I know HC pistons cause hi Nox but if I installed HC pistons etc. in my ride and switched to E-85 would I be able to pass the CA. smog test? Thanks!

You should be able to pass emmissions with High compression pistons. Depending on how high you went with the compression, you may nee to run a higher octane. You shouldnt need to run e85. What is CA doing for the test? Is it the dyno based test or just a sniffer?

I have never heard, on any forum that a car failed just because it had high compression pistons. I have never heard higher compression raised NOX either. You might want to check your source on that.

Terry

Full dyno for CA plus sniffer. We also have to pass a visual exam on the motor (Must look stock or have all CARB stickers visable, checked for catalytic converter as well, gas cap checked. Otherwise your car gets sent to state referee.

Just for an example, my friend went to get his car smogged, and the place wouldn't do the smog b/c he had an aftermarket oil cap on his motor (Everything else was stock)

IL has done the Dyno and gave up on it. (cant do a dyno without a sniffer by the way)

Thanks fellas I just found my answer E-85 is hell on a motor! :(

http://www.carbibles.com/fuel_engine_bible_pg2.html Glad I didn't make the mistake of shoving that garbage in my tank.

That info is misleading. There is a lot of generalization there that gives you the wrong idea. Perfect example is the compression ration and octane requirement chart. A 94 Z28 LT1 motor has a compression ratio of 10.5:1. Now do you really thing every z28 owner uses 100 octane? The answer is no. Octane requirements are dependent on compression as well as ignition map.


You want to read more about e85. E85 is actually another way of getting race fuel (high octane) if mixed to the proper ratio. I would hardly call that junk.

Hell yeah, I plan on switching to E85 when I get my motor put back together. As long as its a dollar less than premium I will come out putting the same dollar per tank as 93 and get more performance out of it. Lots of neon guys are running it and only putting a bigger fuel pump and 30% bigger injectors in and using the stock regulator. E85 is good stuff, just not alot of guys think its worth while at the moment because you use 30% more of it and that means less miles per tank. They forget the fact that most gasoline is made up with a 10% E85 mixture already so your not getting the same mileage out of regular 93 as you used to. I say go for it.....I am!

I've ran e85 in my car for quite some time now, i love it! interstate driving I get around 25 mpg, a best of 28mpg, and in town I get around 17 mpg. I didn't have to change out any of my fuel lines, I run a walbro 255 in tank and an accell inline pump with 880cc injectors controlled by megasquirt. Running e85 in dsm's is very popular here in minnesota because of the horsepower gains you can see with it. The only problem I have had with it is that it cleans out the sediment left in your tank from gasoline and clogs the fuel filter up. E85 cools your intake charge, burns cooler, slower, and more evenly thus reducing knock, egt temps, and enabling you to run a more aggressive ignition map.

I feel what you guys are saying and I don't wanna sound like a chiken little but it kinda scares me cuz how long are they gonna keep producing the stuff if the libs/tree huggers find out it produces high acid output into the air?

But my main concern is how's the Nox readings after some if any of you guys stayed N/A switched to HC pistons and E-85 and or did you have any other strange reading if you did a tail pipe sniffer test in your state?

Here in Kalifornia we have a min-max for the smog test, too little in any area HC, Nox etc then they assume that something's wrong with your car and won't pass and of course too high in any area no pass.

I plan to stay N/A but I wanted to get as close as I could to what Mr. Bullet did perfomance/mod wise minus the big cams of course and or any smog test problems.

Thanks guys you guys are clearing a lot of misinformation up for me.