As fuel approached the $1.50 per litre point, I began to investigate alternatives to current fuel supplies. There was a petrol station close to my house that had an E85 bowser. It was locked all the time with a padlock. When I asked the attendant if I could use the fuel, he advised me that a conversion kit had to be installed to so that the car could use E85. He explained that the fuel was E85: that it was 85% ethanol and only 15% petrol. When I asked about how to get a conversion kit, he said that I would need to get it from Brazil.

I usually put about 40 litres of fuel in my tank. I fill it when it gets to the last quarter mark. At the time, this was costing about $60 (40 x $1.50). The rise of fuel prices from $1.00 to $1.50 seemed to have happened quite quickly and my budget had still not adjusted. This meant that the fuel allowance I had budgeted was not enough any longer.

I decided to check out using E85. When checking the Internet I found that the conversion kits were available overseas: there were places in America, Europe and Brazil -- but none in Australia. I continued my research and discussed E85 with a couple of  people.

While doing this I came across some information that suggested some basic tips for better performance in cars. My car was due for its 140,000 km service so I spent a little extra on the parts instead of taking the car to the service centre, and bought a hi flow cloth air filter and a cleaning kit for it. This type of air filter allows the engine to breathe better and is reusable, so in the long run it pays for itself. Also I changed the oil. I used a semi synthetic Oil 15w60 blend. There was information presented that suggest more horsepower from 0w30 synthetics, but I was not convinced about the wear resistant properties of these oils. Also I changed the oil filter. The other thing that I did was check my tyre pressure. I noticed a difference in the car's performance at higher revs: above 3000 rpm the car seemed to have better pickup.

One of the people I had been talking with mentioned E85 to a friend, and they purchased a kit from the USA. Unfortunately for them they got a kit with the wrong type of fuel injector plugs: there are about six common types. Luckily for me, this kit turned out to be the right type of kit and plugs to suit my car (a Mazda 323 1600cc 4 cylinder manufactured in 2000).

My friend and I installed the kit at lunch time. During installation, one of the other guys from work came over to see what we were doing and commented  that we were not looking at the instructions: that they were still in the box with the wrapping. Of course we told him that we would look at them if we needed them.

The car started first kick. To make sure it ran OK I drove about 70 km on normal petrol. Then I filled up with my first tank of E85. It cost $1.05 per litre. I put in 41.8 litres. I accidentally overflowed the fuel so probably spilled about half a litre; it was unusual not to be worried about the spillage, but with the difference in cost and it being my first tank of E85 fuel, I was not too concerned. It cost $43.90 compared with the $69.00 it would have been for petrol (which cost $1.65 per litre on that day).

Driving differences I have noticed. I think the car has less power at low rpm and more power at higher rpm, above 3000.

This means that on a hill when I put my foot down to maintain speed, the car does not pick up speed till it changes down gears. But when it changes down, it picks up speed more rapidly than it did using petrol.

Also I can smell the ethanol: it has a different smell to normal petrol.

The kit installed has some adjustment. it can be adjusted to supply more or less fuel to the injectors. At this stage, I am not sure whether to adjust the mixture to the leaner or richer setting.

I talked to a friend about this and after he spoke to someone in USA, he said he was advised that it sounded as if the car was running lean.

Some facts and figures:

Economy:
There is a suggestion on the internet that there will be a reduction in economy. It varies between 5 to 30%, depending on the tuning of the car.

Petrol Prices:
Petrol is $1.65 per litre
E85 is $1.05
The difference is $0.60 per litre or 36%

The km amount per tank I have measured for my car have been 485, 500, 515, 520 and 535. I don't know whether the differences were my driving behavior or differences in fuel quality or bowser pump delivery.
I have a 55 litre tank. I am probably using about 50-53 litres of fuel when the tank warning light comes on.

Read My Conversion to E85 - Page 2