Different engines?

[Further North]

I have a 2012 SEL hatchback that is not a flex-fuel car...

It makes me wonder what the difference is between my car and the ones that are set up for flex fuel.

...not t hat I'd use E85, but I want to understand the differences.

[Sponsor]

[dstiefel]

I was told better mileage

[TiStick]

Originally Posted by Further North

I have a 2012 SEL hatchback that is not a flex-fuel car...

It makes me wonder what the difference is between my car and the ones that are set up for flex fuel.

...not t hat I'd use E85, but I want to understand the differences.

Main difference is fuel pump and fuel line materials. ECU also has ability to sense what fuel you are using. I suppose it has different fuel/timing maps for E85, but I have no proof.

[Further North]

Originally Posted by dstiefel

I was told better mileage

For the Flex-Fuel car or the one that can't run E85?

[Further North]

Originally Posted by TiStick

Main difference is fuel pump and fuel line materials. ECU also has ability to sense what fuel you are using. I suppose it has different fuel/timing maps for E85, but I have no proof.

Thanks, I was guessing it might be things like that (E85 can do a ton of damage) but was not sure.

[Tommyatomic]

E85 will destroy rubber seals and rubber lines if they are of the wrong type.

A flex fuel vehicle would have a fuel pump that has seals that will not degrade as a result of ethanol as well as injector seals and fuel lines safe for use with ethanol.

It should also have tuning that makes AFR and timing accommodations for the different fuel and hopefully different programming for the fuel efficiency calculator. E85 burns cleaner but not as hot. It contains less energy but is significantly more stable so much more timing can be run. Your MPG on e85 is much lower.

The PCM program should take all of that into account.

[jburkey28]

E85 does produce more power if tuned for it. That's something to keep in mind also.