ORIGINAL: Ed Cregger N2ECW
It should work equally well with four-strokes in addition to two-strokes. The octane rating of the ethanol/gasoline combo should be high enough not to cause preignition problems.
I favor the spark ignition system because it permits one to tune the mixture much leaner, without worrying about advancing the timing too much, as with a glow plug. The leaner mixture also reduces the amount of oil expelled by the engine.
Power output will be down slightly from methanol and oil only, but you recover a tad bit of that by running a leaner mixture with the ethanol/gasoline combo, minus the boost of nitromethane you might have used in conventional fuel. Those desiring top performance will not be interested in this approach. Those happy with a little less power at a big savings in fuel cost will be shickled titless.
Ed Cregger
If you don't want to sacrifice power put 1 part 15-30% nitro fuel to this E85 mix and you get the pop you want for more performance. So you are running this E85 blend 2 parts and one part nitro fuel. Still a big cost savings and yet have some performance. This works well in the cold times of the year as well. Like we are having here in Ohio right now. 7F with -5 windchill.