E85/ethanol

Driving with a ethanol kit (e-flex-fuel) on E85 and its really nice and much cheaper !
 
Did a roadtrip in the Alps with passes over 2'000 m and the Forester has never been so thirsty.....10,2 l/100 km, but at 75 cts/l we could really enjoy the panoramas !
 
ateday said:
Not bad at all. Did you notice any difference in performance?
Here E10 is not much cheaper than straight petrol so makes no sense economically.
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Yes, it has a little more torque at low rpm's, other than that its just a EJ22 donkey !
 
More info about the E85 after a year of use. The price has increased at approximately 1 CHF per liter, the 95 petrol is at approximately 1.85 CHF per liter.
Went on holidays south of Bordeaux, 2'100 km trip mostly on highways at 120 kph with air conditioning, average fuel consumption 10.8 liters/100 km, saved about 150 CHF that were invested in surf lessons for my last daughter !
 
I wouldn't be putting E85 in a fuel system that is not specifically designed for it.

The stuff will eat rubber lines which aren't E85 compatible. Magnesium and aluminium components are also at risk.

circa 2000 Subaru's certainly recommend no more than 10% ethanol in the user manual.
 
Neither would I, Duncan.

Series 2 SG and later recommend 91 RON, with turbos using 98 RON.
 
ateday said:
E10 is supposedly 94 RON but E85??????
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RON of ethanol is very high (~108), E85 is 102 - 105, which is one of the reasons why people get good power out of turbos on E85 when tuned.

The issue is its corrosive properties and incompatibility with standard fuel lines and seals.
 
A friend of mine is on E85 with his '98 SF since 2011 and about 120 thousand kilometers and is still happy....!
 
jf1sf5 said:
A friend of mine is on E85 with his '98 SF since 2011 and about 120 thousand kilometers and is still happy....!
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that's good to hear, and it may well be that Subaru's EUDM fuel systems from that era are ethanol compatible, but its an unknown.
 
I was filling old faithful with E10 the other day and a guy in the next pump lane was filling his older model WRX with E10. He informed me he always uses E10 and the WRX runs better than on 98 and is a hell of a lot cheaper. It sounded ok when he drove off, no smoke, smells or funny noises.
 
I had to fill the reservoir with 95 because there was no E85 available, and well, the engine wasn't as smooth so I was happy to go back to E85. And its still half price (0,72 cts/liter vs 1,85 chf/liter) !
 
Yes, my MY03 certainly runs smoother on E10 than on 91.
Had a bit of engine work carried out on old faithful over the past weeks. New main oil seal, head gasket leaks, valves reseated and heads cleaned, timing belt, clutch at a local "Subaru Specialist". His comments were compression good, bores etc clean and not scored generally in good condition, and reckons long term running on E10 has caused no problems.
Not as good as new but it will outlast me I suspect. Only problem for me is I can`t drive it for a few months as have had knee replacement so grounded!!!
 
My knees sometimes feel like they've been "grounded" as well ;) I hope the recovery goes well.
 
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