E85/ethanol

jf1sf5

jf1sf5

Forum Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2012
Messages
2,088
Location
Switzerland
Car Year
'97
Car Model
Forester
Transmission
Manual
Fuel is getting expensive so I tried to fill the tank with 50% E85 (0.90 CHF/liter) and 50% SP95 (2.10 CHF/liter) and it works very well without any mod. Next step is to drive on 100% E85 but then I need to retrofit a calculator that costs 500 CHF....will be done next month !
 
The only alcohol based fuel in OZ is E10 containing 90% 91 and 10% ethanol.
I have been been running my MY03 Forester on that, on and off when available, since new. Uses a bit more but runs more smoothly than straight 91. Much less expensive than 95/98.
 
ateday said:
The only alcohol based fuel in OZ is E10 containing 90% 91 and 10% ethanol.
I have been been running my MY03 Forester on that, on and off when available, since new. Uses a bit more but runs more smoothly than straight 91. Much less expensive than 95/98.
Click to expand...
I tried e10 in my MY03 XS Forester on a trip to Melbourne and it ran like a doped Greyhound between Wallangarra (QLD) and Glen Innes. I was down to 2nd gear going over some of the hills, wouldn't pull the skin off a custard.
First and last time I used e10, it's 98RON and 95RON as a last resort, same goes for my current MY21 HR-V VTI-S.
 
Kevin said:
Can you give us more info, I don't understand this part? Thanks
Click to expand...
Me neither ! Well, from what I understand, E85 needs to be injected in the cylinders earlier than SP95 so that it can run smoothly thus why a little calculator needs to hack the oem ecu that can't operate on a wide enough band. Hope its understandable !

Looked at the price of the E85 today....0.75 CHF/liter !

Here in Switzerland, SP95 is always added with 10% ethanol and the full name is SP95/E10

Cars running on E85 burn about 20% more than on SP95 so a fuel tank is "only" about half price !
 
subyroo said:
I tried e10 in my MY03 XS Forester on a trip to Melbourne and it ran like a doped Greyhound between Wallangarra (QLD) and Glen Innes. I was down to 2nd gear going over some of the hills, wouldn't pull the skin off a custard.
First and last time I used e10, it's 98RON and 95RON as a last resort, same goes for my current MY21 HR-V VTI-S.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I seem to remember somebody, or perhaps yourself, making a similar comment a few years ago.
I don`t appear to have any problems at all apart from a slightly higher fuel consumption. The car is not tuned any differently and at 375000kms no worse for wear. Performance is normal. I know that ADS don`t recommend using E10 or didn`t some years ago. Some people find the odour of the E10 exhaust disagreeable so won`t use it for that reason as well.
Brazil is a huge ethanol consumer and in the new vehicle road tests a comparison is usually made between ethanol and non ethanol fuels. The greater the amount of ethanol up to 100% the more power the engine develops but the trade off is fuel consumption increases.
These days I use a mix of E10 and 91/95 depending upon what is the cheapest with 91 least favoured.
 
Last edited:
ateday said:
Interesting. I seem to remember somebody, or perhaps yourself, making a similar comment a few years ago.
Click to expand...
More than likely was me, I do not like E10 one little bit. But that is my opinion, you obviously have found a way around my issue by blending the grades.
I filled up 3 days ago with Costco 98 for 168.7cpl and e10 was 152.7cpl, for a difference of 0.016cpl, I'll take the 98. 👍 👍
Costco don't have 95 either, they have E10 - 91 - 98 & Premium Diesel only.
 
Can`t disagree with that. E10 is not a viable proposition for me on cost alone but the old bus runs better than on 91. 98/95 is generally a good 20cpl more expensive in this part of the world.
 
ateday said:
The only alcohol based fuel in OZ is E10 containing 90% 91 and 10% ethanol.
I have been been running my MY03 Forester on that, on and off when available, since new. Uses a bit more but runs more smoothly than straight 91. Much less expensive than 95/98.
Click to expand...
You can get E85 available publicly but only at specific fuel stations around Sydney from what I understand.

The advantage to E85 is that timing can be advanced much more than can be done with 98RON. This comes into its own in the performance and racing areas, the boosted crowd love it! Aftermarket ECU systems now have an option to add “flex fuel” where a sensor detects the ethanol concentration from none to only E85 and adjusts the engine fuel map and timing accordingly.

But you’ll always use more E85. And best to use it on long runs where the engine gets to full operating temp and stays there for a good period of time. E85 is not recommended for start up, run to the shops/school/work and shut down, you will find your oil very cream looking in a short amount of time!

Don’t run anything ethanol in old cars! It will eat your rubber fuel lines and O rings/seals in carbs etc. I’m not 100% sure, but I think long term ethanol use can eat out metal fuel tanks too, more so if sat for long periods of time.

I’ll stick with 98RON in the brumby, it seems to be the only ethanol free fuel where the engine doesn’t ping! I’m getting 8.6L/100km if I keep town driving to a minimum. And I’ll go for truck diesel in the Pajero over the premium stuff as I don’t see any performance or economical gains with the premium stuff. Not always easy to stick with truck diesel at major outlets these days… APCO are my go to here so not really an issue until out of town.

Anyone use FuelMapsAust app (obviously useless to you @jf1sf5 :ROFLMAO:)

Cheers

Bennie
 
"but I think long term ethanol use can eat out metal fuel tanks too, more so if sat for long periods of time."
Perhaps because ethanol, being deliquescent/hygroscopic will absorb water from the air and cause rusting, particularly if standing, not mixing and being combusted.
 
ateday said:
"but I think long term ethanol use can eat out metal fuel tanks too, more so if sat for long periods of time."
Perhaps because ethanol, being deliquescent/hygroscopic will absorb water from the air and cause rusting, particularly if standing, not mixing and being combusted.
Click to expand...
Hey, slow down with the fancy words, it's hurting my brain.
I haven't had to use it much in the past 22 years, I have forgotten or lost more information than I care to admit.
:lol1: :poke:
 
I Retired on 23/12/2000, all the technical crap I required along with phone numbers etc. that were in my head got dumped at the front gate as I left. Yeeeeha!
The filing cabinet in my head is quite empty these days. My days of being able to quote Chapter - Section - Para - Sub para etc. parrot fashion are no longer required, hence the empty space.
 
A$200 to fill the ute today 100.5L diesel :rolleyes:
 
^ indeed. At least it wasn't empty; it carries 150L
 
While both our Foresters can use E10, per the manuals, I only use 91 RON.

Both have almost identical EJ-253 engines. However, economy and performance both take a hit using E10.

Using E95 or E98 makes no difference to either economy or performance, measured over three consecutive tanks in my SG.
 
ateday said:
"but I think long term ethanol use can eat out metal fuel tanks too, more so if sat for long periods of time."
Perhaps because ethanol, being deliquescent/hygroscopic will absorb water from the air and cause rusting, particularly if standing, not mixing and being combusted.
Click to expand...

Nailed it!

Kevin said:
A$200 to fill the ute today 100.5L diesel :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

$AU271.75 to fill our Pajero on Tuesday. 158L
Kevin said:
^ indeed. At least it wasn't empty; it carries 150L
Click to expand...

Same here about not being empty, we have 171ishL capacity, if we were still in town it would’ve been left for a day or two. But now being ~40kms out it’s best to not run that gauntlet (which I keep doing in the brumby… it’ll bite me one of these days!).

ateday said:
Thats a tad potent isn`t it.......Even the Nullabor wasn`t much more than that.
Click to expand...

I remember my first Nullarbor trip in Ruby Scoo in 2007 - saw fuel for over $2/L for the first time. On our second run across in 2016 in Ruby Scoo again we managed to enjoy fuel that was cheaper or on-par with fuel prices back in Vic - go figure!!
To see fuel at $2.25 was nerve wracking initially. But now it’s settled a bit it’s the norm sadly. Accept it and move on or hold a grudge and cause stress you don’t need in your life…

subyroo said:
I Retired on 23/12/2000
Click to expand...

I graduated from Yr12 in Dec 2000…

Cheers

Bennie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top