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Discussion starter · #61 ·
Availability is one of my concerns. I can get E85 locally, but we road trip the car to a lot of other states where it may be less obtainable. Plus, the range per tank would only be about 140-170 miles, which strikes me as a PITA on long drives.
 
I can get ~ 220 miles out of a tank of E85 in "Legal" driving conditions. ;)

I carry an extra 10 or 15 gallons in the trunk which is good for ~ 400 mile range. It's not that much of a burden. If I absolutely can't get E85 I can always switch the tune back to gas (I have two tunes for the car - E85 and Gas). It's a "FLEXFUEL" vehicle. LOL

The problem is that my compression is so high (11.56:1) that I have to add TORCO to premium pump gas to control the detonation. A 32 oz can to ~16 gallons of 93 pump gas brings the octane up to about 100. This also brings the cost per gallon up substantially so I stick with the E85 and carry extra with me.
 
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Discussion starter · #63 ·
Sounds like an approach that works. With the setup I have, I’m only getting 200-240 miles per tank on unleaded premium. Regarding the CR, my engine is only 9.5 static. Your higher compression probably helps your volumetric efficiency and thus fuel economy.
 
I can get ~ 220 miles out of a tank of E85 in "Legal" driving conditions. ;)

I carry an extra 10 or 15 gallons in the trunk which is good for ~ 400 mile range. It's not that much of a burden. If I absolutely can't get E85 I can always switch the tune back to gas (I have two tunes for the car - E85 and Gas). It's a "FLEXFUEL" vehicle. LOL

The problem is that my compression is so high (11.56:1) that I have to add TORCO to premium pump gas to control the detonation. A 32 oz can to ~16 gallons of 93 pump gas brings the octane up to about 100. This also brings the cost per gallon up substantially so I stick with the E85 and carry extra with me.
Wait. You carry around 10-15 gallons worth of gas cans of 85 at all times with no automatic vent? Do you take the time to release the pressure from the cans? If so, how often?
-g
 
No, I don't carry that much in the car "at all times". Depending on the trip I may not put any extra in the trunk or for short trips I might carry only 5 gallons. Once I get where I'm going I'll put 5 gallons in the tank and top off. Don't get me wrong. I don't store large amounts of extra E85 in the car for long periods of time.

E85 doesn't build pressure like gas does so there's really no need to take extra precaution to relieve the pressure.

Otherwise it sits in cans in the garage and collects dust. I normally don't keep more than 20 extra gallons of E85 at the house.
 
Storing E85 isn't nearly as dangerous as storing gasoline.

If it made big fireballs, they would use it in the movie industry, instead of gasoline.
Gasoline with explosives makes all those cool fireballs you see in the movies; an ethanol fire is difficult to see.

The important ignition factors are much lower for ethanol; the biggest dangers come from the 15% gasoline content.

Think pouring ethanol over your hand and setting it on fire; it's cool feeling; Lighter fluid is similarly innocuous.
You see these in stage shows.(Yes, I'm nuts)

I've never known anyone to do that with gasoline, but I wouldn't recommend it. :)

Tennis ball cannons with gasoline filled tennis balls are listed by the BATF; Ethanol is not, lol.
 
What size gears are you running Mike? What Torque Converter do you have and what's it stalled at? Thanks.
 
Discussion starter · #68 ·
Trunk,

I currently have a set of 3.73s. I ran 4.10s for a few years with the SVO setup, but the car was too “busy” on the highway. The TC is a Circle D triple-disc lockup converter with 3000 RPM stall. It was originally set up with 3500 RPM stall, but always felt “loose” in street driving, so I had the stall reduced some years ago. With the torque the new engine is making, I don’t need any higher stall, and have actually been thinking about switching to 3.55 gears.
 
Like yourself, I switched from 4.10 to 3.73 gears when I did the last engine swap.

I have the same TC problem. That's why I was asking. I had mine stalled at 3,800 to 4K RPM. It is indeed very loose in daily driving. How much trouble was it to get it re-stalled? I seem to remember hearing somewhere that CircleD will do one re-stall for free. Is that true?

That much stall is great for racing but makes the car really sluggish on the street. I was considering getting it re-stalled.
 
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