FYI: race fuel

**blizzard** · 08-23-2011, 12:14 AM

my brother works at the new Shell and Pitt Stop on 88 in Castle Shannon.. he informed me today they now have 100 octane unleaded.. just for who might be looking..

**PaxtonShelby** · 08-23-2011, 12:17 AM

How much per gallon??

**map22** · 08-23-2011, 01:15 AM

if it beats the sunoco's price out in irwin ill be out asap lol

**Mark Aubele** · 08-23-2011, 01:26 AM

Originally Posted by map22

if it beats the sunoco's price out in irwin ill be out asap lol

Clay Pike or RT.30? Back when I had a real car that needed it Clay Pike was significantly cheaper.

**map22** · 08-23-2011, 01:47 AM

Originally Posted by Mark Aubele

Clay Pike or RT.30? Back when I had a real car that needed it Clay Pike was significantly cheaper.

Ya on Clay Pike. I dont know of anywhere else that has it around my area so i have nothing to base it on. I use it in my race quad mostly and getting it every week get pricey.

**PaceFever79** · 08-23-2011, 09:16 AM

Just curious why guys still run race fuel when E85 is cheaper and more available?
I know you have to have an E85 carb/conversion/EFI tune, but it can handle 12-1
compression no problem and it runs cooler than race fuel.

For street/strip E85 seems the way to go?

**Mark Aubele** · 08-23-2011, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by PaceFever79

Just curious why guys still run race fuel when E85 is cheaper and more available?
I know you have to have an E85 carb/conversion/EFI tune, but it can handle 12-1
compression no problem and it runs cooler than race fuel.

It takes quite a few parts to do it, you need a ton of injector for instance, but I wonder myself why more don't. The only reason I didn't go with E85 on my car is because you just can't get it anywhere, and I don't feel like carrying 10 gallons of it with me if I need to drive to Ohio or something.

**PaceFever79** · 08-23-2011, 10:53 AM

True, but most mid size cities has a few E85 stations and many TP/interstate
stations have it too. It's much easier to find and much cheaper than 100/110
octane gas. I'm not pro E85, just wondering why.

**SAC81** · 08-23-2011, 11:14 AM

Because you can take your street car, throw 100 octane unleaded race gas into it, and crank up the boost or timing and go racing. It's simple and effective. When you're done, you simply remove the extra boost and timing and go back to 93 octane. We're talking spinning a distributor, swapping a pulley, or turning a screw here.

With E85, you need to redesign your fuel system, and if EFI, have to retune to reflect the different stoich value of E85. It's not something you can run and then quickly revert back to 93 when you're done.

If it were more common, I'd agree with you, but with E85 being slighly less available to me then race gas it's a no brainer. I can throw in some race gas and not worry about it; if I dial in for E85 I better bring a couple of cans of extra in case I run out somewhere.

**TooFast98Cobra** · 08-23-2011, 11:15 AM

To my knowledge E85 can change octane ratings between seasons/gas stations, a test kit would be your safest bet to use when running it. On a side note I wish that Sunoco in castle shannon still had 110. I can get 54 gal. drums of c16 pretty cheap so I stick with that.

**CobraII** · 08-23-2011, 11:19 AM

If I had to run higher octane, I would switch to E85 also. ~$3.50/gallon is a lot better than ~$7/gallon, or more. I have seen a bunch of guys at PRP use it, to great success. If anyone is interested in switching to it, my buddy AJ Casini does carb conversions. He's set up quite a few of the racers at PRP that run corn.

**bgblockelcamino** · 08-23-2011, 11:26 AM

i have thought about corn but a lot of classes do not consider it pump gas. We can get it readily around here but not the rest of the country.

**PaceFever79** · 08-23-2011, 11:32 AM

According to this website there's 7 E85 stations in PGH metro area.

I can see the benefit of having a dual tune car on race gas. I was think about
NA motors with compression. But don't you want all that power for when you
cruise? Now I get why boost cars can be beat on the street?

**SAC81** · 08-23-2011, 11:51 AM

Hell yeah bro. You're totally right. I need to throw a spool in tonight and convert to E85 fast so no one can beat me on the street.

**Steve-0** · 08-23-2011, 12:06 PM

The closest E85 station to me is a 40 minute drive...while the sunoco 100 octane is about 15 minutes. My car has a separate tune for torco anyway, buttt I have yet to even buy any torco.

**PaceFever79** · 08-23-2011, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by SAC81

Hell yeah bro. You're totally right. I need to throw a spool in tonight and
convert to E85 fast so no one can beat me on the street.

lol.... I was just yankin your chain

**Martin0660** · 08-23-2011, 12:48 PM

In PA, pump E85 is not regulated like it is in some other states. Here you are PAYING for it to be 85% ethanol, but they can in effect have much more than 15% gasoline (and guys I know that test say it is usually higher). The fuel content is usually higher because the dont have enough alchol available so they fill in with gas (at a subsidized loss) ... With vehicles designed for flex fuel, they run a sensor to determine the content and adust fueling accordingly. those also do not advance timing like we would in a performance application, it's done for the cost/gallon only. .... There are also two blends, the one for winter has much more gas becasue these cars dont like to start on alchohol when cold

If you set up a race tune to take advantage of the E85 and get 75% methanol your tune is going to be off, especially in WOT situations.

My standalone will take a flex fuel sensor input, and I still dont see it as viable for me in the Greensburg area ... I would have to drive 40 minutes to fill up, effectively, I would need to leave home with 1/2 a tank to fill up, then burn off 1/2 a tank getting home. I simply REALLY drive my junk enough that drums arent viable as I would only get 3 weeks or less from 55 gallons at the burn rate.

For me, I find it easiest to run pump 93 on lower boost daily, then I simply fill up, add Torco, and go race on 100 ocatane. I will use 100 no lead from time to time as a reference to my mixing, as well as some out of town stuff.

**blizzard** · 08-23-2011, 01:35 PM

update - the owners decided to go with the leaded 110, the distibutor told them they sell 5x as much as no lead and all they wanna see is $$$ :/ i'll find out the price when i stop up this afternoon.. :beer:

iirc, sheetz on 51 pleasant hills sells E85...

**TooFast98Cobra** · 08-23-2011, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by Martin0660

In PA, pump E85 is not regulated like it is in some other states. Here you are PAYING for it to be 85% ethanol, but they can in effect have much more than 15% gasoline (and guys I know that test say it is usually higher). The fuel content is usually higher because the dont have enough alchol available so they fill in with gas (at a subsidized loss) ... With vehicles designed for flex fuel, they run a sensor to determine the content and adust fueling accordingly. those also do not advance timing like we would in a performance application, it's done for the cost/gallon only. .... There are also two blends, the one for winter has much more gas becasue these cars dont like to start on alchohol when cold

If you set up a race tune to take advantage of the E85 and get 75% methanol your tune is going to be off, especially in WOT situations.

My standalone will take a flex fuel sensor input, and I still dont see it as viable for me in the Greensburg area ... I would have to drive 40 minutes to fill up, effectively, I would need to leave home with 1/2 a tank to fill up, then burn off 1/2 a tank getting home. I simply REALLY drive my junk enough that drums arent viable as I would only get 3 weeks or less from 55 gallons at the burn rate.

For me, I find it easiest to run pump 93 on lower boost daily, then I simply fill up, add Torco, and go race on 100 ocatane. I will use 100 no lead from time to time as a reference to my mixing, as well as some out of town stuff.

exactly what I wanted to say!

**TooFast98Cobra** · 08-23-2011, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by blizzard

update - the owners decided to go with the leaded 110, the distibutor told them they sell 5x as much as no lead and all they wanna see is $$$ :/ i'll find out the price when i stop up this afternoon.. :beer:

iirc, sheetz on 51 pleasant hills sells E85...

110 is good news!