Yeah well here in MA there are very few stations that carry e85 to begin with. So from my perspective any change like this could result from them opting out in selling it in the first place. Yes, change is inevitable but it still sucks to hear.

As far as the last comment is concerned that is something that I was just thinking about. We know the MPG's will go up which is great but I didn't go to e85 for MPG's lol so lets forget about that for a second. As far as the other part about performance hits, I'll see if I can find it but I recall seeing Razorlab talking about how much power he was able to extract from diff e levels. The hope is that 54% will be enough to give almost all of the performance capabilities that we had prior with e85.

I do know that my tune isnt maxxed out but I like having that cushion. Maybe I can make similar power if not the same but with less cooling properties given the lower ethanol contact and lower octane levels, its no denying that the car will be more prone to knock.

 

I sure hope this doesnt happen in texas

 

Take a look at Toms Fitronic results. Youll get an idea of how much youll lose.

As stated, you dont go E85 for gas mileage, you do it for the performance benefit.

 

its not like anyone would complain though if the mileage got better while performance stayed relatively the same.

 

I called Propel fuels here in So.Cal. Spoke directly w/"Duffy" (800-871-0773) who noted no change in Propel E85 content. Will always be a min of 85%

Was happy to hear that, but ordered the glass vial content checker from Amazon last night

 

Awesome news!! my main station I use is propel, so I'm gonna stick with that one.

Have you used those glass vials before? Are they accurate? I might check them out as well.

Bryan

 

I have not. Its very simple (i think?). Its a matter if filling to a level & shaking the vial & waiting 5 mins for the split between the alcohol & the gas

Joe

 

Awesome to hear! Thanks for doing that for us. Propel Fuels is what I use as well and it seems that they don't have any gunking issues with their fuel either like what we have seen in other threads for E85.

-pal215

 

The glass vials work very well; I've been using one for years now! Plus whenever Im at the gas station filling up people around me think Im some super smart chemist, lol!

Theyre easy to use fill to the bottom line with water then up to the next with fuel screw on cap give it a little shake, more like turn the bottom up and youll see the separation almost instantly. No need to wait 5 minutes for the thing to settle. Remember, it doesnt really matter is the e content is like 82% vs 85%. What you're looking to see is that its not significantly lower or higher.

I was at a station one time that it tested out to be around 50%. Lets just say I went inside and had a little conversation with the owner as I was curious is he was aware of this. Who knows if there was an issue with the supplier or something? His response was "oh well the price of the e85 was too expensive so I didnt think people would buy it so I cut it down with normal gas to lower the price. I didnt think that would matter."

I showed him the sticker on the pump that say min e content 70% and how he shouldn't do what he did. He was apologetic and thanked me for the information. I wasn't really mad at the guy or anything like that as I don't think he knew better. But if I hadnt tested it then popped my motor and then found out that he did that intentionally I think it would be a different story.

Moral of my story and its something that I've been preaching for years is the importance of testing the fuel. Its even more important now that the content might be changing.

 

Wow, I would offer that dudes station up to the state if I saw that.

Also, when testing I normally use distilled water. Gives a more accurate reading. But if you are looking to see if its a "major change", Im sure normal tap water will work.

 

Always be min of 85% my ***.

Propel up here in northern california has been 76-79% for the last year as tested by my Ethanol sensor.

I mean, it's close enough, I usually see no different tuning wise from 70-85% anyway but if they are going to make an inaccurate claim...

 

Hey Bryan, glad to see you found this thread! So based on your last comment are you saying that 70% is really the cusp of where the power potential starts to fall off? I.e once retuned to 54% can you give any indication as to how much power we're going to be giving up? I know you can't quote HP figures since every setup is different and maybe a tune was maxed out prior vs one which was more conservative so obviously the maxed out tune will suffer more.

But are we going to be looking at a significant drop in power or do you feel it'll be fairly negligible?

 

Well, thats what Mr. Duffy said Honestly, he didnt seem too aware of the new AZ requirement, but did seem confident that their fuel will not be changing any time soon. Thats what I got out of it

Was happy just to get a live ethanol person on the line. I had tried numerous times

 

I can say I lost roughly 20whp and 20wtq. When I had my car tuned on the tephraV3 rom we did three pulls: 91 (E10), E85, and E50. On E85 it made 405whp and 410wtq. On E50 it made 383whp and 389wtq. So I lost a bit of power, not really that noticeable. Car still spools fast and pulls hard.

 

Buzzed over to the alcohol store this morning & filled up the cans

So Cal Propel