Petrol / E85

Fuel

In this section, you will find a selection of articles that will allow you to upgrade your fuel system.

E85, It's possible!

E85 has several advantages but also disadvantages. Of course, its low cost will always be what grabs our attention. But there's more to it than that. It has been used for a long time in certain competitions as a more powerful fuel because its octane rating allows for interesting engine preparations. You can play with increasing the Compression Ratio, increasing the ignition advance and so on, while also lowering the engine temperature, which is not negligible on a classic car.

The downside, however, is its ability to attract moisture and cause it to condense. Ultimately, water and fuel in the same circuit never mix well.

The usual advice for converting to ethanol is to plasticize your tank, change the fuel hoses, rebuild your carburetor with new seals made of material that can withstand the aggressiveness of this fuel, increase the fuel jets (idle, progression, and full load) by about 20 to 30% depending on your engine, and review and increase the ignition advance. You will need to have at least some tools.

I recommend checking out the tooling section of this website.

Then, for those who want to go further, these tests will lead you to racetracks, and there you can consider increasing the CR to the limit of your connecting rods to get the most out of the beet juice.