GTcarz - Automotive forums for cars & trucks.

Being that I just recently (within a year) got my first F-Body and caught the performance bug. It kinda hurts seeing these $3 gas prices and knowing I'd have to run higher octane gass with most FI mods.

I've read a lot of articles talkign about most gas being converted to Ethenol/Gas blends. Usually on the order of 15% ethenol or so. Recently in Popular mechanics and several internet articles have talked about alternative fuels. Ethenol has been brought up several times.

Several key facts stuck out with me.

Ethenol has around 100 to 110 octane rating.
Less energy per volume than gas.
Ethenol requires much higher air temperature in order to vaporize properly for good combustion, but burns cooler and slower.
Is a cleaning agent, will clear gas lines of dirt, (meaning you need to change your filter a lot after the first couple tanks)

This got me thinking. Many of the mods people do to their F-Bodies would work great with this fuel. with a 100 octane you can easily achieve the high compression levels of a high boost, or a stroked engine, or both and have the octane to support it. Better yet, the high air temperature as a result of that compression ratio is exactly what the Ethenol needs to burn properly, so you may not need or want an intercooler.

Has anyone here worked with or played with the Idea of using an Ethenol fuel, or Ethenol/Gas blend (E85) ?

I understand some things you'd want changed to help with the natural corosiveness of Ethenol, I.E stainless steel gas lines, hardened valves, bigger injectors (due to lower enegery per volume you need more ethenol)

While in my current situation (student/dorm room/school loans) I don't have the mechanical know how, nor the resources to play with any of this, I thought I'd toss this on the table and see what some of you experts out there think about the subject?