hey guys, i was searching around out of boredom for conversion kits to run the CL on alternative fuels, such as ethanol and cng (compressed natural gas), as well as propane systems. the thing is that very few conversion systems exist due to the fact that conversion cost is boosted greatly by federal law requirements of having the system certified for 50,000 miles or something like that; and the installation of something like cng in a fuel injected car is much harder than for a carburated one. in any case, E85 seemed much simpler because its a liquid at normal temp/pressure and you dont have to install much mechanical stuff. there is a brazilian company that makes conversion kits for E85. there is a vendor that sells them online here in the US at this link for $550 (4 banger). (alternatively, the manufacturer also lists Gude as a vendor rofl)

for that price (and perhaps the price of replacing the fuel line, fuel filter, and perhaps fuel pump?) it actually doesnt seem like such a farfetched mod to the CL, seeing as gasoline prices are thru the roof and e85 is like $1 a gallon around the country. I wouldnt mind experimenting and giving it a shot, but the nearest e85 fueling station to miami is at the kenedy space center 180 miles away...

 

 

were in miami you located at? i live in kendall. sry for the hijack. but isn't e85 bad for ur engine on the long run?

 

For $550, that sounds like a do-able change. If an e85 station is close to your area and you can get it for $1 / gallon, I say try it.

Here in VA this is not ideal. The only public E85 station is near DC which is about a 20 mile commute from my house, plus we are also seeing 3.22/gallon of E85 (as of 5/24/06).

I think I'll wait for Honda's diesel engine, and venture into bio diesel so that it smells like french fries when sitting in traffic.

 

i live in the NW on 57th ave and miami gardens. i spend lotsa time with my ex who lives in kendall on sunset and 147th. and at fiu south/engineering campus.

e85 has a cleaning effect on the engine actually, usually after running e85 for the first 500 or so miles they recommend replacing your fuel filter cuz e85 is basically alcohol cleaning all the crap left behind by gasoline.

also, e85 is higher octane than gasoline. they are either already using it or planning to introduce it soon in most professional car racing scenes.

the damage you may see in the long run would be any rubber hoses or seals in the fuel system that arent designed for alcohol based fuel. itd probably just be easier/better to replace hoses/seals as part of the conversion in the first place instead of looking for leaks later.

 

Im interested in that engine those guys at the Philly auto show built. 300+change hp on a ethanole burning engine.

 

holy shit dude your g.f is like my neighbor lmao!!! i live in sunset and 157. Im thinking of having a meet strictly on 1st gens. I know 3 cl that are hooked up down here so we can go take pics.

 

Honda is making a diesel?

 

haha, i used to live around there back in the days! In perrine near culter ridge.

 

New Clean Diesel:

• Based on the current highly successful diesel engine currently sold in Europe, Honda is now developing a cleaner next-generation 4-cylinder diesel engine. This engine will meet the U.S. EPA's stringent Tier2 BIN5 emission standard requiring NOx emission levels equivalent to a gasoline-powered vehicle. Honda plans to introduce this super-clean diesel engine to market within the next three years.
• Honda will also work toward development of a clean V6 diesel engine.
• While improving the fuel efficiency of gasoline engines with Advanced VTEC, Advanced VCM, and other technologies, Honda will expand application of hybrid technology to smaller size vehicles and diesel technology to medium-to-large size vehicles. Thorough these comprehensive efforts leveraging the unique characteristics of each environmental technology, Honda will accelerate its effort to reduce CO2 emissions.

More Info

 

its $1.60 per gallon over here, but can you still use reg. fuel? it would suck to fill up during a trip somewhere far and not know where the nearest E85 station is at

 

let me know if and when u decide to do it i might be interested in showing up i should have my car back from the shop within the next month and it will be ready for a photo shoot.

 

yeah, the conversion kits are all to turn your car into bi-fuel. you set a switch depending on what you put in your tank that tells the lil override chip which air-fuel ratio to use, ethanol or gasoline. it would suck to be only ethanol and not have a gas station for hundreds of miles lol.

 

If it's a manual switch, do you have to run the tank dry when you switch from E10 to E85 or vice-versa? Or can you just start filling the tank with another fuel when it's low then flip a switch?