Hey.

I'll be converting my 05 G to run E85 and thought that I'd chronicle the journey here in case anyone else is interested in doing the same. I'll be using a flex fuel sensor and Haltech ECU so that it will be a true flex fuel system that can run 0 to 100% ethanol and automatically compensate fuel delivery, timing, etc. Luckily, I have help. Rob at Z Car Garage is in charge of this project. I'm just assisting...

All the parts are on order, and as soon as they come in, we'll get started.

As a baseline, here is where I'm at now. 266hp / 246tq with intake & exhaust mods and some tuning. Running on 91 octane gas. We can't even get 93 here in Cali. Not in Berkeley, anyway...



I just met a guy at Sonoma raceway last week after I saw his 4,900 pound Mercedes S Class run a 12.1 quarter mile. Stock engine (S600) and turbos, tuned for E85. He said that he got kicked out for running faster than 11.50 without a rollcage last week so he had to slow it down. Wow.

Video below:

 

OH. Forgot to include that a big part of this conversion will be adding a Vortech supercharger. That's why I posted it in the FI section...

The flex fuel ability will allow me to compare gas & E85 dyno pulls, quarter mile runs, etc. which should make for some interesting numbers.

 

What does flex fuel imply? Is it where you can have half a tank of 91 and half a tank of e85 and the ECU will compensate for it?

 

Yes. That's it exactly. Around here, I'll use E85 always. If I go on a road trip and find that it's unavailable, I can 'splash blend' any amount of gasoline, and the system will analyze the ethanol percentage in the tank and compensate.

Setting up the car for just E85 is much easier and cheaper (no Haltech ECU or ethanol sensor required). It's easy to program 2 maps: 1 for gas and 1 for E85 and switch between the 2, but I wanted this to be a true, idiot proof, flex-fuel system. Cause I'm a bit OCD like that.

 

Good luck on this project. Maybe something for me to think about as well with Rob after we get thru this current hurdle. Keep us updated.

 

I guess I will be following this. Can't wait to see everything once its done

 

Which Vortech unit are you going to be using, and are you staying on the stock motor or building it? Regular DE or Rev-Up?

Late Edit: Asking because I'm genuinely interested in the build and plans. I'm was working along a similar path for my own build but I've decided e85 doesn't make sense for me due to availability issues and the cost of a Haltech on my budget. Hope that didn't come across like I was going to be critical of it, definitely want to keep an eye on your build.

 

The Vortech is a V3. Housing and all tubing powdercoated satin black, 'cause I like stealth, not bling. My engine is a rev-up version, 2005.

The plan is to do this in 2 stages. Stage 1 is to get the blower, ECU, fuel mods and tuning done on the stock engine. My engine has 100+K on it, so we will keep the power reasonable and just figure out all the tuning and gremlins. Once that's up and running, then it's time for stage 2: a beefy engine build to get swapped in when it's done, along with more boost, headers, etc.

I hear you about E85 availability. If you live in the midwest, it might be everywhere. Other places, not so much. Luckily there are quite a few in the SF Bay Area, including one right on my way home from work. I know I'll get stuck somewhere, someday, without access to E85, so it was important to me to spend the extra $ and planning to make this a true flex-fuel setup.


Here is a link to an E85 finder.

 

I am doing this also, here is my guide
https://g35driver.com/forums/forced-...ml#post6800808

 

i've been running flex fuel on my proefi g35 for the last 3 years. nice to see the community starting to catch up!

 

Close to a 100 whp bump going from 93 octane to e85 on my little turbos (640 to 720+). E85 smells a whole heck of a lot better too...

PS. The Haltech pro plug in does a fabulous job with flex fuel support. It takes a lot of time/effort to tune correctly at all the different mixture levels though, so be warned if this is the first time your tuner has set up flex fuel. I think there is a nice video on the Haltech site that describes the process if you want to learn more. Hal at Dynosty went through multiple tank fulls of e85 over several days to get the tune dialed in for me...

 

What are you doing for fuel pump o-ring,

Worried about gunking up your heads at all? Finding a computer is the easy part from my understanding (which could be poor) Is the rubber parts and the heads.

Interested in this as I'm hitting the 93 octane roof for sure.

 

What is your setup ? engine, turbo etc?

 

^ build thread in my sig!? vvv

 

any updates?