Does anyone know if we can use flex fuel in our cars...?

 

evos use it, but only because they can flash the ecu into correct operation for E85. until we can flash the ecu i would say no. Maybe someone with more knowledge will explain in further detail, I don't know specifics. It may even be that we could tune the piggyback to create a safe AFR running with E85, but I wouldn't try it without extensive research.

 

No, you can't. Even if we could flash for it, you'd still have to look into replacing fuel system parts, since ethanol is pretty rough on hoses and seals. Ethanol is bad for the environment, anyways. Get a diesel or hybrid if you want to be green. Ethanol doesn't do well on non-turbo engines, either, since it has such a high octane rating.

 

otter, do you know if the evo guys replace said components? I would be interested to hear the wear difference in that engine and one such as my grandfathers Taurus that is designed to use regular unleader and E85. From what I understand the ECU is told what the mix going into the engine is and tunes accordingly, and I may be mistaken but I believe you can use any amount of either fuel at a time.

 

Cars that are designed to be "flexfuel" capable have ECUs that detect what kind of fuel the engine is getting and adjust the fuel map accordingly. I'm guessing it detects it from a combination of readings from the knock sensor and first O2 sensor. Cars that aren't designed for "flexfuel"-ing will have to be flashed every time you change fuels, and you won't want to mix the two unless you have an intermediary map.

As for parts, it's been awhile since I read up on Evo's being setup to use it, but they were talking about what they'd need to do. I really don't think it'd be too much, though. Basically, anywhere you have rubber fuel line or a rubber gasket that comes in contact with fuel.

 

I wouldnt recommend running straight ethanol in the Ralliart. What a lot of people are doing are mixing 2 gallons of E85 with 10 gallons or 89 octance and creating a semi-sorta 105 race gas. e85 has a very high octane, but is prone to damage our cars hoses and fuel system but used in small amounts can be a cheap way to increase octane rating...