2012 R35 SPE650: Would You Like Some Corn with that?

A good customer of ours came in to get his 2012 GT-R tuned on E85. For those in the SoCal area that do not know, yet, there is a new gas station that serves E85; located in Fullerton, Ca.

 

Propel Clean Mobility Center

1124 E Chapman Ave.

Fullerton, Ca 92831

 

Find one near you: Station Locator

 

Here’s what he’s had done previously here with us:

 

- SPE650

- TiTek 90mm Cast Downpipes

- TiTek Race Midpipe

- TiTek Race Exhaust

- SprayItRacing 1000cc Injectors

- SPE Tune

 

A little background on E85 for those who are not familiar with it; E85 has a number of advantages over regular pump gas. The advantages consist of higher octane rating, reducing engine heat and wear, and increasing performance. E85 does have it’s downfall, though. It has 33% less energy content than regular gas. Meaning you have to use more of it.

 

With his GT-R, our customer also brought in dual SprayItRacing 265LPh fuel pumps and a Zeitronix Ethanol Content Analyzer. The fuel pumps are needed to support E85. The Zeitronix Ethanol Content Analyzer helps monitor the percentage of ethanol you have in your car. He also purchased the flex fuel sensor along with the ECA. Our technicians had to custom fabricate AN lines and fittings to make the flex fuel sensor work with the ECA.

 

 

The dual SprayItRacing 265LPh fuel pumps getting ready to be installed.

 

 

Tidying up the AN lines for the flex fuel sensor.

 

 

Flex fuel sensor tucked away and ready to do its job.

 

 

Installing/mounting the ethanol content analyzer; deciding where to mount something always seems to be a pita.

 

Previous 91 Dyno

 

E85 Dyno

 

And of course, you’re going to need a new map made in order to run E85. The top dynograph is of the SPE650 on 91 octane; the bottom dynograph is of the SPE650 on E85. You can see a significant difference in power and torque.

 

We gave our customer a few days before giving us feedback on the new tune on E85. His response was very positive. He explained how the car was much faster and now has a much smoother power delivery, which is always a plus.

 

Eugene @ SPE

Any concerns over what E85 can do to the internals? I seem to remember reading an article on how it can speed up the aging of and of the rubber or plastic components in come into contact with.

Haven't seen any issues on the GT-R platform during the last 3 years so far. This speaks for a/f sensors and such. The injectors and pumps we use are catered to handle the ethanol fuel.