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Experience with E10 fuel


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We changed cars just before Christmas and last week I did my first long motorway trip in the new one from Calais to Gard with an overnight stop half way.

On the first day I pulled into the first filling station we came across on the motorway and filled up with 95-E10. The terrain to our overnight stop was quite hilly and the weather was damp with temperatures around 6C. I set the cruise control for 75mph (120kph) and, except when we were blocked by lorries overtaking each other, the speed was maintained for the whole day showing an average of 70mph. The car did seem to be making heavy weather of the hills and the average mpg figure shown on the dashboard dropped as we went up a hill and then recovered down the other side. Overall the mpg was showing 48.8mpg when we had to pull-in for a small amount of petrol to get us to the overnight stop. This time I put in normal 95octane and the change in the car was remarkable. It felt more responsive, went over the remaining hills with no trouble at all and the mpg reading ended the day at 52.1mpg.

At the start of the second day I filled up with Carrefour 95 and set off to do the rest of the journey. The terrain was not as hilly as day 1 and the weather was dry with temperatures about 12C. Again the cruise control was set for 75mph and the average for the day was 70mph. This time though the car never felt as if it was struggling and the consumption was just on 59mpg when we left the motorway.

From the petrol receipts I have calculated the true consumption for the two days as 46.0mpg for day 1 and 56.0mpg for day 2. No doubt fewer hills and higher temperatures will have had some effect, but I am guessing that most of the difference between the two days is due to the fuel.

I’ve found very little mention of 95-E10 on the forum so I wonder if everyone else is happy with it or just avoiding using it.

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Depends what car you drive, but with consumption that low, I imagine it's a new-ish model with a 'modern' petrol. I drive old Citroens - including a petrol turbo XM (1995) which although E10 can be used, it hates compared with 95 (or 97 -99 which I use if I can). I think the consumption remains the same (but compared to your observations, our 33-35 mpg on a trip isn't anything to boast about !) but the power drop off is noticeable. I carry a bottle of Miller's Octane booster with me for those times I am forced to use E10, and that 'shot' helps restore the power a bit (it's also good for the engine and fuel system).

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Also bear in mind that the increased ethanol content will speed up deterioration of rubber components in the fuel system - fuel hoses and o-rings etc in carbs / fuel rails.

I can't find the link just now but someone posted up research on another forum showing that adding a small amount of something, which I believe was synthetic 2 stroke oil, to the E10 neutralises the effects on rubber. I will post back here if I find it.

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I belong to a forum for a British car (30+ years old) that was mainly exported to the US and hence most members are American......

They report having all sorts of problems with this type of fuel.

Would seem an absolute NO for an older car.

Paul

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