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Question about testing e85

TheHydro

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I have been doing some research about switching to e85 on my whipple GT because I have reached the limit of 91 octane. I daily drive my car and reliability is most important. I have been reading that some people test the e85 at the station before they fill up. Is this something that is necessary? As much as I would like to switch to e85, I don't want to turn my daily driver into a pia. I'm also open to any other feedback if people recommend or don't recommend making the switch. Thanks
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TexasGT

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I have been doing some research about switching to e85 on my whipple GT because I have reached the limit of 91 octane. I daily drive my car and reliability is most important. I have been reading that some people test the e85 at the station before they fill up. Is this something that is necessary? As much as I would like to switch to e85, I don't want to turn my daily driver into a pia. I'm also open to any other feedback if people recommend or don't recommend making the switch. Thanks
I test mine all the time and it's easy as can be. I bought a small toolbox for the trunk. Small kitchen measuring cup, E85 tester and a bottle of water and a towel. Splash a bit of E85 into cup, then start filling the tank. By the time your tank is full, testing is all done. Results come within 2 minutes.
 
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TheHydro

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I test mine all the time and it's easy as can be. I bought a small toolbox for the trunk. Small kitchen measuring cup, E85 tester and a bottle of water and a towel. Splash a bit of E85 into cup, then start filling the tank. By the time your tank is full, testing is all done. Results come within 2 minutes.
What do you do with the results since your tank is already full? My understanding was most people were testing before filling their tank. I guess that is why I am a little confused.
 

TexasGT

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What do you do with the results since your tank is already full? My understanding was most people were testing before filling their tank. I guess that is why I am a little confused.
To me, it's just a safety factor. If I test it and it's at 90% (which it always is), I can go hard on it if I want. If it tests 70%, I will pay closer attention to knock on my Ngauge.
 

mustang_guy

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What do you do with the results since your tank is already full? My understanding was most people were testing before filling their tank. I guess that is why I am a little confused.
When people do test with the beeker it's before they fill not during He's going to the beat of his own drum. Testing isn't necessary with flex tunes. However avoiding stations with low minimum E ratings help.
 

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Dennisn

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Test before you put it in your tank. If it's shit it's too late once it's in your tank.

I usually find a good station and stick with it for the season. I have 5 5 gallon jugs I like to keep full at all times.
 

Dominant1

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One thing to consider when contemplating switching to e-85 is that your mpg will drop as much 3-4 mpg but your power will increase to as much as 75 rwhp on a blower! I have a flex fuel tune and i tested my station to e-90 the last batch i got was e-85 the air fuel gauge will tell you were you are at!
 

r1lovin

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I have multiple tunes. E85 and e70. I also test while im filling
 

Dominant1

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Dedicated e85 tunes are different from flex fuel tunes. I'm not sure if they pull timing when your on the e85 tune and you end up with e70 in your tank. It would be a big issue if the ecu doesn't compensate by pulling timing!
 

sigintel

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E85 Testing is not pita. Our 8 year old neighbor managers her parents pool chemistry and thats waaayy harder and what I would consider PITA.
That 8 year old would laugh at an E85 kit.
Testing is actually pretty cool to know whats going in the motor.
Theres an electronic sensor that some use to cross correlate the analytical kit. It allows detecting moisture too.
 

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TexasGT

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Dedicated e85 tunes are different from flex fuel tunes. I'm not sure if they pull timing when your on the e85 tune and you end up with e70 in your tank. It would be a big issue if the ecu doesn't compensate by pulling timing!
I believe you are correct on this, but can someone with more knowledge verify?
 

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Ok so your tuner has to add that flex feature to your dedicated e-85 tune so it will pull timing if you get a bad load of e-85! Otherwise without that feature it has to be e-85 or higher! My buddy has a dedicated e-85 tune with that flex option!
 

dubster99

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Most tuners won't enable a flex feature on a FI vehicle because of the consequences and large differences in timing. N/A vehicles the timing differences aren't large. You should be running a tune for e85, and have a tune for e70 just in case. My e85 station I no longer test because I know the quality.
 

TexasGT

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Most tuners won't enable a flex feature on a FI vehicle because of the consequences and large differences in timing. N/A vehicles the timing differences aren't large. You should be running a tune for e85, and have a tune for e70 just in case. My e85 station I no longer test because I know the quality.
Does your station change according to time of year?
 

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