CAUTION E10 fuel

[wai]

As you say Gavs, it is in the manual.

The thing that makes me angry is when organisations like the NRMA come out spruiking E10. There are so many issues with E10 that the NRMA should be coming down on the side of the motorist and not a business that gets a lucrative deal that then enables it to make a killing selling ethanol.

The whole concept of using ethanol was to help the sugar industry during a price slump. The only problem is that the ethanol we have in our fuel does NOT come from converting sugar, but from the distillation of wheat. not only that but the facility cannot produce sufficient ethanol for the domestic fuel market anyway and we import a substantial amount of ethanol anyway.

So like the pink bats debacle (which was supposed to kickstart a local insulation industry to sell insulation to the world), we are subsidising and stimulating overseas markets.

[amazeer]

There is a servo near me that in the pre E10 days was putting ethanol in their fuel as a tax dodge because it was excise free. Locally at least there was an uproar saying not only was this guy a bastard for ripping off the government but he was ripping off his customers and causing damage to their cars. The servo rightfully went broke and had to close down.

Fast forward a few years and the same govt that shut him down started promoting the stuff.

[Mountainman]

Also like to add that VW specifically says to never run ethanol blends (or bio diesel) in these cars (mines a 77TSI but I'm sure it goes for all turbo models).

I have a massive sticker on my filler cap saying not to use it. You then have the the obvious problem of less power and it destroying your engine all for 1.2c off per litre - yep no thanks!

I guess it will stop the engine pinging on hot days with its high RON octane rating though :p

My Mk7 90 TSI doesn't have anything on the fuel filler door about not using E10. And like many here I haven't looked for any warning in the handbook. The salesman certainly didn't say anything about not using it (I don't).

[6316]

A silly question, how would you know if the station you're going to has that blend of fuel?

Made me think, always been filling up Mobil's 98 over here across the ditch and was wondering...


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[pologti18t]

My Mk7 90 TSI doesn't have anything on the fuel filler door about not using E10. And like many here I haven't looked for any warning in the handbook. The salesman certainly didn't say anything about not using it (I don't).

But did it say it was safe to use E10 on the filler door?

[nomadx38]

Legally they have to notify you what fuel they are blending. If it's containing ethanol it will say (like United's 102 ron 98+10% ethanol)

Also with the mk7 TSI I will say that I'm not sure if it can run ethanol - It might be able to because its a new motor and probably has to meet international emissions standards.

BUT what I'm thinking is that because every VW is now turbocharged (for the most part, you know what I mean) and the min requirement is 95 for all turbo engines I think the dealer would expect that your only going to put in premium 95 ron - in which none of the petrol operators run 95 ron ethanol blends. I understand they make 98 ron ethanol blends but I guess it just complicates things.

I guess you could run 98 blend because its 95 with a boost from the ethanol but 91 blend is 87 ron with a ethanol boost...

Besides that I'm not sure

[Mountainman]

But did it say it was safe to use E10 on the filler door?

No, but I just checked the handbook and on p279 it says in the first sentence about petrol, "Fuels with a maximum ethanol content of 10% (E10) can be used for refueling."
So there you are - the new VW range of TSI engines can use E10. But I never will.
In QLD E10 is available in 95RON and 98RON. The few times I had no choice but to use it in my turbo Forester XT it made no difference to the performance or drivability but was noticeably less economical.

[alexaescht]

CAUTION E10 fuel

Just to add my two cents to this, I once ran my V-twin ride-on mower on E10 for about three months and it stuffed up the carby and some other seals and it still doesn't run as well as it did before that, even though I've been running normal unleaded in it for a year since.
I suggest staying well away from that stuff.

[wai]

Just to add my two cents to this, I once ran my V-twin ride-on mower on E10 for about three months and it stuffed up the carby and some other seals and it still doesn't run as well as it did before that, even though I've been running normal unleaded in it for a year since.
I suggest staying well away from that stuff.

This is a problem that those doing garden maintenance have to worry about. Also, small two stroke motors have to use PULP95 or 98 as they cannot tolerate any ethanol.

The whole ethanol thing is now becoming a debacle on the scale of the BER and Pink Bats disaster. I have even heard that oil companies are sick of dealing with complaints about the problems with E10 that they are now paying the $100,000 penalty for not meeting their bio-fuel substitution, and passing the cost on to all motorists.

The problem is that there are those who believe they are doing the "right" thing and use E10. After all, they argue, the government would never give them a bum steer...would they!

E10 uses the streaker's excuse...seemed like a good idea at the time!

[bushman]

Spot on, just refilled now with proper 98RON.
I now have my turbocharger back !!

[Barracuda]

On the topic, does anyone else find that a tank of BP Ultimate 98 seems to last longer than an equivalent tank of Shell or Caltex? Just goes to show the difference in quality between fuel vendors.

[pologti18t]

On the topic, does anyone else find that a tank of BP Ultimate 98 seems to last longer than an equivalent tank of Shell or Caltex? Just goes to show the difference in quality between fuel vendors.

It doesn't really show that at all because in some cities the fuel for multiple brands comes from the same refinery.

[Barracuda]

It doesn't really show that at all because in some cities the fuel for multiple brands comes from the same refinery.

Hmm, fair enough. Well, wherever my nearest BP sources their fuel from, it's a heap better than any Caltex or Shell I have ever filled-up at.

[nomadx38]

As far as I know it is random when it comes to refinery but I did hear/read somewhere that the quality control between the petrol stations differ.

I read that shell and caltex use a "average" of 98ron fuel which technically it could run as low as 95 where as BP use a "minimum" of 98ron petrol which means on a good day you could get 101ron.

This also goes for 95ron petrol. Some petrol stations have tanks for 98 and 91 and mix the two to get a "average" of 95. Other stations have tanks for all three

How accurate this info is I don't know but personally I prefer BP, shell fuel has been ok for me but i swear I get about 50km more out of BP - but then again the pump may click later so I'm not sure...

[brad]

my remapped 1.8tsi absolutely loves 100RONe10. Power & torque go up, fuel economy is worse but that's the trade off for a lower calorific value compared to a higher octane. I just wish it was more readily available near where I live.

For those of you in the St.George area, WestSide Petroleum near the Bob Jane at Blakehurst has great 98ron at a competitive price