Just what the title says. Is the fit a flexible-fuel vehicle? Cause hopefully soon lukoil is going to be providing E85, and I am hoping our cars are flexible-fuel vehicles so I can pay under $2 a gallon.

 

No........

 

yea, I just looked in the owners manual and saw that. I am going to buy a conversion kit

 

When considering the costs don't forget that you need about 1/3 more E85 over straight gasoline to travel the same distance.

 

Besides the crapy fuel economy, ethanol based fuels also suck because they destroy anything rubber on your engine. For example FI and Carb boots.

 

Ok, in the spirit of keeping this thread on topic, does anyone know of a kit to convert a USDM Fit to gain E85 capability? If there is a kit, what do they change? I would believe that the computer would need to be updated and most of the flexible parts (tubing, seals, ect.) that come in contact with the fuel would need to be upgraded. I wonder if the injectors would need to be changed?

What kind of cost are we talking about, and how badly would it effect the fuel economy and reliability?

Eric

 

You can run that type of conversion kit at your own risk. I find that their site is a little misleading. They do admit that ethanol will wear our your fuel pump faster and that if your injectors fall out of spec you will experience losses: increased consumption, poor vehicle performance, bumps while changing gears and difficulty to reach the maximum speed. They didn't talk about the damage that ethanol can do to other parts of your fuel system; fuel tank, hoses, seals, ect. They don't mention that you will experience a 25% reduction in fuel economy, thier EPA certification test car went from 32 mpg to 23.5 mpg. If you're getting 35 mpg now, get ready for 26 mpg or worse. This type of conversion kit merely intercepts the injector signal from your ECU, and lengthens it to make your injectors provide more fuel to your engine, to make up for the lower energy density of E85. They claim that it will operate as a flexible fuel engine, which is basically true. The sensors in your engine will compensate for regular gasoline if you use it by reducing the signal pulses, but your car will probably not perform efficiently at idle or low throttle settings, and I would predict that your emissions using regular gasoline will go up if this kit is installed.

I guess that if you don't really like your car, it might be worth sacrificing it for the good of the world, but that is a choice you have to make for yourself.

Eric