Adventures in E10
Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 11:42 am
As you're all very aware, standard petrol in the pumps is going E10 from September.
Here in London, the Esso where I refuel my E30 has already started selling E10.
I've forever been using Esso Supreme 99 as it's ethanol free (call me paranoid), but when I dropped in to refuel last week, I decided that I'll do a little experiment - instead of filling up with the usual, fill up with E10 instead.
I decided to risk this because last year the car had a complete fuel system refresh, new tank, lines, hoses etc. Everything was changed in the good hands of Barry and his team at BMR Performance.
Even though I knew what was coming, the results still took me by surprise. The car sounds and feels a lot better. High octane fuel was always going to be wasted on a 30 year old car. Since the ECU doesn't know how to handle high octane petrol, it was burning more fuel - with E10 it's almost like the ECU knows what's going on and the result speaks for itself.
It's a shame really, what I want is cheap low octane petrol with no ethanol but what I have is high octane fuel with no ethanol (or E5 if you don't use Supreme 99+). I'm going to use up the current fill as soon as I can (I'm still paranoid about E10) and go back to Supreme 99 but also considering checking out additives like Castrol Classic Valvemaster to see if a permanent E10 switch is realistic.
Ultimately, it seems that what the community needs is a chip that can deal with high octane fuel.
I know Mark D'Sylva does a fantastic chip however his one assumes a o2/lambda sensor as he's from north America. The other option is going via the Megasquirt route but that feels too involved.
Here in London, the Esso where I refuel my E30 has already started selling E10.
I've forever been using Esso Supreme 99 as it's ethanol free (call me paranoid), but when I dropped in to refuel last week, I decided that I'll do a little experiment - instead of filling up with the usual, fill up with E10 instead.
I decided to risk this because last year the car had a complete fuel system refresh, new tank, lines, hoses etc. Everything was changed in the good hands of Barry and his team at BMR Performance.
Even though I knew what was coming, the results still took me by surprise. The car sounds and feels a lot better. High octane fuel was always going to be wasted on a 30 year old car. Since the ECU doesn't know how to handle high octane petrol, it was burning more fuel - with E10 it's almost like the ECU knows what's going on and the result speaks for itself.
It's a shame really, what I want is cheap low octane petrol with no ethanol but what I have is high octane fuel with no ethanol (or E5 if you don't use Supreme 99+). I'm going to use up the current fill as soon as I can (I'm still paranoid about E10) and go back to Supreme 99 but also considering checking out additives like Castrol Classic Valvemaster to see if a permanent E10 switch is realistic.
Ultimately, it seems that what the community needs is a chip that can deal with high octane fuel.
I know Mark D'Sylva does a fantastic chip however his one assumes a o2/lambda sensor as he's from north America. The other option is going via the Megasquirt route but that feels too involved.