E85 Fuel for the 6L......Anyone using it? what are your thoughts??

[krylothe]

According to my local exhaust shop E85 f**ks up your plugs and o2 sensors much quicker then normal (got 58k on the clock and the o2 sensors look like they come out of some rust bucket that been sitin in the paddock for the last 10 years)So i guess its either E85 and replace plugs and sensors sooner or 98 ron and they last much longer!

 

[kyone]

There have been tests that show E85 is not worth it. Three cars were driven from Brisbane to Sydney and they found that in fact it was more expensive to use E85 because of the shorter distances the car would drive. Secondly E10 is also not worth it when the difference between the standard and E10 was only 2c which is common now. The only real saving is if E10 is 4c cheaper as it was when it originally came out. In this case E10 is the cheaper option.

 

[burleighboy86]

There have been tests that show E85 is not worth it. Three cars were driven from Brisbane to Sydney and they found that in fact it was more expensive to use E85 because of the shorter distances the car would drive. Secondly E10 is also not worth it when the difference between the standard and E10 was only 2c which is common now. The only real saving is if E10 is 4c cheaper as it was when it originally came out. In this case E10 is the cheaper option.

I would never put E10 into my car. So poor is its economy, and it is just a **** fuel. My sister works at a Coles Express, and reckons it blocks up their pump filters very regularly.

 

[tomholzy]

if youre tuned to E85 it makes a fair bit more power than 98RON, this is because its actually around 108RON

 

[bzr]

if youre tuned to E85 it makes a fair bit more power than 98RON, this is because its actually around 108RON

My guess is that at 10.4:1/V8 comp that wont make a bucket load of difference.

 

[one_and_only2004]

My guess is that at 10.4:1/V8 comp that wont make a bucket load of difference.

You'll still be able to get a few more degrees of timing into the thing though.

 

[bzr]

You'll still be able to get a few more degrees of timing into the thing though.

True but there goes the fuel economy.:drink:

 

[showxpony]

I've been using it in my Redline Sedan for about 3-4months now. Your choices are Caltex and United. There are slight differences between the two brands which i'll detail below:

Caltex (E-Flex): Is quoted to be 70-85% ethanol depending on the season (the colder it is, the lesser ethanol content in order to ensure perfect cold starts). The lower ethanol content is apparent as it burns a lot slower than the united blend. I average 12.8L/100km @ average of 62km/h.

United (E85 by CSR): Is always 85% ethanol (and has been rumoured to have a little more from time to time). You can 'feel' the difference between this and Caltex's E-Flex; United feeling like it has more power. This would probably be accurate as it also burns faster. I get on average 14.2L/100km @ an average of 60km/h. I've also run my car on a fair dyno with only a VCM OTR and united E85 in the tank and it made 232rwkw with an A6.

A little pros and cons list:

Pros:
- Smells amazing (as noted by Bonners).
- Definitely a power increase (however can be slight depending on the grade/level of ethanol).
- Much cheaper at the bowser.
- Exhaust tips don't get dirty! (That's my favourite part )
- Emissions have very little carbon in them (environmentally friendly)

Cons:
- Burns faster.
- Can be inconvenient to find.

From my basic calculations, assuming E85 costs $1.20 and PULP98 Costs 1.55 (a 35c difference):

E85 from caltex:
costs $1.20 x 70L (a full tank) = $84.
It burns at 12.8L/100km, thus 70L gets you [(70/12.8)x100]= 540km.
$84/540km = 15.5c per km.

PULP 98:
costs $1.55 x 70L (a full tank) = 108.5.
It burns at 10.1L/100km, thus 70L gets you [(70/10.1)x100]= 693km.
$108.5/693km = 15.6c per km.

As you can see, at these prices, E85 is cheaper by 0.1c per km.

Conclusion: It costs exactly the same to use E85 as it does to use PULP 98.



* ALL FIGURES HAVE BEEN QUOTED USING A A6 6L SEDAN WITH AFM ENABLED, A VCM OTR AND A KPM CATBACK. NO TUNE *

 

[one_and_only2004]

I do wonder how some of this stuff would go in a VZ...

 

[waynebatt]

I've been using it in my Redline Sedan for about 3-4months now. Your choices are Caltex and United. There are slight differences between the two brands which i'll detail below:

Caltex (E-Flex): Is quoted to be 70-85% ethanol depending on the season (the colder it is, the lesser ethanol content in order to ensure perfect cold starts). The lower ethanol content is apparent as it burns a lot slower than the united blend. I average 12.8L/100km @ average of 62km/h.

United (E85 by CSR): Is always 85% ethanol (and has been rumoured to have a little more from time to time). You can 'feel' the difference between this and Caltex's E-Flex; United feeling like it has more power. This would probably be accurate as it also burns faster. I get on average 14.2L/100km @ an average of 60km/h. I've also run my car on a fair dyno with only a VCM OTR and united E85 in the tank and it made 232rwkw with an A6.

A little pros and cons list:

Pros:
- Smells amazing (as noted by Bonners).
- Definitely a power increase (however can be slight depending on the grade/level of ethanol).
- Much cheaper at the bowser.
- Exhaust tips don't get dirty! (That's my favourite part )
- Emissions have very little carbon in them (environmentally friendly)

Cons:
- Burns faster.
- Can be inconvenient to find.

From my basic calculations, assuming E85 costs $1.20 and PULP98 Costs 1.55 (a 35c difference):

E85 from caltex:
costs $1.20 x 70L (a full tank) = $84.
It burns at 12.8L/100km, thus 70L gets you [(70/12.8)x100]= 540km.
$84/540km = 15.5c per km.

PULP 98:
costs $1.55 x 70L (a full tank) = 108.5.
It burns at 10.1L/100km, thus 70L gets you [(70/10.1)x100]= 693km.
$108.5/693km = 15.6c per km.

As you can see, at these prices, E85 is cheaper by 0.1c per km.

Conclusion: It costs exactly the same to use E85 as it does to use PULP 98.



* ALL FIGURES HAVE BEEN QUOTED USING A A6 6L SEDAN WITH AFM ENABLED, A VCM OTR AND A KPM CATBACK. NO TUNE *

Thanks for the great reply mate. Appreciate it......Will have to give the E85 a try next tank, keen to smell the difference hahaha