I'm E85 biased bc its so readily available for me here in MN. I make 364 whp 379 torque and consume roughly 7gals in a 20min track session.

I love that it runs cool so a larger/heavier intercooler isn't necessary. I'm weight consious bc of autox class competition.

Also, you can tune at E70 on the stock ECU and then you're set when it goes up to E85 in the summer months. I have one tune that is good year round. It works nicely.

PS...no trailer needed. I drive 3hrs to a track, bring a couple extra gas containers with and have a blast. Just tracked at BIR and the E85 station is about 3miles from the track...perfect cool down distance. haha.

 

Matt, ive never ran e85, but if your capacity is around 25min with it, i can tell you right now that your current setup is not going to work in a racing environment. The HPDE and TT/TA mentality doesnt work for racing. I know you understand that a little better now, but as you acquire more racing seat time youll start to see things on a different level from one race to the next. Furthermore, if you want to race at the National level especially, you have to aim for an overall setup that gives you the capacity to run as fast as possible for at least 45min. Thats my perspective. So id say dont listen to those guys who tell you...oh, but there will be plenty of yellow, double-yellow, and maybe even red flags. Next issue comes down to your lap times. Youre going to gradually get faster as a driver in a racing environment. You clearly werent pushing it in your Sebring race because youre smart, right now all you need to focus on is safely progressing through your provisional rookie license. Once that happens youll gradually start pushing it more and more. And the faster you go the more gas you will consume. Beyond that, youre probably going to mod your car one season to the next. So your car is going to get faster also. And again, the faster you go the more gas you will consume. Lets not forget about more competition. When youre surrounded by competitive ST2 drivers in varying types of cars, you will have no other choice but to drive in a way youve never driven. That will change things also.

 

Pretty much. So this begs the question, what's your setup?

 

And for nationally competitive guys running E85, I'll pose the same question...gas tank capacity, surge tank types, etc?

 

I think mine could make it a solid 40mins all out with the stock tank. Maybe 45.

 

What kind of power are you making? My STi is limited to 390 whp for ST-2 and I've done a solid 30 min of racing with 3/4 of a tank of e85. I don't think there are any other ST-2 guys running 245s for the extra modification factor, so I think I probably run the most power.

You should be able to put together a perfectly good surge tank setup for less than $500 including the pump. I'd get a ~1 gallon tank for the capacity. I was told I needed super fancy fittings and stuff to go AN to stock lines, but that's pointless and drives up the cost. I've had no problems with my AN lines clamped to my factory hardlines. Should be the same for Evos.

Also, with a surge tank you don't have to worry about ever bogging unless you are almost bone dry on fuel!

Is it really $3.40/gal down in Florida? I've been enjoying the $2.89 here lately. Aint no $1.99 like last summer though.

Weight is the one thing that hinders me. I'm pretty heavy at the beginning of a race, but boy oh boy I pull some people down the straights towards the end of a race.

I never use fuel as ballast. I set my competition weight to when the car is empty on fuel, that way if I ever for some reason used it all (or say, had a leak) I'd never come in too light.

Even with HPDEs I'd say it's a little risky running that kind of power on 93. You could run a fairly rich tune, but that's still not the way to go. Things just get hot, stupid hot when you track a car. A higher octane just becomes necessary when racing, unless you are running the car at or below factory power levels.

Uhh, how light is your car?? 270 whp for ST-2?! Haha. I would love to see 500 ft/lbs on a stock turbo. Has that even been done before?

If it weren't for my stupid fire I could call myself nationally competitive haha. But uhh, I run 390 whp in an STi, OEM STi fuel tank, 1 gal surge tank, Walbro 255 feeds the surge tank, Bosch 044 feeds the engine.

What power level? Are we talking racing? TT? HPDE?

 

Another thing I'd like to point out:

Aluminum seems to hold up fine to ethanol. I was all worried since I couldn't figure out how to get my aluminum surge tank anodized before running it, but I haven't had any problems for over a year of running it.

 

I run my evo in st-2 with sunoco 110. I literally jack the car up on one side to get as much fuel as possible in it.

but it comes down to so many things, I make 325hp / 380tq on a mustang dyno and I drive the car 10/10 for the most part..

 

not sure yet, we will see when i'm done putting it back together. it was 2650lbs before i added the aluminum roof (had a sun roof before), dry carbon hood, carbon trunk lid, custom steering column, two piece AL driveshaft, added the roll cage, removed passenger seat, cut tons more brackets out of the car, going to alumimum intercooler pipes (Steel before), making a lighter exhaust, etc etc etc...

i figure it will be between 2750 and 2800 with me in it. thats roughly 280-290whp on our mustang dyno we use with a small margin of error

 

364whp/379torque (mustang dyno) and HPDE.

 

fwiw - Did some calcs.

I've spent double the amount on gas to get TO the track then I have AT the track running 100oct!

Towing the evo & open trailer with my 2010 Nissan Titan.

 

Makes sense, yet still eye opening. When you get nationally competitive, lots of tow miles are to be expected

With that said, can someone please explain why I'm salivating at the thought of getting my diesel truck and tow setup?

 

Cause it's part of your "pit", still got's to roll in style

 

Haha, that and I gots to diversify my (track) portfolio!

 

Are you comparing 100 vs E85 with this list?

If so:

Here in California it's the same year round. In other regions you can get formulated E85 to keep it consistant. I agree 100oct is much more "stress free" though.

I'm curious if there are more 100 octane pumps then E85 pumps in Chicago?

This doesn't sound like a plus to me. (BTW I ran 100oct 24/7 before E85 came to California)

You can run stock ECU with E85. I'm not sure why this is even in this list?

Can't argue with this. Although ust upgrading injectors and pump isn't really a big deal.

That, unfortunatly is still very much a problem with E85

You can 100% run a cat with E85. Again, not sure why this is in the list.

Why would you get a CEL with E85?

Both are good arguments.