[Shotimes] RE: 10% Ethanol and A/F ratio

[Rich Bruso]

>Besides not believing that, I was trying to think "how" a
> car could be tuned to raise it's efficiency on alky
> rather than gas. Seems that any tuning tricks that would
> work for ethanol would also work for a gas engine.

   The tricks do work for gas engines.  180 proof Ethanol is roughly equivalent to 110 octane gas.  In theory, if you use a good octane base fuel for the 15% gas and don't allow for non-ethanol fuels, you can bump the static compression ratio and maximum timing advances.
   One major problem: Joe Blow consumer, trying to run Mexican (I'm by the border, it happens) 85-ish octane regular in a 12.5/1 CR motor.  So, I don't picture production E85 motors to go for the gusto with static CRs.
   If you're building it yourself, and you have good sources for fuel, you could gain back some of the ground lost by going to ethanol with a higher static CR.  Of course, if E85 isn't your thing, that same static CR with strait gasoline (at the appropriate octane level) gives even more power.  Just don't let the kids fill the tank with the cheap stuff.

-Rich Bruso
89 Black (Lola)
89 Silver (parts)
Sierra Vista, AZ