The SS I have says 93 octane or better. 3 years ago, my wife filled up with the cheap stuff, and it cost me a trip to the dealer to empty the tank. The SS ran like crap! Misfire codes left and right, underboost, and a couple of back-fires! It has had 93 or better since then. As far as I know the E85 doesn't burn hot enough for the turbo, without a huge loss in power. It also seems that if the same HP rating was there, then the amount of fuel burned to reach the same HP would spend more gas overall. So if you use 1.5 gallons of E85 vs. 1 gall of 93oct, are you really saving money? or the enviorment? I'm just as eco conscious as the next guy, but i already gave up four cylinders.

 

E85 has a AKI (octane) rating of 100-105 which is what is usally posted at gas stations, but really is about 94-96 octane, compared to 93 which is what you use in a SS. Yes,if she put crappy fuel in then you have issues with knocking and pinging. If you use 87 and you should be using 93 you might have problems with detonation, low boost, and cause engine problems. And, yes you can run E85 in a turbo car. you should check out a few saabs running E85. Here is a video link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7rb7O3Eyfw) if you want to see a turbo car running on E85, and I am sure there is no loss of power. Of course the vehicle needs to be tuned to run e85 if they are not already equipped.
And, a few dinos of an Saab automatic stage 2 running on e85 (http://genuinesaab.com/gallery/2006AeroWagonE85)....

 

psi has nothing to do with it it has to do with how much hp nd how big your turbo is. say you can run 3 psi and make 200 with one but if you went with a smaller turbo it could take 14 psi to make that same power. its all about how much air the turbo can move. best to find a dyno when you start tuning it. sounds like it will be a fun project. i want to go FI(forced induction) but cant bring myself to do it. might put my 2.2 on a bottle tho.

 

I was thinking of putting my 2.2 on the bottle too. Are you going to go with a 50 shot? I might go get a dino on the car just to see what kind of HP and TQ I am getting with my current setup.

 

 

Trying to up a Brigs and Stratton when he should be doing a Tecumseh.......I guess it depends on what your after...

 

50-75 shot. depends what the dyno says in the end

 

I don't think anyone has added Nitrous to an HHR yet. I keep thinking about Cryo2.