[Christ]

I would tend to agree with Lazarus here, as the fuel density of E85 is less than that of normal gasoline.

The thing about ethanol not being pure, I've argued that point for ages with everyone in the known universe... it's nice to see that someone actually knows the same. In fact, I had a physical science teacher in high school that "used to drink moonshine - the only 100% grain alcohol available in his time."

I told him over and over again that he should think about what he's saying before he says it.. not only because he was bragging about dangerous alcohol use to students, but because he was making an ass of himself by stating incorrect information. (All that, plus, he was only 32.. hardly moon-shine age, born in the Sixties.)

Everytime he said his alcohol was 200-proof, I would come back with a more valid estimate of something like 180-190 proof, depending on the exposure time to open air.

On topic - Any engine can be tuned to run E85, and the stumbling is a byproduct of a few things, not just a lack of fuel.

1. - the engine will lean out with too much of an E85 mixture, due to the lower density of ethanol

2 - Gas engines aren't optimally tuned physically for use with E85. E85 has a much higher octane than even high grade gasoline (street premium), and can withstand higher compression without pre-ignition... this comes at a cost to low-compression engines, in the form of less energy released as a result of lower combustion temp.

This raises a question though - If high compression engines are more efficient, and have less expenditure of harmful compounds (right?), Would E85 being used in a normal low-compression engine create a similar situation? (Higher than normal emissions, compared to running it the way it should be run.)

I've contended with people who use higher octane fuels than they need to for god knows how long as well, as you're not getting any more power without tuning for higher octane fuel. Same applies for E85.. if you're not tuned for the mixture, you're not using it to it's fullest extent. Although you're probably still saving money, since it's so much cheaper to use/buy.