E85 Tuning / Conversion Information

E85 is an extremely popular fuel nowadays for the performance enthusiast. We have converted or tuned Ford, Honda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Toyota, Nissan, Volkswagen, GM, Acura, Lexus, Dodge and other makes to run properly on E85 in all environments and racing applications. Our customers and shop have winning vehicles competing with E85 in drag, autocross and road race events. For those that drive on the street we have many successful tunes/conversions running year-round through all seasonal conditions. Our customers are passionate about E85 because it performs equal to or better than a higher octane race gas (110+) with the ability to run it every day of the week without breaking the bank!

Why use E85?

Because you want the power and safety of race gas daily, but without the $10/gallon price tag and be able to get it at many normal gas stations. E85 also provides both lower air and coolant temps when compared to pump and race gas.

Do you do much E85 tuning?

Yes, we do a lot of E85 tuning and have been doing it longer than most shops in the country. It isn’t new or a mystery to us like it is to many shops, we are very good at calculating the fueling demands of E85 and the real world parts needed to support it from actual experience, not just from incorrect and outdated fueling math found all over the internet and in books. We have specific tools and a knowledgebase of thousands of tunes we have performed with E85 over the better part of 10 years.
We have experience tuning E85 in almost every application using most every fueling system available. We know which parts work the best, we know the demands of the fueling system for a particular customer’s application, and we have the experience and the dyno capability to setup a vehicle to run E85 properly throughout the entire rpm and load range. Our cars not only perform well at full power but also retain drivability and decent fuel mileage.

Is it only 85 octane?

No, its octane is much higher than what you can normally get at the pump. Actual E85 is 85% Ethanol and 15% Gasoline. Seasonal mixes do change the mixture in the Midwest. In Minnesota we have the following mixtures for instance – Spring ~E75/80, Summer E85, Fall ~E75/80, and Winter E70. The actual octane will vary with the ethanol mix and the fuel used to mix with it, you will see 105 octane often claimed on the pumps, but that isn’t necessarily correct. The good news though is that the cooling effect of Ethanol helps to further reduce air intake temps on turbocharged/supercharged cars. The combination of Ethanol’s higher octane and cooling effect vs. gasoline’s means that E85 tunes out as if you had 110 octane race gas or better in the tank.

Do I need to change anything on my car to run E85?

Usually you need to use larger fuel injectors than you would normally run and get the car dyno tuned. You may need a bigger fuel pump, but that will depend on the horsepower that the car is making and what fuel pump you already have in the car. A lot of customers are able to continue using stock fuel lines and a stock fuel pressure regulator, but in high HP applications some of those parts may need to be upgraded.

How will my gas mileage be affected?

You will get worse gas mileage. E85 does however cost less than 87 octane pump gas. You will usually come out close to breaking even if you normally run premium gas. You will come out way ahead dollar per gallon wise versus running race gas.

What about E98 or Methanol?

We have years of experience with both E98 and Methanol. For those of you that need or are interested in higher mixtures of Ethanol or Methanol fuels please contact us.

Why do a lot of your turbocharged and supercharged customers run E85?

Most of our customer’s motivation to switch to E85 is that it provides a cost effective way that yields maximum performance out of their boosted applications. It’s more accessible and better performing than most all available pump related race gas in the Midwest.