Is Ethanol OK to use in VW

[aliasmk2]

Hi all,
I have always tried to fill the car with BP or Shell 98, recently returning from a work trip I had to buy fuel in the middle of nowhere. Being on the north coast of nsw there is a chain of independent gararges (Neumans) that sell a 95 ron with a 10% ethanol blend. I put $20 in the tank as the car was almost empty & was reluctant to put a lot of this biofuel in the car
After 5-10 mins on the hwy the car seemed to have considerable more torque & was reving very smooth. To be honest it seemed to go much better than on BP ultimate
I have since heard that this particular blend is more like 100ron

Has anyone had this experience with ethanol blends

I mut say I am keen to try a 98ron blend but cannot find it anywhere in the area
& there is the question of compatability to my 1991 mk2

[h100vw]

I usually put Ultimate or 98 octane ethanol blend in my Ibiza and A3 turbo. I have to admit the Ibiza goes a little better on Ultimate and I never hear any pinking. The Audi runs good on anything 95 and up.

The cost saving on the local eth blend is pretty good.

On a GTI I wouldn't worry at all and I would even try bumping the timing up a bit in case you can get a bit more performance from the higher octane fuel.

Gavin

[aliasmk2]

Hi Gavin, there is about a 12 cent difference, between e95 & BP ultimate which is great when you use a lot of fuel & I have not noticed any pinging.
I am just concerned that it might have some effect on the materials used in the fuel systems of older cars, as that was the big concern a few years ago when people first started talking about bringing ethanol in.

cheers Ian

[peedman]

The mobil around the corner from my house recently got rid of 6000 which is ron95 for this e10 stuff which is normal ron91 with 10% ethanol which bumps it up to similar octane as ron95 but cheaper. I did a quick read around and its ok with our cars but volkswagen doesnt recommend it, i say run it

My abf will get only ron98 tho

[aliasmk2]

Hi Peedman,
I have noticed that around here too mobil has changed, but I thought it was only 91 ron they were selling.

Have you tried the mobil e10 in your car yet?

cheers Ian

[The_Hawk]

AFAIK there is no premium ethanol fuel in Australia, definately not at BP anyway, being that we run contrcat with them we meet with their reps pretty often and I asked a bunch of question about premium fuel and ethanol.

In Aus all 91 fuel is mandated at 2% ethanol, BP list "up to 10% ethanol" as it vary's between 2% and 10% depending on whats available to them at the time. BP fuels are blended at the tanker, so it's a matter of how much ethanol they have on hand to what they make up, also cost based, but you get the point.

There is no plans to have a premium ethanol.

[hgonops]

I run my 2.0l on BP ultimate.
I tested it first and noticed a considerable difference from premium let alone normal unleaded.
Its smoother and accelerates much better. I usually get about 600k's out of a tank and thats with the aircon on.
If you are worried about the price difference, It only equates to roughly $6.00 per tank.
I'm also thinking off throwing in some of the Nos octane boost one day just to see the difference.

[william]

manufacturers specs are 95 and above it states so on the cap itself myself personally always put 98 and put 500ml of injector cleaner every 6 mounts or 114 octane.

lacking power and misfiring commonly found was fuel issues

[aliasmk2]

AFAIK there is no premium ethanol fuel in Australia, definately not at BP anyway, being that we run contrcat with them we meet with their reps pretty often and I asked a bunch of question about premium fuel and ethanol.

In Aus all 91 fuel is mandated at 2% ethanol, BP list "up to 10% ethanol" as it vary's between 2% and 10% depending on whats available to them at the time. BP fuels are blended at the tanker, so it's a matter of how much ethanol they have on hand to what they make up, also cost based, but you get the point.

There is no plans to have a premium ethanol.

The small independent ststions in this area & in QLD are selling 95 oct with the e10 as premium, unlike the larger companies
The company "Neumans is based out of rural QLD where the political push for ethanol is very high, as this is where the sugar cane is grown
Talking to acouple of mechanics in the area, you keep hearing that this brand is much higher in it octane level, due to a higher than 10% level of ethanol going in the blend
Its not the price that gets me, its the fact that its like putting one of those octane boosters in the fuel tank
I am not able to buy it all the time, but I can really notice the difference when it goes in the tank

[The_Hawk]

95 bah!, 98 or nothing