about December they've been pricing it the same as their 87. No idea why. I paid $4.09 a gallon last week. It has dropped a bit and was $3.79 Saturday so at least it's dropping but that's still too high for E85.

 

[vortecd]

That's a lot more reasonable, just be sure to check it for being "good" E85. We have it a lot around here at 3 or 4 different gas station brands. The only one that is consistently good is Speedway and it's always been awesome. Crystal clear and the lowest I can remember it measuring is E80 in the dead of winter which is like highs in the 30s around here. The problem is since about December they've been pricing it the same as their 87. No idea why. I paid $4.09 a gallon last week. It has dropped a bit and was $3.79 Saturday so at least it's dropping but that's still too high for E85.

I posted a picture Friday in the Really far away thread, my sand box
First time testing and it was spot on 85%

 

[16GoManGoHC2]

I'm more of a KISS kinda guy, so no added filters or additives at every fill up for me. Running 93 through it once a month is easy and mainly for injector conditioning.

The problem you may run in to with running E85 exclusively is fillups. I drive my car A LOT and on E85 the only thing it can't pass is a gas station. E85 here is now $4.00 a gallon as well which is a rip off as it's priced exactly the same as 87 octane gasoline. E85 was $2.50 a gallon here last year and should honestly be about $3 a gallon at current prices. I get 18mpg on 93 and 8-10 on E85 and don't need 1000hp just cruising around so I'll probably run 93 more often this year based on the prices.

Gotcha, Me when I’m out driving my car it’s play time either hunting or practicing so I need to have all the power available 100% of the time. Like bull there isn’t a one time I’m out that car doesn’t see a buck 48. Here was the prices here over the weekend testing in the mid 70s so I keep E98 on hand to bump it up to 85. Mileage?? I think a M1A1 gets better mileage then me lol

 

[jonx96]

Gotcha, Me when I’m out driving my car it’s play time either hunting or practicing so I need to have all the power available 100% of the time. Like bull there isn’t a one time I’m out that car doesn’t see a buck 48. Here was the prices here over the weekend testing in the mid 70s so I keep E98 on hand to bump it up to 85. Mileage?? I think a M1A1 gets better mileage then me lol
View attachment 67241 View attachment 67242 View attachment 67243

We need to get you a drum pump

 

[Speedy!]

@vortecd if you have more than one station I'd check a couple. Your sample "appears" a bit cloudy, at lest more cloudy that what I see from Speedway. Thortons and Raceway here were cloudy but measured E85 which tells me their base stock is likely a hydrocarbon derivative or some sort. May not matter, but clear made me sleep better at night. I think I showed the difference on one of my E85 videos when I started off testing fuels.

 

[vortecd]

@vortecd if you have more than one station I'd check a couple. Your sample "appears" a bit cloudy, at lest more cloudy that what I see from Speedway. Thortons and Raceway here were cloudy but measured E85 which tells me their base stock is likely a hydrocarbon derivative or some sort. May not matter, but clear made me sleep better at night. I think I showed the difference on one of my E85 videos when I started off testing fuels.

Jon thought it looked clear. I have only seen mine so nothing to compare with. The station is only a few years old and has had e85 in the tank from day 1

 

[Speedy!]

What mine looks like.
There are other local brands not near as clear.

 

[vortecd]

I shook it up pretty good last time and probably created the bubbles.. I tried it again with less shacking looks to be just over 80% but clearer

 

[Speedy!]

That looks pretty good right there.

 

[jonx96]

I tested fuel from a station in between were @vortecd and I live last may and it was yellow. Tested it again in August and it was crystal clear but never go there since it was so bad once.

We have a lot of E85 around here. There is a company called yellow hose not far from were we live. A lot of the stations here use it and if I see that I know it is usually good. But I do still test 90 percent of the time.
http://www.yellowhose.com/

 

[vortecd]

My Blackstone kit showed up today so less then a week.

 

[rayzazoo]

Ah, I always think about 1/4 mile when someone says track. Standing mile is a lot different and wow 100 runs. When I used to pit crew at the TX Mile we were lucky to get 4-6 over the weekend.

That the very reason that the guys from Texas were coming up here, there were 150 cars max, and many only made the early morning runs and then either stopped for the day or even went home all the way to Texas!!!

There were times in each of the three years I ran it that you could literally hot-lap if you wanted to, and I did until I learned the lesson of hot brakes and nearly ate the end of the track. I also ran three days, instead of two. Friday was especially nice.

I was also always first or second in line.

@Speedy! That was the same experience we had this Spring at the Texas Mile. The Mrs. and I got 5 total runs in one day but spent a lot of time waiting up to ~1-2 hrs between runs. The quickest back-to-back was ~30 minutes.

The plan was to compare Stock, Legmaker, and aFe intakes but that plan fell through due to having to get back in line/wait for the next run. Several years back, the Legmaker intake at Colorado Springs Airstrip 1/2mi did 147.56mph (+2.98mph) (tailwind) vs stock 144.56mph. This year aFe Magnum 2 did 150mph (headwind) at the Texas Mile 1/2mi mark. Didn't get a stock run though which makes it difficult to compare along with the elevation differences, weather, etc.

The 1/2mi Air Strip attacks like @BULL mentioned were much quicker. Several years back, we got ~13 runs in one day and hot lapped several times. Calvo Motorsports, Nth Moto, and UGR usually go to those events. We'll go to those events vs. the Texas Mile again.

 

[rayzazoo]

To compare some data and maybe for a new thread. Understandably, DA temperature, etc. make it difficult to compare.

At Texas Mile (headwind, 98ft elevation): 1-mile run,
2019 Stock Hellcat top speed: 173.7mph
2015 aFe Magnum 2 Hellcat top speed: 174.1mph (+0.4mph)
1/2mi run was 150.5mph.

Colorado 1/2mi (tailwind, 6,187ft elevation): 1/2-mile run,
2015 Stock Hellcat top speed: 144.56mph
2015 Legmaker Hellcat top speed: 147.54mph (+2.98mph)

Intake Differences (filter area, intake tube):
aFe: 170sq-in, 39.9 tube plastic
Legmaker: 144sq-in, 28.3 tube carbon
OEM 2019+: 141sq-in, 26.8 tube plastic
OEM 2015+: 36sq-in*, 12.6 tube plastic (115 sq-in filter but flow is restricted by the lower triangular and headlamp holes)

The data suggests road course and 1/2mi+ racing benefit from an open-element filter while 1/4mi is better with closed box filters that flow better than stock (e.g. carbon fiber Drag Pak setup). The 2019+ OEM setup is the best of both worlds.

2015-2018 HC: Get a less restrictive intake than stock.
2019+: Keep the OEM or if 1/2mi+ / road racing, get a less restrictive intake than stock.