E85

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02_Tahoe

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I just got the black bear tune and Justin said I had the flex fuel engine. I didn't know that. He also said I could get more power if I used e85. I 100% believe him since he does this all the time, but how much of a power increase. Has anyone used e85 after their tune? Is it worth it
 

about20ninj45

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I just got the black bear tune and Justin said I had the flex fuel engine. I didn't know that. He also said I could get more power if I used e85. I 100% believe him since he does this all the time, but how much of a power increase. Has anyone used e85 after their tune? Is it worth it



If your worried about gas mileage, it would be a trade-off. Not all blends of e85 are the same nor consistent to say the lease. You may see a small amount of gains up 3-10 percent, depending on the application. E85 improves volumetric efficiency (VE) which helps cylinder pressure and increases power. This is also dependent on tuning and how well your ecu can adapt to changes. Keep in mind, the wrong blend of e85 can also affect driveability because your air to fuel ratio may change ( like in the winter E85 is sometimes E70 which has more gas in it up to about 30% to help with cold starts ) but once again, it all depends on how your going to use it.
 
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02_Tahoe

02_Tahoe

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If your worried about gas mileage, it would be a trade-off. Not all blends of e85 are the same nor consistent to say the lease. You may see a small amount of gains up 3-10 percent, depending on the application. E85 improves volumetric efficiency (VE) which helps cylinder pressure and increases power. This is also dependent on tuning and how well your ecu can adapt to changes. Keep in mind, the wrong blend of e85 can also affect driveability because your air to fuel ratio may change ( like in the winter E85 is sometimes E70 which has more gas in it up to about 30% to help with cold starts ) but once again, it all depends on how your going to use it.
I'm not too worried about gas mileage. Justin said that E85 would work well after the tune. Even if it's only 10hp who cares, that's free HP. Have you tried E85?
 

about20ninj45

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nah, they are different but similar if that makes any sense. Meth is used to help cool the air charge, and add a little extra combustible fuel to the mix.
Some people dont have access to e-85, so they run meth with 93 or 91 octane.
 

MrBalll

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I'm not too worried about gas mileage. Justin said that E85 would work well after the tune. Even if it's only 10hp who cares, that's free HP. Have you tried E85?

While that is true it's 'free' HP is it really worth it? You'll fill up on gas twice as much and I believe E85 is more expensive. So you're spending way more money each time you fill up for 10HP. Versus just getting a CAI and getting 10HP for a one time fee.

Not trying to push you away from it, just putting it into more perspective.


Meth can be worth it, but you really need to put money into your engine before you get a kit. It will do next to nothing on a stock engine. So after you spend a good 5,000+ on your engine then grab you a meth kit and go to town.
 

about20ninj45

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While that is true it's 'free' HP is it really worth it? You'll fill up on gas twice as much and I believe E85 is more expensive. So you're spending way more money each time you fill up for 10HP. Versus just getting a CAI and getting 10HP for a one time fee.

Not trying to push you away from it, just putting it into more perspective.


Meth can be worth it, but you really need to put money into your engine before you get a kit. It will do next to nothing on a stock engine. So after you spend a good 5,000+ on your engine then grab you a meth kit and go to town.

yup, cam/heads/intake/blower being over max rpms.<< any of those combinatios lol
 
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02_Tahoe

02_Tahoe

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While that is true it's 'free' HP is it really worth it? You'll fill up on gas twice as much and I believe E85 is more expensive. So you're spending way more money each time you fill up for 10HP. Versus just getting a CAI and getting 10HP for a one time fee.

Not trying to push you away from it, just putting it into more perspective.


Meth can be worth it, but you really need to put money into your engine before you get a kit. It will do next to nothing on a stock engine. So after you spend a good 5,000+ on your engine then grab you a meth kit and go to town.
Last time I saw the price of E85 which was in February it was $1.85/gal. I wouldn't continually run it because the closest gas station is 25 mins away. What if I were to get my heads ported and polished, and also get them milled to get a higher compression ratio, worth it then? I want to get them ported and polished anyway, but I've also heard about milling for compression ratio. What do you guys think @MrBalll @about20ninj45
 

about20ninj45

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As long as your calibration files are inline to run either E85 and Gasoline/ any mixture of the two you would be fine. But What @MrBalll is saying, is that unless your going for an all out steet/track vehicle, it really isnt needed until youve done everything else and your looking for max power, with daily driving, it would be kinda negligible because you get worse fuel economy.

In the long run, E85 is more expensive. "IF" it costs you $3700 dollars for the whole year to use unleaded, it may end up costing "close" to double that for E85, because mileage goes out the window.

Port and polish, your choice really, but what mods are you gonna do to take advantage of it? I think stock compression on a 5.3 is 9.5, so if you mill .036 off the heads (862 if thats what they are ) and depending on gasket, you would be close to 10.5. At that CR and above, it will be beneficial to run 91+ or E-85.

If your going to go that route, might as well do exhaust. Stock is 2.75 so you might as well step up to a 3.
If going header, go longtubes over shorts.
 
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