Mixing up GEM - The Best Race Fuel you Haven't Heard of yet.

This is a technical how-to about GEM, a race fuel that I use in the Talon.
GEM - Short for G(as) E(thanol) M(ethanol) - is a mixture of fuel that act a lot like E85, but contains up to 57% Methanol so it cools better and makes more power. I've been running it since 2015, and my go-to mixture is 45% Methanol.
I published an article years ago, and get questions about how to make GEM all the time. I figured I'd put together this video to answer even more questions about GEM. If you want to know more about GEM, please visit:
ftyracing.com/...

[@Colt_10R80]

Thanks for doing this, such a clever idea

[@bbcnova56]

Now we need gemn!!

[@christart8461]

@@bbcnova56 gas ethanol methanol nitro ??

[@phydiux]

I run M5 as my Methanol component... It has a splash of than N you're talking about :)

[@Andersljungberg]

However, there is a RUclips video that the US military did a test that showed that Methanol did more damage than ethanol. eg that there were more metal particles in the oil. this test was probably done in the 70s, so a long time ago

[@shaunwerning4975]

Have absolutely bothered you asking questions about GEM in the recent past... very much appreciate this video and probably won't have reason to bother you over it in the future. Ha!

[@christart8461]

I cannot get him to reply to me.. how much more power is this fuel making?

[@shaunwerning4975]

@@christart8461 that's a question without a definite answer. GEM will probably not directly convey additional power like nitro or other oxygenated fuels but it may allow the engine to be tuned differently than when on pump gas or E85 which could then yield more power. More timing, more air density and so on. Just depends...

[@Andersljungberg]

In Sweden, there should be no Methanol in regular E85 In addition to ethanol and gasoline, E85 in Sweden also contains the denaturants MTBE/ETBE and isobutanol

[@suprcandy]

Nice video Sir. Have you tried pre-mixing fuel and store it for some time? Does it separate or go bad in any way?

[@phydiux]

The point of adding the Ethanol in GEM is to prevent separation. I've had fuel sit over the winter and used it the next season without any problems.

[@Andersljungberg]

Toluene or Xylene Does Raise the octane in MON more than alcohol-based fuels? But the disadvantage is that these are strong solvents. But on the other hand, apparently, for example, ethanol has stronger knock resistance than what the octane level says. Certainly more oxygen too

[@trtrevenen]

show us the dyno sheets when you get them

[@Andersljungberg]

Surely there should be equipment that can tell exactly what octane content is in the petrol? .Or that can show ethanol content. There are cars that can show the octane content on a screen

[@JoeWrenches]

Uncle Scoooooooooott, what the specific gravity of this GEM mixture?

[@phydiux]

Theoretically? .788. Can I borrow your Hydrometer?

[@Andersljungberg]

If you are a regular mischievous driver, it may not matter that much if it is 100 octane or 102 octane ?

[@Robertrogers-p2y]

How does this react in a e85 tester

[@Jason_Bacon]

One for that Al Gore rhythm machine.

[@julianmoore6318]

Im curious, if the goal is to make the same values as E85, why add the E85 at all? I feel like once you have mixed the methanol and race gas any amount of ethanol from 0 gallons to 100 gallons would make the same stoic value? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[@phydiux]

Gasoline is not inherently miscible with Methanol. Just mixing the two, the Gas/Methanol will separate and you'll have a bad time with that as your AFR swings from somewhere around 6.5 all the way up to 14.7. The Ethanol in GEM binds it all together, ensuring nothing separates.
I have a paper somewhere about this where they tested it, the value was around a minimum 8-10%, but it's fuzzy and it's been a long time since I read it so I might be off on that value. But with the amount of Ethanol I use in this mix, I have not experienced any sort of separation.

[@julianmoore6318]

@@phydiux unfortunately... pump E may not be the answer to mixing, I didn't test it but I'm wondering if I was around 76/78% E in company to 98% in other ethanol based fuels. Long story short it seperated and I burnt up my motor 🤦🏽 tune was on, fueling was on, timing was safe. Some plugs read like M1 plugs, others read like race gas plugs. Learning experience for sure.

[@christart8461]

How much more power are you making off of this stuff compared to pump 93 when your AFR is right?

[@frankgonzalez9302]

Hello there I was just curious once you mix the fuel what is the shelflife?

[@christart8461]

How much more power over pump gas ?

[@gapu263]

What lambda do you target on this mixture compared to E85/E98? Did you get a chance to test it on the dyno?

[@phydiux]

It's the same air:fuel ratio as E85.

[@colt2x45]

Are you intercooled?

[@christart8461]

Are you doing this for emissions or more power ??

[@user-ki8zf1rp1e]

I'm sure with the presence of meth, it'd probably have a slight edge over race ethanol due to the latent heat of evaporative properties of meth. If anything, this is more for quantity purposes, race gas is 30% more expensive than ethanol and meth is nearly 20% cheaper than ethanol. Undiluted meth is corrosive and lacks the energy density of ethanol and gasoline. It's a fuel that CANNOT sit in the tank and HAS TO be flushed out after every use with gasoline or you'll risk damaging fuel components, especially injectors. Assuming you had one pale of gas, one pale of ethanol, and two meth pales, you'd have nearly enough to make five pales if mixed to stoichiometric like in the video. Anybody jumping through these hoops for emissions has been misled, you'd be better off running gasoline and slightly leaning out the map on low load cruising scenarios.

[@a_common_weeb]

Hello people who will be sent to this video

[@Jamal-fz7pn]

Why not use 100% meth ?

[@phydiux]

Fuel pump, injector and class requirements. Also, with this fuel I have no change in the tune between street and track tunes, as it is a drop in replacement for e85.