Hey Everyone whats going on? I was just driving to work earlier today and noticed gas for $2.97. In Southern California that is not half bad. I was just wondering, whats gas like where your from?  

Yea its going down... i just hope it keeps going.  

Thats cheap compared to the Chicago area!  I live in Wheaton, IL, its a western suburb of Chicago, gas here is $3.25 for 87 octane.  A few days ago, it was up to $3.50 or so!  Some b.s. with a refinery in Indiana....yeah right.  My parents and in-laws are in San Antonio, TX and i dont think its over $2.80 there.  Im wondering about the New England side, anybody?  

Wow, i Thought we had it bad... thats crazy. Although i do remember not to long ago it was that high out here too.  

Well here in europe we enjoy the price of 6.10, beat that.
So in my eyes you have nothing to complain about.  

remember, it's all relative.  while you in europe have been suffering high fuel costs for years, i can remember gasoline prices under $1.00 per gallon.  so, for me, $3.00/gal is a lot.  

I did not mean any disrespect, just another point of view. Are you in the u.s not thinking about alternative fuels? I live in Sweden and here E85 and biogas is really starting to grow. Remember that producing these fuels can keep money in the country and create som jobs.

And you can get some serious power with E85  

Wow... over 6 bucks. thats insane. But i also remember when it was like 1 buck for gas here in the states, so now paying over 3 is just outrageous. I haven't heard of those 2 alternates, what are they?  

Well lets see...

E85 or you may know it as Gasohol maybe, is a blend of 85% Alcohol (Ethanol) made of Wheat or tree deposits and 15% gasoline. Hense the name E85 The gasoline is mixed only to make it easier to coldstart at wintertime.

Biogas is Methane that come from rotting biomass (grass, poo, leafs) or anything that will rot. During the rotting process Methane is produced and gathered in compressed from in tanks (Like nitrous bottles) and used to drive the car.

There is an third option and in Sweden it is called RME. It is Rapeoil that is used to fuel Diesel vehicles. Kind of the same oil that is used to fry frenchfries. Actually you can use that oil and filter it and process with Methanol and you have RME.

The reason that you can get so much power with E85 is that it is nearly impossible to get detonations with that fuel (104 octane). So if you drive an super or turbo charged car you can really up the boost.

//Joel  

An example of u.s. e85 car

http://www.e85viper.com/  

Wow thats interesting, I had heard nothing about this before now.... Or maybe i just didn't pay attention.  

theres an E85 compatible carb in the summit catalog, i think its from quick fuel techs.  i dont know what the difference is from a regular carb, i havent looked into it.  i think that would be kind of neat to have a 70 chevelle running E85.  i agree, the United States does need to do something about the oil issue.  i would readily put alternative fuel in my chevelle if it was more readily and widely available.  my daily drivers to get to work and back both get 30+ mpg, so i dont complain too much.  

The difference of an e85 compatible carb and a regular one is that the e85 one is plated to increase corrosion resistance. The e85 carb is also ser up richer because the engine requires more fuel.

If you are going to convert your car to E85 (like i have) do readjust the ignition.
You dont have to but you will loose som of the power. For example i have a pontiac 400 that i run on E85, and i have done following: increased the initial timing 3 degrees, the total mechanical advance is the same as before and here comes the big difference the vacuum adv is used like this.

Once the car is started and "sucked up" the vaccum i use a valve that closes the vacuumhose. You can say that the vacuum is "hanged up" once and for all. When the engine is accelerating it dont need to cut back on timing to prevent knocking. neat huh? It becomes quite responsive when you do this mod.

When the car is shut off the valve is releasing the vacuum to make it easier to start. Important!


//Joel  

How is it working out for you now that you have converted?  

My dailydriver works good. No really difference in driveability, the car does not like fog (VERY heavy fog) otherwise it drives as usual.

The car consumes 25% more gas but here in Sweden the cost is the same as with gasoline. I am just starting to convert my Pontiac(400) and so far the big difference is the smell from exhaustfumes is totally gone. I have to sort out the carb but it runs well right now.


/Joel