Flex fuel computer adaptability

i was chatting with someone familiar with Jaguar computers. He said the EPROM had over 1000 maps and more than 600 data points ( plus a lot more that a Luddite like myself  doesn't understand). 

Anyway  the Flex fuel option on my new pickup only cost $100 If you take away profit and the cost of the emblem the actual flex fuel parts must be very cheap. 

Like $10-20 cost to Ford. That can't buy much so I suspect the program is in all Ford computers it's just activated if you buy the flex fuel option. 

Perhaps it's possible to activate it through the trouble shooting port?  

I sure like the added power I get when I buy E85 fuel. 

Maybe it's possible to activate something like that on a lot of other cars as well?

Now that pretty much all new-car fuel system components are ethanol resistant, i would guess the main difference is larger fuel injectors and a fuel blend sensor (and programming to match). Not much in $$.

In reply to Vigo : I doubt it's that complicated.  The option lists for $100  minus about $25 profit for the dealer including hold backs and incentives. $20 profit for Ford the cost of the emblem  and labor to put it on

how much does that leave?  Maybe 25 bucks?  

I doubt it needs a different sensor since it simply measures how much  Oxygen is present . 

I suppose I can check what size injectors I have and compare it to non- Flex fuel trucks  but I suspect they too are the same  

besides inventory issues at the factory  would likely mandate commonality 

I'm not an expert, but doesn't E85 require higher flow rates than a stock ECU would reasonably allow for?  Most newer ECUs adjust fuel based upon short term and/or long term trim, but I thought this was limited to a smaller amount (say 10%) to avoid over-compensating for some problem such as a massive air leak.  GM uses a flex fuel sensor to measure the amount of alcohol present in the fuel.  I'm not exactly sure how they use this information, but with a Megasquirt it is used to interpolate between two sets of fuel and spark maps.  That sensor is relatively cheap (~$100), and as long as the injectors can handle an increased flow rate, what else is necessary?

This has planted the idea of making my TR6 capable of handling E85.  Since all of the British rubber will be removed from the system, all of the new EFI components should be able to handle E85.  I'm using over-sized injectors, so should have plenty of extra flow.  All I really need to add is a flex fuel sensor and extra Megasquirt tuning.  That's $100 and some of my time.  I wonder how much more power I could get with the 10:1 compression head if the ignition map could be more aggressive.

In reply to JoeTR6 :this magazine tested E85 and found on a Miata it required 62% more fuel.   However that was actual 85% ethanol not the 30% ethanol that most E85 you buy at the pump.  In my case my fuel mileage only goes down from 22 mpg to 21 mpg when I use gas station  fuel.  But wow!! Does it make that engine perform!!! Timing is advanced and more fuel added according to what percent alcohol is used. 

If you use 10-1 compression you will gain more power from the alcohol than stock compression   You could probably increase the compression to around 11 or12-1 

Ethanol has 114 octane but they reduce the gasoline quailty so the combined is probably only 96-98 octane.  They don't bod that when you buy racing version  you get 85% ethanol and a real good grade of gasoline