E30 Tunes

[colinl]

I searched and found a few little comments about E30 tunes, but no substantial discussion except for @Deuces talking about his ongoing project using an E30 map from 5Star. I've zeroed in on E30 because locally I can buy E30 real cheap. 50-75 cents a gallon less than premium 91, and premium 93 isn't available. The local E30 fuel is a blend from 87, but numerous locals use it and say it performs like E30 should, at least 93-94 octane. This is an otherwise stock vehicle now and unlikely to ever seen more than just exhaust.

Are you currently running an E30 tune, or have you in the past?

What tuning device are you using? Does it have transmission optimization also?

JB4 is tempting because it's an interceptor / piggyback, not a reflashing device. I am not sure that it's 100% invisible to Ford but certainly it's less noticeable than a reflash. I've had tunes on other vehicles and never any issue, but I suppose I see some value in this. They have a E30 tune.
https://burgertuning.com/products/jb4-tuner-ford-maverick

Cobb's off-the-shelf maps do not support E30 and I haven't seen any of the tuners in the Accessport ecosystem mention that they offer an E30 tune, but I owned an gen1 Accessport and liked it. Darn.

I have heard Livernois has an E30 tune but don't see mention of it on their Maverick page.
https://www.livernoismotorsports.co...2-2023-ford-maverick-2-0-turbo-ecoboost-tuner

5Star is a bit confusing to me. On their tuner page they have a bunch of devices. What the heck are the differences or pros/cons of these? I assume they all use the same maps? (Speaking of maps, if you try to buy 5Star on their page, E30 isn't in the pull-down list but a ton of other options are. I just assumed I'd need to call them.)
https://5startuning.com/product-cat...-eb/2022-maverick-2-0l-eb-tuners-programmers/

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[COBB Tuning]

Any COBB-certified Protuner can create a custom tune designed for whatever fuel you want to use - E10, E30, E50, etc. using our custom tuning software. You're not just limited to our OTS maps.

@Caleb@PandaMotorworks are a certified Protuner shop that have been involved in the Maverick platform and should be able to help you out. If not, check out our Dealer/Protuner locator tool here:

https://www.cobbtuning.com/dealers

 

[colinl]

Any COBB-certified Protuner can create a custom tune designed for whatever fuel you want to use - E10, E30, E50, etc. using our custom tuning software. You're not just limited to our OTS maps.

@Caleb@PandaMotorworks are a certified Protuner shop that have been involved in the Maverick platform and should be able to help you out. If not, check out our Dealer/Protuner locator tool here:

https://www.cobbtuning.com/dealers

Thanks for the reply. What's the process of creating a new map for E30 look like? I'm just curious if it's multiple days hands on, or can be done remotely, or what.

 

[yamahaSHO]

Any COBB-certified Protuner can create a custom tune designed for whatever fuel you want to use - E10, E30, E50, etc. using our custom tuning software. You're not just limited to our OTS maps.

@Caleb@PandaMotorworks are a certified Protuner shop that have been involved in the Maverick platform and should be able to help you out. If not, check out our Dealer/Protuner locator tool here:

https://www.cobbtuning.com/dealers

Don't forget me.

 

[Dueces]

It's important to know that you CANNOT use pump E30!!!!! Pump E30 is E85 mixed with 87 octane, meaning you may end up with around 93-94 octane. You want to use 91 or 93 octane so that your octane rating is up closer to 96-98 octane when using E30.

I have heard that some company's are going as high as E50, but that must be only on a stock turbo, as I am already put of fuel at E30 on my Corsair turbo, so E50 would run extremely lean on it.

 

[colinl]

It's important to know that you CANNOT use pump E30!!!!! Pump E30 is E85 mixed with 87 octane, meaning you may end up with around 93-94 octane. You want to use 91 or 93 octane so that your octane rating is up closer to 96-98 octane when using E30.

hey Dueces, thanks, I was wondering if I could ask a dumb question.

Pump E30 is what appeals to me from a cost and availability perspective. Local premium is only 91.. so even though it's blended from unleaded 87 and E85, pump E30 being 93-94 octane is still better than premium 91 isn't it?

I am aware that ethanol has less chemical fuel content than gasoline, that's the tradeoff for higher octane, you use more fuel. But is pump E30 not useful at 93-94 octane?

I guess another way to ask this question is:
If I'm not interested in blending my own fuel, should I stick to premium 91 tunes?

 

[Dueces]

hey Dueces, thanks, I was wondering if I could ask a dumb question.

Pump E30 is what appeals to me from a cost and availability perspective. Local premium is only 91.. so even though it's blended from unleaded 87 and E85, pump E30 being 93-94 octane is still better than premium 91 isn't it?

I am aware that ethanol has less chemical fuel content than gasoline, that's the tradeoff for higher octane, you use more fuel. But is pump E30 not useful at 93-94 octane?

I guess another way to ask this question is:
If I'm not interested in blending my own fuel, should I stick to premium 91 tunes?

I am not a Lawyer and this is not legal advice! Lol. From what I understand, many people, including myself, have used upwards of an E30 blend on tunes meant for 87, or even the stock tune. I tried it a couple weeks ago, because I had just a little too much 87 octane in the tank to dedicate it to my E30 tune, so I left it on my 87 Tow tune. With the tune seeing no knock, it goes for all the beans! Let me explain:

So on my way down to get a tank of E30, I decided to do a back to back comparison with 87 octane in the tank, and then E30 in the tank with the 87 octane tune. First 2 passes were back to back, at 13.93@97mph, and 14.02@97mph. I went opposite directions to account for wind conditions, if there were any. After getting E30, mind you I did mix E85 and 91 octane, I did 2 more passes in the exact same location, and the times were 13.50@100mph and 13.53@100mph. Temps had changed from 81 degrees to 77 degrees, and DA dropped 200, so almost negligible...

SO, all of that was just to answer your question with, yes, you could run E30 out of the pump, and it would give you a bump in power, however, I am not advising you to do this long term without a dedicated tune. Your tuning company should have no issue making you a tune for E30 out of the pump, but compared to the common E30 tunes, you will be down a decent amount of power.

Hope that helps!

 

[colinl]

SO, all of that was just to answer your question with, yes, you could run E30 out of the pump, and it would give you a bump in power, however, I am not advising you to do this long term without a dedicated tune. Your tuning company should have no issue making you a tune for E30 out of the pump, but compared to the common E30 tunes, you will be down a decent amount of power.

It definitely does. Pump E30 being 93-94 octane, it's easy to understand how it would offer less performance potential than E85 mixed with 91/93, which would be more like 97-98 octane. I think the confusion arises from the fact that ever since E85 arrived in 1996, people have been mixing it themselves with 91 or 93 premium unleaded and the amount of ethanol calculated is what they called that mix. E30, E50, etc.

I am not exactly sure when E30 pump gas mixed from unleaded 87 + E85 became a thing ... maybe around 2010-2012 - but I do know why we're seeing it more lately. It's ethanol-friendly legislation and subsidies, of course! https://www.agweb.com/news/policy/politics/new-legislation-could-put-e30-pump-near-you

BTW my local E30 pumps don't look like the one in that article. They say 93 octane and don't have the flex fuel warning!

 

[Azmig88]

I am not a Lawyer and this is not legal advice! Lol. From what I understand, many people, including myself, have used upwards of an E30 blend on tunes meant for 87, or even the stock tune. I tried it a couple weeks ago, because I had just a little too much 87 octane in the tank to dedicate it to my E30 tune, so I left it on my 87 Tow tune. With the tune seeing no knock, it goes for all the beans! Let me explain:

So on my way down to get a tank of E30, I decided to do a back to back comparison with 87 octane in the tank, and then E30 in the tank with the 87 octane tune. First 2 passes were back to back, at 13.93@97mph, and 14.02@97mph. I went opposite directions to account for wind conditions, if there were any. After getting E30, mind you I did mix E85 and 91 octane, I did 2 more passes in the exact same location, and the times were 13.50@100mph and 13.53@100mph. Temps had changed from 81 degrees to 77 degrees, and DA dropped 200, so almost negligible...

SO, all of that was just to answer your question with, yes, you could run E30 out of the pump, and it would give you a bump in power, however, I am not advising you to do this long term without a dedicated tune. Your tuning company should have no issue making you a tune for E30 out of the pump, but compared to the common E30 tunes, you will be down a decent amount of power.

Hope that helps!

Good research!

 

[colinl]

So, the reason I started looking into this is very much a central Kansas thing, but I'm posting about it because maybe other regional gas retailers are doing similar things where you live.

Jumpstart is a small gas station chain that has tanks of E85 and E10 87 unleaded, and they mix at the pump into a variety of other products, including the one I'm interested in using in my Maverick that they call E30 Super 93.

Here's a YT video Jumpstart did with a local content channel. You can see their E85 pump is labeled 100 octane, and the E30 pump is 93.

I am aware of the value of E50. I have literally zero interest in mixing my own fuel for many reasons:

1. Premium unleaded is 91 locally. It would be different starting from E10 93.
2. Drive a lot for work and needing to use a pump is a certainty.
3. Mixing in tank can be educated guessing, especially if not completely empty.
4. E85 might not even be available, so need to switch quickly to 91 map.
5. Already have 2 strokes in my garage, so no desire to mix and store E50 in quantity. (It's not just my wife; I really don't want it. )

My powertrain is bone stock 4k tow, and I asked one of the Cobb Tuning Protuners to develop a map for Jumpstart E30 with my truck. I'll talk more about them and the process later; I don't even have the AP yet, so this will be a few weeks/months out. I bought an ethanol tester and before doing anything else, I'll test a little of their E85 and their E30 to see what I get.

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