The combustion process and soot formation in spark ignited spray guided stratified combustion of E85 was investigated in a single cylinder optical engine with direct injection of fuel using an outward opening piezo actuated injector. The effect of engine rotation frequency, fuel quantity, injection sequence and ignition timing was studied. Combustion, soot formation and soot oxidation was analyzed using cylinder pressure measurements, images recorded using high speed video cameras, the flame emission spectrum and OH* chemiluminescence and soot incandescence imaging. A maximum injection duration was found to exist for direct ignition of the fuel spray. Engine rotation frequency had little effect on the initial and maximum rate of combustion. The maximum rate of combustion decreased with increasing cycle fuel mass when a single injection was used. The rate of combustion and indicated mean effective pressure increased and the combustion variability decreased when the single injection was split into multiple injections in close succession to deliver the same total fuel mass and the last fuel spray was ignited. Ignition of the first fuel spray resulted in a more pronounced change. The absence of soot incandescence during the initial flame propagation suggested flame propagation in a partially mixed fuel and air mixture with stoichiometric to fuel lean regions. A single fuel injection resulted in piston pool fires due to fuel spray impingement on the piston and was the primary source of soot formation. The pool fires persisted until after conditions favorable to oxidation of the soot had ended. Soot formation in the gas phase occurred while favorable soot oxidation conditions existed and was efficiently oxidized. The magnitude of the piston pool fires was reduced using multiple injections. The reduction is attributed to a reduction of the fuel spray penetration length and a smaller effective injection orifice area, resulting in a shorter total duration of fuel spray impingement on the piston crown. Soot formation occurred primarily in the gas phase when the first of two fuel sprays was ignited and persisted due to the second fuel spray entering an existing flame leading to fuel rich combustion. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.