Biofuel TimeBomb

Guys,

Have you read this Pistonheads article?

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/default.asp?storyId=24900&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=html&utm_campaign=2011-12-20

Does anybody have a view how our engines will be effected?

Tourbillon

Thanks for that, so just when I get my MGF running well, the government will b***** it up for us :dry:

Need to do a bit of checking in to this topic

If you look at the PH post and click on the link to the list of vehicles effected (why they didn't put it in alphabetical order I don't know) you will see one of the listings is interesting.

"Land Rover: E10 petrol is cleared for use in all Land Rover vehicles with petrol engines starting from model year 1996."

Land Rover used the k-series engine, I have one in my 2000 reg Freelander.

So, things are looking good, but it might be worth confirmation, if such a thing exists.

If it is OK for the 1.8 in the Freelander then we will be fine

Just use super

http://biofuelsdigest.com/bdigest/2011/11/08/tesco-and-bp-confirm-their-only-e5-blend-will-be-premium-unleaded/

Here in south western Ontario, Canada, all grades of fuel can have up to 10% ethanol, E10.

The carburettors and the fuel hoses of my MGBGT and Spitfire sure didn't like the stuff when they first tasted it 7 years ago when we moved to Ontario from Nova Scotia. Gas was leaking from everywhere. The carburettors had to be rebuilt with viton gaskets and o-rings.

Given the above experience, I was a bit concerned about how my 95 MGF would run on the stuff. Since the MGF wasn't specifically designed for ethanol-containing gasoline, I have been wondering how compatible the fuel system on the car is with E10 fuel and what other effects E10 may have on my new acquisition.

I have been using mid-grade gasoline, which has an anti-knock index of 89, which I believe is just shy of 95 RON, and to date the drivability of my MGF has been very good. So far I have seen no ill-effects of E10. In 5 months I have driven the car approximately 3,500 miles and have averaged just over 40 mpg.

Where I "might" see problems are the fuel lines, which I shall be keeping a close eye one. E10 does have slightly less energy than straight gas/petrol but the fuel management system should be able to cope with that change. Overall I don't expect to see any drive-ability degradation but time will tell.

mowog73 wrote: Here in south western Ontario, Canada, all grades of fuel can have up to 10% ethanol, E10.

The carburettors and the fuel hoses of my MGBGT and Spitfire sure didn't like the stuff when they first tasted it 7 years ago when we moved to Ontario from Nova Scotia. Gas was leaking from everywhere. The carburettors had to be rebuilt with viton gaskets and o-rings.

Given the above experience, I was a bit concerned about how my 95 MGF would run on the stuff. Since the MGF wasn't specifically designed for ethanol-containing gasoline, I have been wondering how compatible the fuel system on the car is with E10 fuel and what other effects E10 may have on my new acquisition.

I have been using mid-grade gasoline, which has an anti-knock index of 89, which I believe is just shy of 95 RON, and to date the drivability of my MGF has been very good. So far I have seen no ill-effects of E10. In 5 months I have driven the car approximately 3,500 miles and have averaged just over 40 mpg.

Where I "might" see problems are the fuel lines, which I shall be keeping a close eye one. E10 does have slightly less energy than straight gas/petrol but the fuel management system should be able to cope with that change. Overall I don't expect to see any drive-ability degradation but time will tell.

That's reassuring to hear :yesnod: :thumbsup:

With the MGF I have dipped my toes in the ethanol pool. On my previous MGs I used "Supreme Plus 95 octane" which is the only grade here to have no ethanol. With the MGF I have followed the Forums' advice and gone to 91 octane which has 10% ethanol, and is quite a bit cheaper than 95 octane which certainly doesn't hurt!
No problems to date, but we shall see!

The MG Owners Club wrote an article about this a few months ago, and in depth investigations are being carried out by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs www.fbhvc.co.uk

As i understand the situation, it is the older vehicles that are affected by the Ethanol in the fuel, it damages rubber seals, fuel pipes, fuel tanks and carbs, because of its corrosive nature. I have also read that it dissolves the polyester resin that is used to bond glassfibre together. :rant:
I also understand that the modern cars with plastic tanks, plastic fuel lines and fuel injection systems are less affected. The advice is however, to use Super grade of fuels, much more expensive, but contains little ethanol :thumbsup:

the E number is the amount of ethanol mixed in petrol
E10 is 10% ethanol and 90% petrol
however we are lagging behind as over europe they are upto E20 and E85 is also available

so most cars over 9 years old can be afected one way or another

I filled up with it in France (by mistake - thinking it was normal unleaded). Car ran ok, but the fuel economy dropped by about 10% (from getting well over 330 miles out of a tank to just under 300 miles).

dan coupe wrote: I filled up with it in France (by mistake - thinking it was normal unleaded). Car ran ok, but the fuel economy dropped by about 10% (from getting well over 330 miles out of a tank to just under 300 miles).

So the government and oil companies persuade us to use 10% more fuel to be green. Right... Of course the fuel will be 10% cheaper won't it? Won't it?