How Much Horsepower does E-85 Actually Gain on the Dyno?

We all know the craze with E85 has been happening for a while, but our resident Professional Drag Racer, Scott Boda, wanted to test it for himself. So he brought in his own personal 1990 Foxbody Mustang and we strapped it down on the dyno. Not only E85 was tested, but also VP 110 racing fuel versus regular pump 93. The results really speak for themselves so check out this dyno test.
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0:00 Intro
1:50 Baseline 93 Pump Gas Pull
2:25 The 93 Results
2:54 Switching to 110 Race Fuel
3:07 First 110 Pull
3:26 The 110 Results
3:57 Optimizing the Air Fuel Ratio
4:28 Second 110 Pull
4:43 Reviewing the Data
5:25 Third 110 Pull
5:39 Switching the Fuel Injectors for E85
6:39 First & Second E85 Pull
7:13 E85 Results
8:26 Third E85 Pull
8:53 Results
10:32 Outro

[@johnkrstyen7351]

100+ whp gain from 93 to e85. Alright time to get a flex fuel sensor and gauge with bigger injectors and get a tune on my daily turbo Civic. Making 450whp now at 10lbs with 93.

[@hassaan89]

You're gonna see some spicy gains

[@BigBlock402]

We are running E85 on our Turbo PT Cruiser and it’s happy with 1050cc injectors.

[@deathscythehell7937]

Yes, yes, yes finally a true same day test of E-85. I've been running E-85 in all my street/race cars for the last 5yrs. I own 4 supercharged Shelby's running E-85 all are 1000rwhp except for one making 925rwhp. Thinking about ditching the 427 & procharger and going to a Whipple 5.0 or 5.2 to crack 1000rwhp, a 2600lbs car with 1000rwhp, ooooh scary. I've known what E-85 is capable of for a while now, I wouldn't go back to 93 or 110 if you paid for the fuel. Yes you sacrifice some fuel mileage, but running 24lbs of boost on a street car can't be beat. Nice to see you spreading the info on to people who aren't able to get to a dyno and experiment for themselves. Keep up the good informative work.

[@GnarshredProductions]

I know guys with import cars running almost 40psi of boost on 4 cylinder engines with regular e85. It is such a good fuel very knock resistant and capable of a lot of compression/boost.

[@deathscythehell7937]

@@GnarshredProductions Yes I know, it's great for boosted and nitrous engines even cools the cylinder walls. I don't see why all vehicles aren't running it, it's the 3 buck chuck of the automotive world. Yes you have to modify the fuel system and you loose some mileage but the performance gains is amazing. A lot of people have a problem with the mileage, but if you want horsepower you have to sacrifice mileage no matter what fuel you're running. All my cars and motorcycles are running E-85, I don't have a 93 or 110 tune on my laptop anymore.

[@bardstables8909]

That is awesome! I was so excited to see this video. It supports my claim. When i put in your closed CAI and you guys did an E85 tune for me I picked up 54 hp on a pretty much stock engine. So thank you. Those results are on my channel if anyone is interested. Thank you steeda and Scott for this great video.

[@hassaan89]

On a gen 3 5.0 mt82?

[@bardstables8909]

@@hassaan89 10R80 transmission.

[@hassaan89]

@@bardstables8909 nice. 54 hp or whp? I know the di on gen 3s makes it easier to tune for more power but that's a lot to gain with just a cai + e85. Different dynos and conditions/calibrations do reflect different outcomes but that's definitely on the generous side.

[@bardstables8909]

@@hassaan89 54 hp gain at the wheel. It now makes 466 wheel horsepower.

[@bardstables8909]

@@hassaan89 yes, it was the same dyno and the same guy that ran it. He too was very impressed.

[@BigBlock402]

Awesome gains. I like that combo. I’m finally picking up another Foxbody to build myself. Great video.

[@a.f-body1vids655]

Great video! Thanks!

[@fastestfusionsport2363]

Congratulations buddy 👏

[@vackyvlada1]

I have 2018 Ram 1500 V6 3.6l flex fuel vehicle, came factory tuned with all parts, software for E85. I run E85 on regular base , cheaper. By factory this V6 with gas makes 305hp and 270lb-ft torque (engine numbers not wheels) I got on my Dyno with E85!395 HP and 340lb-ft torque ( same engine number) , which is great numbers for a vehicle which already came factory tuned, no any kind of mods except SAI. V8 Hemi guys just can't believe and they don't want to accept power of E85 from Flex fuel V6 engine 😁

[@mr.e8543]

glad to see more E85 aware content . i placed quite some time in tuning and busting e85 myths check it out !

[@freedom6919741]

That thing sounds awesome!

[@traviswilliams450]

Cool deal, That's Awesome 👍😎

[@Rob...]

unless e85 is not readily available by you, there is no reason not to run it. my boosted coyote gained over 100 wheel with it

[@hel8686]

WoW!!! I'm Floored!!! E85 made 120Hp More than 93 octane on just burning a little more gas and a few degrees of timing change!?

[@berardoferrari]

E85 has 40% less energy than regular fuel! thats alot! not a little.

[@high-rise8505]

How much timing on the e85! Great video! 🇺🇸

[@Andersljungberg]

A little mixing of Toluene might have been interesting as Toluene should have a fairly high MON octane value Or maybe Xylene. But something lubricating may also need to be added to the fuel. Because this is solvent

[@predatorshelby5780]

About to do this for my 2020 GT500. Kinda hesitant because of limited gas stations and range but man what power gains

[@lpcook1]

Just buy 12 VP cans and go fill them up at the closest E85 has station near you. This is what I’ve done for the last 4 years. Also, you may only need E55-60 to see most of the gains from E85, so you can blend it down with 93 to make it last a little longer and get better gas mileage.

[@xGR1MxREAPERx]

@@lpcook1this is the dumbest comment I’ve seen, e85 hates to sit. So buying cans and filling then and letting them sit in your garage is a horrible idea. E85 is almost never e85 except California and florida. Every other state your lucky to get e65-e70. Then let it sit for a week in cans and it’s down to e-50… if your running a dedicated e85 tune you will explode the engine. If it’s a flex fuel tune then I guess it will work and give you some Hp but that’s weak and not the right way to do it.

[@lpcook1]

@@xGR1MxREAPERx Umm…you are wrong. I live in New Jersey and the E85 station I typically frequent always test at 77% or better irregardless of the time of year. I have been buying E85 since 2018 and have never had one incident or saw the E85 degrade like you mentioned. Now, I don’t recommend letting E85 sit for 2 years, but 3-4 months have not been a problem for me. Typically when I buy this much E85, I use it all within 2 months anyway and then go replenish. I store my cans out of the direct sun and on rubberized mats and test the gas if I could not use all the gas within 3 months. I also have a flex fuel car, so I don’t have to worry about exceeding a certain percentage for an E85 tune and that is what my response 1 year ago was based on. My tuner does not give me anymore timing advance after 50% E, so I never have to worry about hitting a certain percentage to get max power. With that being said, I typically like to have it at 70% or better to get all the additional cooling benefits in the combustion chamber when really pushing the engine to max.

[@xGR1MxREAPERx]

@@lpcook1 talk to experts about fuel and they will tell you that letting e85 sit in a plastic jug will leech condensation out of the air and it will lose its content.. it isn’t something to argue about as it’s a proven fact lol.. ? Maybe you have food e85 around you that I could of been wrong about but the thing your arguing is literally in the msds documents and explains it about e85 or any e50+ fuel bro.

[@lpcook1]

@@xGR1MxREAPERx Who is arguing? You questioned my statement from 1 year ago and I promptly replied. But okay, Bro 👊🏾 I really don’t care. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@machdaddy6451]

Pretty awesome results! Wow! How are you guys not deaf? I had to turn the sound way down.

[@jeffdickson902]

Your stangs exhaust really booms , sounds like rolling thunder up top. Are there any down sides other than milage , like oil contamination and fuel system and engine corrosion ?

[@maximusvonce1381]

What transmission in your fox,? What cam specs, what rear gears. Whats car weigh. Whats car make on motor alone. What cylinder heads and intake and exhaust?

[@LongStroke351]

C4 manual valve body Performance Automatic. Cam is a custom spec KBX unit. .696 lift I/E, solid roller. 3.31 out of a GT500. Car weights 3350ish, still full factory interior, including the rear seats. Car has made 702 on a engine dyno on Motor. 438 Dart based, with old school TFS Hight Ports, from Bennett Racing, with titanium intake valves and stage 3 porting. Intake is an Edelbrock Super Victor converted to EFI by Coast High Performance. Exhaust it 2" Kooks headers to 3" dumps.

[@davidboorman6128]

I run stock injectors on my Gen 3 (2022) with E85 tune (Steeda ) 450HP/422TQ. Will changing injectors increase those numbers, if not what else can be done with the tune to increase?

[@Deadvous]

Getting my 2003 Mach 1 tuned by VMP performance, doing a 93 tune first but getting an e85 tune right after, hoping to see some decent numbers from that

[@johnkrstyen7351]

Curious to see differences

[@Deadvous]

@@johnkrstyen7351 I’ve seen a fbo and cammed Mach 1 go from 378hp and 343ft-lbs on 93 to 401hp and 358ft-lbs on E85 so I’m curious on just intake, exhaust and upgraded fuel system

[@johnkrstyen7351]

@@Deadvous little more into the turbo 4 and 6 cyl engines than v8's myself. Dsm/evo guys have been running e85 since mid 2000's and stuff is a game changer imo.

[@jonathanrotondi8053]

This in pompano? My buddy has been one of the first people to try different parts for the foxbody and focus st. Would pass by when near booby trap. Lol

[@maximusvonce1381]

Not a Fox guy, but that's the best looking fox i have seen

[@LongStroke351]

Thank you sir!

[@Jamie-ww3yz]

Now hit it with a 250 shot

[@jpman9795]

I'm currently having my C7 converted over to E85 with a DSX flex fuel system. Having to drop a low side auxiliary pump and upgrading the injectors from LT1 to LT4. She's also forced induction. I'm just curious how much of a HP gain I'll get. Consensus is about 100hp gain. Guess we'll see.

[@jasonbabal]

Great video. Will the e85 integrate with your nitrous system? Or do you plan to race on 116 still?

[@LongStroke351]

I think when I plan to spray it I'll go back to 116. still deciding.

[@ScottLarson-hr2bj]

Sadly this test really is not valid, pump E-85 fuel can contain anywhere from 51 percent to 82 percent ethanol it will NEVER be 85 percent ethanol. The federal government allows the oil companies this flexibility on ethanol content without telling you what the mix is. Using this in a high performance engine is a crap shoot unless you can monitor ethanol content actively as it is delivered. One tank full may be a great power maker while the next tank full (with a blend of less ethanol) could destroy an engine unless you tune for it, because as the percentage of ethanol changes so does the octane rating of the fuel and obliviously so would the available power output of your engine. One other side note is that your fuel system needs to be designed to except ethanol based fuels, that includes larger injectors, more fuel delivery volume (lines, pump and usually pressure) and last but not least any part of your fuel system that ethanol touches needs to be non-corrosive, because ethanol's best friend is H2O. We actually can test ethanol content with water. You start adding in all the equipment costs it takes to run E-85 properly in a lot of vehicles out there and it is not as cheap as you might think. Just be very careful and do all your homework.

[@LongStroke351]

The fuel system is designed for much greater power levels than what I was running. Even though I run Nitrous I built the fuel system to handle boost one day. So an injector swap is all that I needed. I will agree that I should have tested the pump E85, but every time we have it's checked out good. Timing is still pretty conservative so I'm not too concerned.

[@stuartstuart7514]

Bro are you like adding in your yanky terms a 1/4 of oil after every run or do you have a blown head gasket or just run the car partially on steam? I can't believe how much white smoke bellows out of your car!

[@maximusvonce1381]

Cam specs?

[@kaighSea]

seriously considering converting my 19 to E85.... only thing i wonder and i never see anyone on yotube touch it.... hwo does it effect longevity of the rmotor and its components? i have no idea one way or another but thats the only thing holding me back....

[@SupraSav]

I would definitely run E85 in a race car. Anything I am driving around town/potentially short driving, I would rather not use E85 in.

[@matt7sixty]

Damn! C85 she would probably make 565 or something

[@wil8115]

Ever tried Q16? should help both NA and with juice..

[@LongStroke351]

I actually never have but my local VP guy has mentioned it before.

[@wil8115]

@@LongStroke351 its oxygenated C16 basically.

[@freedom6919741]

E85 is gonna put these fuel companies out of business. 14 dollars a gallon is ridiculous and highway robbery!

[@maximusvonce1381]

How much total timing on last run at 550wheel.

[@LongStroke351]

32

[@danpace5581]

Where do you get VP C85 for $3.00 a gallon. It’s $15.00 a gallon.

[@LongStroke351]

It's just in a C85 can, but it's pump E85. We use the C85, which is $15 a gallon in the Silver Bullet.

[@mustangsrule6609]

Bad azz ztang 🤩

[@maximusvonce1381]

Whats motor spin to

[@LongStroke351]

I typically shift it to 7300.

[@douglasbaker5949]

Thought for sec you smoked the dyno😂😂😂😮

[@LongStroke351]

Hahaha, it's my PCV system. I run it out of the valve covers into the headers so yea.

[@shepherd3085]

Did you guys test the e85 to make sure it was true e85 or higher?

[@LongStroke351]

Nope, the gas station in Tallahassee is known to be very consistent, so we just Sent it!

[@ScottLarson-hr2bj]

If it is pump E-85 it can be anywhere from 51 percent to 82 percent, pump fuel is never 85 percent! the oil companies blend as they wish and just call it E-85.

[@ScottLarson-hr2bj]

@@LongStroke351 Sadly you have no idea of percent of ethanol content could be 51 to 82 percent.

[@candyhandsjf7288]

@@ScottLarson-hr2bj 51%-82% is all the sticker on the gas pump says, but if you actually test them, most of the time in the summer they will be up close to e88-e90. Ive seen as high as 92% personally. Averages closer to high 8x% though. Several people testing, several different testers. Winter time is really the only time that you'll see it fall below 75%.

[@ScottLarson-hr2bj]

@@candyhandsjf7288 I don't know what state you are in but here in N.C. I have tested pump E-85 for 12 years and have never seen 90 percent usually in the 65 percent range, since I taught at a trade school for years we had access to the local refinery and a lot of my info came directly from them. I just wanted people to understand that there are huge variables to converting to pump E-85.

[@maximusvonce1381]

Big stalled th400 or a manual transmission?

[@LongStroke351]

C4, 4500 stall.

[@freedom6919741]

Does this car have 02 sensors ?

[@LongStroke351]

yes, but I run it in closed loop.

[@maximusvonce1381]

This car runs 9.50 on motor only?

[@LongStroke351]

yes, it's setup for spray. On C16, it went 8.76@156 with only a 200 shot making 822 to the tires.

[@dustingre8]

E85 > EV

[@MrTay675]

why keep the hood open during a dyno run? would think its a variable that would never happen and screws with the results. your not going to run your car down tracks like that

[@LongStroke351]

Just to keep the engine cool, the filter is in the fender.

[@cmte.brazinazzo2061]

Because E85 cools more the combustion chambers than VP110...🎉 You need to try E100, could even be denaturated alcohol from farmacies... you gonna get 575 hp from that foxy

[@user-mm1se7gy7e]

We saw no hp increase going from gas station E-85 (which tested at E-74) to E-98 (VP). 74 degrees ambient and 7100' DA, 5350' elevation.

[@cmte.brazinazzo2061]

@@user-mm1se7gy7e have you tunned the air fuel ratio for the calorific power difference (RFMAP), or kept the same as E85.

[@user-mm1se7gy7e]

@@cmte.brazinazzo2061 Gross calorific or net calorific .

[@68nitrostang]

Would you dare pull up to a pump gas e85 station and trust the mixture to be correct ? I wouldn’t

[@DLVRYMN]

Test it yourself at the pump

[@davidboorman6128]

tell my why my Steeda E85 tune only gets me 406 WHP????

[@LongStroke351]

Because you're a canes fan LOL. Go Noles. Need more info on your combo.

[@deathscythehell7937]

Need more info, did you get larger injectors? What's the timing? What fuel pump are you using? What's the fuel pressure? Are you running a power adder, turbo or supercharger? This all matters when you're looking for serious power gains.

[@gregmf9427]

Why bother? You can get sooo much more out of a coyote engine just a little bit of money

[@LongStroke351]

Because a coyote will never sound as good as a push rod motor with a solid roller. I've got a company coyote to race, and yes they are bad ass.

[@maximusvonce1381]

I have a 520wheel fuel injected 438windsor 68 mustang street car e85 weighs 3k lbs and smokes everything on street, and a 900wheel built boss Roadrunner 2011 5.0 and both motors are badass, but the 438windsor is super fast...

[@08turboSS]

This is a wasted vid he uses a car with a 900 hp motor. Not a good vid for most.n

[@carolyntracytalbott5865]

Great video nice Stang, just a heads up alcohol will damage everything it touches from the gas cap to the pistons. Corrosion, main,rod bearings,oil pump every thing it touches. It gets in the oil the exhaust into the turbo! If you have the money to rebuild or better to start over with a new motor, do your homework on alcohol,that what e85 is. I know I ran it and ran the e85 out after track day every time before I left the track but didn't change oil and filter after every use and messed up bearings pistons oil pump turbo because of alcohol in the oil. CORROSION!!!!!

[@maximusvonce1381]

Thats not correct..I use e85 in both my Mustangs and my oil analysis always shows zero e85 in the oil. Just make sure you drive car at least 30-45mins and oil temp gets to 220 to burn off all moisture and combustion by products in oil. My oil never has any fuel dilution with e85 cause i always drive cars at least 45mins.