HHRAZ

E85 is a HUGE no no.
There was a conversation on Autoweek on PBS this week.

From the gas cap to the valves and everything in between has to be different.

The tubing that carrys the gas to the tank has to be a plastic material. The injectors have to be much larger sine it takes more ethenol than gas. Also the fact that the corrosiveness of the ethenol is terrible.

STOP the maddness.

JV

Razinhell

Not for nothing, but you guys bought the performance version of the HHR for a reason. Its a performance engine, and it needs the highest octane recommended to get the most performance. Really all of you should look at it this way.

Take premium fuel at $3.30
Take mid grade 89 at $3.20
Take Regular at $3.10

So you have a 16 gallon tank
Regular = $49.60
Mid = $51.20
Premium = 52.80
Thats a savings of $3.20 and if you filled up once a week a whole savings of $166.40 for the whole year. While you saved the $166 for the whole year, you may be causing poor burning engine, cause the car to compensate for that bad burning and general not good things. Your car is under boost. Higher octane is boosts best friend. Predetonation is bad, bad for the engine, bad for longevity and really bad for performance engines making 100hp more then standard Inline 4's.

Razinhell

I've heard this way and that way with E85. Some had problems, some drove a truck 100,000 miles on ethanol and not one problem.
We have a GTO member who has been running E85 and since his car is a Twin Turbo has also been able to tune in more boost due to the higher octane levels.

E85 with Predator Tuning - http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthr...&highlight=e85
E85 Twin Turbo
http://www.ls1gto.com/forums/showthr...&highlight=e85

Remember these guys are constantly adjusting their engines to compensate for any problems. They can see what going on just in case.

HHRAZ

I've heard of combustions engines that get 100 mpg, but I don't believe it.
E85 will cause undo corrosion, have fun and do what you will, it is still a free country.

vandy0419

The only problem with E85 is your injectors...in the 70s or 80s all auto makers switched the material in the fuel tanks. The water % in E85 is much higher which would be corrosive...if the HHR was 30 years old. But the car just needs a higher injector flow and your pump will be fine...switching to 42 or 60lb injectors would fix the problem...but you need tuning. You could probably get by with a predator tuning...but i'd wait until HP Tuners gains access to the PCM.

HP Tuners is a nice program to work on, but you will also need a wideband A/F Meter which is another couple hundred. 4 injectors that kind will run around $250-300. HP Tuners will run around $600 unless you already have the program in which you would need to purchase 2 credits which would be $100. Then about 3 hours on a dyno to get it even close of being linear on the A/F. Plus it is best when doing this to start with 1/4 on E85...then next time a half tank, then full tank then the computer should be at the point where it has learned to function at any mixture.

Oh and for those of you not willing to use 92+...enjoy. It isn't a good decision. More than likely you will get knock and your performance will suffer. When I had my ION RL, I put 89 in it once and the car sucked. I was recording the stuff on HP Tuners and I was getting a couple degrees of knock. Unless you tune your engine for lower octane, there is reasoning of why they recommend premium.

I'm sorry, but I have always gone with the saying,"You got to pay to play."

Couple bucks for 94 octane (here) is well worth it.

88ls1blazer

E85 is 70-85 % ethanol 15% gasoline, so it's already mixed. You can mix them. You don't need anything special for less then 30% ethanol, lines, anything. I have over 20k on this setup w/ my TBSS, no issues. I just sold my 2000 Camaro ss, same, no issues. My 87 turbo regal will be running this.

Trust me, GM didn't make these things "lean" they are 11.0:1-11.8:1 a/f from the fatory. You are correct about needing to add more fuel because of the ethanol, however being you aer adding less then 30% (way less) you don't need to compensate. Remember Midwest states run 10-15% ethanol usually anyways. going from 15-23ish isn't much. If gm sets it up to be plenty safe w/ 15% its safe at that level too.

The gas cap doesn't have to be different, they make it differen't to remind people they can fill up w/ e85. If you listen to the geniuses @ autoweek well let me know where I can buy a stylish tinfoil hat. I am sure you have some. The injects would need to be 30-40% larger to run STRAIGHT ETHANOL, not a less then 30% blend. Also ehtanol will not corrode unless it is about a 35% concentration. We are talking about 23% Actually Ethanol isn't thad corrosive METHANOL is.

HHRAZ

I wasnt truly meaning the gas cap, however everything below it is different regarding the gas tank and the filler tube.
Sounds like you're an expert, go for it.

HHRAZ

One other thing to do some research on. One of the reasons that E85 is having problems has to do with it's inability to be tranported via current gas pipelines, it must be trucked from point to point. This is one of the reasons that somefolks are poo pooing E85 as an alternative. Personally I hope it takes off and we get like Brazil, energy independent.

Check it out

an08HHR

Believe they say it is about 16.2 gallons. Either way, even the line to the engine must of been dry and/ or the gas pump isn't calibrated correct and there are stations out they that do that to make more money.

c2vette

So even though I have only run 129 miles, I have a very consistent commute (minimal traffic) and the DIC on my Silverado was very accurate for the same drive, so here's a compare. To work, high speed twisty road, steep climb then drop to sea level HHHRSS=23 mpg avg speed=62 MPH, (4x4 Silverado was 16.5 mpg and 56 mph). Return by coast freeway, HHRSS=29 mpg freeway and 69 mph. Silverado=18 MPG, avg speed=65 MPH. I also did a 3 mile very level stretch at steady 60 mph and got a very steady 33 MPG.