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E85 Flex fuel questions. (Economics, purchasing advice)

Nugatti

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I'm considering an E85 tune, and have some questions. The car is a daily driven 2016 GT A6.
Here in Sweden E85 is readily available and cost 50 % less than gasoline. Even if the car will use 30 % more fuel, I look to save 20 % on my fuel costs. I drive a lot, so this will save me about 1000 USD a year.
My questions are then:

  1. Why isn't everybody here in Sweden using E85 only? (Or another place where E85 is available and cheap)
  2. Are there any negatives to running E85 on this car?
  3. Can I use E85 constantly on this car for thousands of miles with zero negative effects compared to gasoline?
  4. What happens if I fill E85 on the car now, in stock form? Can it run with it?
  5. I have understood Lund Racing is considered the best tuner. Do I need to pay for the 350 USD extra charge for "international customers"?
    If yes, purchasing just a Lund tune costs 800 USD. Without, its 450 USD.
  6. How do I get the best deal doing this?
    If I purchase a CAI, nGauge, and tune from an American website, this is 1300 USD + shipping + 25 % tax = 1900 USD. However the tune itself is half the cost, and just software, so it feels dumb to pay 25% tax on it. I can purchase a CAI and SCT tuner locally (with some JLT or Steeda tune, depending on the CAI, which I guess I won't need or use?), for around 1000 USD. Then maybe add Lund tune for 450 USD, purchased online, and since its just software and a service not needing to ship, hopefully without the 25 % tax?
  7. What is love?
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1. Can't speak for Sweden, but in America if you run E85 you are Hitler's reincarnation and you only run E85 because the EVIL CORN FARMERS YARRARRRR put a gun to your head.
2. Lowered range, but you already know that
3. Hell yeah
4. No
5. No idea
6. I'd personally just get an ngauge, skip the aftermarket intake tubing, and get a drop in filter. The FF calibration will work best with the factory intake tubing from my experience.
7 baby dont hurt me
 

thehunterooo

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Yeah I would just skip the intake honestly.

I think Lund wont tune a car for E85 with stock injectors? I keep reading that but I don't know myself. I now have E85 near me but I don't really want to change injectors.
 

grabber yote

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DarkestHour is spot-on. I wish I never got my PMAS intake and just did a drop in filter in the stock box. The intake temps are averaging 130-150F in the summer heat and there is a noticeable power decrease even on E85.
My personal experience running E85 on my Lund Flex tune is great. I've had it for almost a year. I've had zero E85 related issues other that hard cold starts in the winter but that's the nature of the beast with Ethanol. Once a month I run a tank of 93 octane to clean everything out. It's probably not necessary but a few have recommended it. I average 10-11mpg city and 17 highway on E85. It's $2.15 a gallon here in North Carolina vs 93 being $3.60 a gallon. More stops at the gas station but it's almost a wash on cost.

You won't regret going E85. I suggest going with Lund Flex Tune and N-Gauge.
 
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Nugatti

Nugatti

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Thank you. I'm not entirely convinced about why I shouldn't go for a larger intake, if I'm paying for a tune anyway. Outside temps will never exceed 90F here. But, a drop-in K&N is cheaper, so that's good.
The N-Gauge has to be shipped from America, so it seems like I will purchase a SCT X4, or SCT BDX if I can find it.
I guess I have to e-mail Lund directly to ask about the 350 USD "international" fee.
Your 17 mpg highway is 27 % worse than what I average now, about 21,5 mpg.
I wonder if Lund can tune for efficiency instead of max power? I realize it sounds silly in a Mustang GT. I'm just curious about what's possible.
 

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Thank you. I'm not entirely convinced about why I shouldn't go for a larger intake, if I'm paying for a tune anyway. Outside temps will never exceed 90F here. But, a drop-in K&N is cheaper, so that's good.
The N-Gauge has to be shipped from America, so it seems like I will purchase a SCT X4, or SCT BDX if I can find it.
I guess I have to e-mail Lund directly to ask about the 350 USD "international" fee.
Your 17 mpg highway is 27 % worse than what I average now, about 21,5 mpg.
I wonder if Lund can tune for efficiency instead of max power? I realize it sounds silly in a Mustang GT. I'm just curious about what's possible.
The FF calibration relies on the MAF calibration being spot on since the logic is directly tied to your fuel trims. If your fuel trims are wrong because your MAF calibration is wrong then your calculated alcohol content will be incorrect.

I had a JLT intake and had nothing but issues with this which resulted in the car always thinking it had 20-30% ethanol even after many tanks of E10. Threw the stock intake tubing on and everything was peachy.
 
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Nugatti

Nugatti

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The FF calibration relies on the MAF calibration being spot on since the logic is directly tied to your fuel trims. If your fuel trims are wrong because your MAF calibration is wrong then your calculated alcohol content will be incorrect.

I had a JLT intake and had nothing but issues with this which resulted in the car always thinking it had 20-30% ethanol even after many tanks of E10. Threw the stock intake tubing on and everything was peachy.
Thanks a lot for this.:thumbsup:
 

Joe 5.0

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I'm considering an E85 tune, and have some questions. The car is a daily driven 2016 GT A6.
Here in Sweden E85 is readily available and cost 50 % less than gasoline. Even if the car will use 30 % more fuel, I look to save 20 % on my fuel costs. I drive a lot, so this will save me about 1000 USD a year.
My questions are then:

  1. Why isn't everybody here in Sweden using E85 only? (Or another place where E85 is available and cheap)

    Some cars probably aren't flex fuel vehicles and capable of running on E85.
  2. Are there any negatives to running E85 on this car?

    From what I've seen and heard, there shouldn't be any negative effects from solely running on E85. I've only heard that you shouldn't let E85 sit in your gas tank, fuel lines, etc. for extended periods of time.
  3. Can I use E85 constantly on this car for thousands of miles with zero negative effects compared to gasoline?

    I don't see why not. I just switched over to E85 and I plan on using it more often than not. I do have to drive 20 minutes from home to fill up on it though. It's not as readily available in New York. It did feel amazing paying ~$21 USD for almost a full tank!
  4. What happens if I fill E85 on the car now, in stock form? Can it run with it?

    No, don't fill up your car with E85 on a stock tune. It's not ready to handle that much ethanol without a flex fuel tune.
  5. I have understood Lund Racing is considered the best tuner. Do I need to pay for the 350 USD extra charge for "international customers"?
    If yes, purchasing just a Lund tune costs 800 USD. Without, its 450 USD.

    I'm not entirely sure. Do some more research on this. I think Palm Beach Dyno has a flex fuel tune, and other tuners sell strictly E85 tunes as well.
  6. How do I get the best deal doing this?
    If I purchase a CAI, nGauge, and tune from an American website, this is 1300 USD + shipping + 25 % tax = 1900 USD. However the tune itself is half the cost, and just software, so it feels dumb to pay 25% tax on it. I can purchase a CAI and SCT tuner locally (with some JLT or Steeda tune, depending on the CAI, which I guess I won't need or use?), for around 1000 USD. Then maybe add Lund tune for 450 USD, purchased online, and since its just software and a service not needing to ship, hopefully without the 25 % tax?

    I don't know how it works for the international Mustang owners, but if I could do it all over again, I would have bought used parts to save money.
  7. What is love?

    Haddaway
See above quote.

Also, as for your concerns regarding an air intake -- buy used! If you can get your hands on a used name brand air intake such as JLT, PMAS, etc., go for it! If you're wondering, I'm running a JLT intake and a FF tune, and don't have any issues regarding ethanol content.
 

gixxersixxerman

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I personally plan on a drop in filter when i order my flex fuel tune with my LTH. The difference between a drop in and a CAI seems to be maybe 5-10whp.. I usually do a CAI because it just looks better, but right now i dont have a CAI that tugs at me wanting to pick it up. For me here in Las Vegas, we get e60-e65 so i plan on doing the flex fuel. i had a car that was e85 and 80% of the time it was fine, but if/when i needed to go any where i had to make sure i timed it right and then when we went to that e60 blend it sucked, so FF since then. And agree with others, buy used if you can for an intake. i hate buying used parts, but intake is one ill never spend full price again. too many out there to save 1/2 on new one
 

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I'm considering an E85 tune, and have some questions. The car is a daily driven 2016 GT A6.
Here in Sweden E85 is readily available and cost 50 % less than gasoline. Even if the car will use 30 % more fuel, I look to save 20 % on my fuel costs. I drive a lot, so this will save me about 1000 USD a year.
My questions are then:

  1. Why isn't everybody here in Sweden using E85 only? (Or another place where E85 is available and cheap)
  2. Are there any negatives to running E85 on this car?
  3. Can I use E85 constantly on this car for thousands of miles with zero negative effects compared to gasoline?
  4. What happens if I fill E85 on the car now, in stock form? Can it run with it?
  5. I have understood Lund Racing is considered the best tuner. Do I need to pay for the 350 USD extra charge for "international customers"?
    If yes, purchasing just a Lund tune costs 800 USD. Without, its 450 USD.
  6. How do I get the best deal doing this?
    If I purchase a CAI, nGauge, and tune from an American website, this is 1300 USD + shipping + 25 % tax = 1900 USD. However the tune itself is half the cost, and just software, so it feels dumb to pay 25% tax on it. I can purchase a CAI and SCT tuner locally (with some JLT or Steeda tune, depending on the CAI, which I guess I won't need or use?), for around 1000 USD. Then maybe add Lund tune for 450 USD, purchased online, and since its just software and a service not needing to ship, hopefully without the 25 % tax?
  7. What is love?
If you can get a good deal on a CAI and SCT locally then do it (although the nGuage is the cats meow). Then just purchase the Lund FF tune which is emailed to you so i doubt there is any additional international charge. Email them, or pm one of the vendors here to find out. Some say there is no benefit to getting an aftermarket CAI with the tune but i would disagree(this horse has been beat to death). I definately feel the added performance with my PMAS. Also, living in Sweden i doubt you'd have to worry about high IAT's or heat soak. Alternately, and as previously stated, you could just get yourself a high flow DRY drop in filter for your stock box https://afepower.com/afe-power-31-10255-magnum-flow-pro-dry-s-air-filter and the Lund FF tune and save yourself a ton of cash. Either way you are going to need a device (SCT or nGuage) so they can review logs.

As to #7 - I think "Where is the love?" is the phrasing you are looking for. :D
 

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Myshelby3425

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The FF calibration relies on the MAF calibration being spot on since the logic is directly tied to your fuel trims. If your fuel trims are wrong because your MAF calibration is wrong then your calculated alcohol content will be incorrect.

I had a JLT intake and had nothing but issues with this which resulted in the car always thinking it had 20-30% ethanol even after many tanks of E10. Threw the stock intake tubing on and everything was peachy.
Is it an issue with the cold air or just the bigger intake tubing? Would it run better with a stock gt350 Intake vs using th stock box?
 

AZ18yote

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Yeah I would just skip the intake honestly.

I think Lund wont tune a car for E85 with stock injectors? I keep reading that but I don't know myself. I now have E85 near me but I don't really want to change injectors.
This requirement appears to go away for 2018 but is the case for previous years.
 

Sighlense

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Is it an issue with the cold air or just the bigger intake tubing? Would it run better with a stock gt350 Intake vs using th stock box?
The tubing itself. PMAS and the stock GT350 should work better as PMAS provides their MAF data and the GT350 data is also readily available. I'd inquire with Lund or your calibrator of choice for their opinion on it. I'm just another internet know-it-all.
 

BmacIL

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If you can get a good deal on a CAI and SCT locally then do it (although the nGuage is the cats meow). Then just purchase the Lund FF tune which is emailed to you so i doubt there is any additional international charge. Email them, or pm one of the vendors here to find out. Some say there is no benefit to getting an aftermarket CAI with the tune but i would disagree(this horse has been beat to death). I definately feel the added performance with my PMAS. Also, living in Sweden i doubt you'd have to worry about high IAT's or heat soak. Alternately, and as previously stated, you could just get yourself a high flow DRY drop in filter for your stock box https://afepower.com/afe-power-31-10255-magnum-flow-pro-dry-s-air-filter and the Lund FF tune and save yourself a ton of cash. Either way you are going to need a device (SCT or nGuage) so they can review logs.

As to #7 - I think "Where is the love?" is the phrasing you are looking for. :D
I think he means...
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