Early Opinions re Track Use

[GraphiteAZ]

I'll answer in the thread as well. What we did is make the flex fuel calibration is that it will reduce air charge no matter what ethanol percentage you run. But that does not make it a good idea to run E85 on a stock fuel pump.

What you can do and what you should do are two different things.

And it is not a calibration problem that we can fix.

Just to be clear; the optimal E85 ratio for power and OEM pump duty cycle is around the E25-E30 mark, correct?

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[Hondata]

Maximum power is 25-40% ethanol, but you're on a razor edge between getting enough air charge to make power and running out of fuel pump.

For track use I'd only run pump fuel or low ethanol fuel (MS109, 98 octane unleaded etc). Otherwise you're going to spend more time blending fuel and watching the fuel pump duty than having fun.

Also there is some confusion with the effect of ethanol on the cooling system. Ethanol has more charge & cylinder cooling than gasoline but the heat load on the cooling system is more related to the power the engine makes. Same with EGTs - about the same gasoline to ethanol.

 

[LURK-R]

Maximum power is 25-40% ethanol, but you're on a razor edge between getting enough air charge to make power and running out of fuel pump.

For track use I'd only run pump fuel or low ethanol fuel (MS109, 98 octane unleaded etc). Otherwise you're going to spend more time blending fuel and watching the fuel pump duty than having fun.

Also there is some confusion with the effect of ethanol on the cooling system. Ethanol has more charge & cylinder cooling than gasoline but the heat load on the cooling system is more related to the power the engine makes. Same with EGTs - about the same gasoline to ethanol.

I have nobody to blame but myself for not doing enough research and waiting. Had I read this, I would not have bought a Flex Fuel kit. I assumed from reading various posts, etc. that I would be able to pump straight e85 and/or be able to easily enjoy e25 base calibration at the track. My assumption was that the e25 base calibration would be able to dial things back whether street or track. As stated, blending fuel and watching the fuel pump duty is not fun at the track. I was becoming okay with the blending, but things are simply panning out to be more of headache than what I like to deal with at the track. Again, for me.

 

[HondaRedbullF1]

I have nobody to blame but myself for not doing enough research and waiting. Had I read this, I would not have bought a Flex Fuel kit. I assumed from reading various posts, etc. that I would be able to pump straight e85 and/or be able to easily enjoy e25 base calibration at the track. My assumption was that the e25 base calibration would be able to dial things back whether street or track. As stated, blending fuel and watching the fuel pump duty is not fun at the track. I was becoming okay with the blending, but things are simply panning out to be more of headache than what I like to deal with at the track. Again, for me.

I believe if you buy the hondata fuel system upgrade with Flex Fuel Kit, then you can run straight E85 without any loss of power.

 

[LURK-R]

I believe if you buy the hondata fuel system upgrade with Flex Fuel Kit, then you can run straight E85 without any loss of power.

For me, it's not so much the mixing that is the issue. I'm okay with mixing e25 if it were okay to run at the track. The car has plenty power, and I didn't plan even adding more, but flex fuel seemed like a no brainer easy bang for buck.

 

[b2point0h]

For me, it's not so much the mixing that is the issue. I'm okay with mixing e25 if it were okay to run at the track. The car has plenty power, and I didn't plan even adding more, but flex fuel seemed like a no brainer easy bang for buck.

Reminder. You CAN DO all this and be safe. But you MUST get custom tuned. The E25 & Flex base maps are just a starting point.

 

[LURK-R]

Reminder. You CAN DO all this and be safe. But you MUST get custom tuned. The E25 & Flex base maps are just a starting point.

Appreciate it. I'm gonna stick to my gut and simply stay put for now. Lapping is much funner with one less thing to worry about.

 

[ayau]

I really don't see any issues running E30 on track. I've done it a few times already. Personally, I don't see the benefit of a flex fuel tune as I'm always measuring to be at exactly E30 since that's what I'm tuned on.

Use the Hondata E25 map or whatever as your starting point and do a few pulls. More likely than not, you'll go over 95% duty cycle in the 3-5k RPM range. Reduce your air charge to be below 90% peak and you should be fine. You'll still make overall more power than straight 93/91.

 

[Type-JZ]

OP, if you haven't, check the below thread. A very good thread. I go back to it often. Started by a very good, fast driver. Unfortunately, he left the CTR platform.

https://www.civicx.com/forum/thread...ods-and-bads-lets-share-our-experience.20591/

 

[Dave B]

OP, if you haven't, check the below thread. A very good thread. I go back to it often. Started by a very good, fast driver. Unfortunately, he left the CTR platform.

https://www.civicx.com/forum/thread...ods-and-bads-lets-share-our-experience.20591/

Thanks for the link. At 38 pages, that other thread has meandered quite a bit but has a bunch of good info.

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