Fuel

[Busterboo]

95 RON supermarket, Shell, BP, Esso & Texaco (but not Total) contains 5% ethanol.

 

[Smartbear]

95 RON supermarket, Shell, BP, Esso & Texaco (but not Total) contains 5% ethanol.

So how much ethanol does Total admit to using?
Rob

 

[R.E92]

My wifes Peugeot did the same thing, engine light would come on if supermarket petrol used.
The supermarket fuel with biethanol doesn't burn as cleanly, the MOT emissions tests will show it up as well.

If you go abroad be careful not to use the 10% bio crap 95 E10, that can do some damage, apparently its quite corrosive so you must not use it in older cars.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/5795480/British-tourists-warned-over-damaging-French-fuel.html

That's total bullshit.

Ethanol is a miracle fuel for our cars. Lower combustion chamber temps and greater knock resistance.

Absolutely no negative effects on the fuel system in the E89.

 

[Gaffa22]

Well personally I wont risk using E10

 

[R.E92]

Well personally I wont risk using E10

I think all UK fuel is 5% ethanol which is E5. It can be anywhere up to E10.

I use Tesco Momentum which is around E10 but will use Shell VPower if there's no Tesco nearby as it's a pretty close second in terms of knock resistance. If it were available I would use E60.

The N54 fuel system is fine with ethanol. Most people squeezing high power figures from their engines are using straight E85 fuel but that requires fuel system upgrades to increase flow as the BTU values of ethanol is lower.
The max most cars with an N54 can handle is E40 but the stock Z4 fuel system will allow up to E60.

I'm not sure what risk you perceive with ethanol. Maybe classic cars struggle with it but modern cars are designed for it.

 

[Smartbear]

I know that modern ethanol fuel has been blamed for distorting the plastic fuel tanks fitted to some motorbikes
Rob

 

[Gaffa22]

I'm just a bit old school i did my apprenticeship mending Morris Minors and Marina's so dont trust the new stuff till i'm really happy with it.

if ethanol or bio fuel is that good why does it affect some cars and put the engine light on ?

 

[Lazza]

I'm just a bit old school i did my apprenticeship mending Morris Minors and Marina's so dont trust the new stuff till i'm really happy with it.

if ethanol or bio fuel is that good why does it affect some cars and put the engine light on ?

Or perhaps it doesn't, and those cars really do have a problem which using higher octane fuel is hiding. After all, if it was purely down to the fuel causing the problem, they would all do it...

 

[Nictrix]

I know that modern ethanol fuel has been blamed for distorting the plastic fuel tanks fitted to some motorbikes
Rob

Im sure there was issues with o-rings and other rubber parts in carburettors that were affected too.

 

[Gaffa22]

I'm just a bit old school i did my apprenticeship mending Morris Minors and Marina's so dont trust the new stuff till i'm really happy with it.

if ethanol or bio fuel is that good why does it affect some cars and put the engine light on ?

Or perhaps it doesn't, and those cars really do have a problem which using higher octane fuel is hiding. After all, if it was purely down to the fuel causing the problem, they would all do it...

Not necessarily it does depend on the lambda sensor and the ECU mapping, my wife's Peugeot did it every time supermarket fuel light comes on, put BP or Shell in and light goes out

 

[Lazza]

I'm just a bit old school i did my apprenticeship mending Morris Minors and Marina's so dont trust the new stuff till i'm really happy with it.

if ethanol or bio fuel is that good why does it affect some cars and put the engine light on ?

Or perhaps it doesn't, and those cars really do have a problem which using higher octane fuel is hiding. After all, if it was purely down to the fuel causing the problem, they would all do it...

Not necessarily it does depend on the lambda sensor and the ECU mapping, my wife's Peugeot did it every time supermarket fuel light comes on, put BP or Shell in and light goes out

But clearly, not every Peugeot has the same problem with supermarket fuel. If they did, either a Peugeot or the fuel suppliers would fix it as it’s bad for business.

 

[Gaffa22]

You're right not all of them but it was a common fault
It didn't affect the way the car drove, the general diagnosis was over sensitive lambda sensor.

 

[IRD]

Check the Telegraph website and see what Honest John writes. Then do the opposite.

Fixed that for you.

Just seen this Tom. You mean you don’t trust Honest John?

 

[TomK]

Check the Telegraph website and see what Honest John writes. Then do the opposite.

Fixed that for you.

Just seen this Tom. You mean you don’t trust Honest John?

There's just something, hmm something about the name I think it is. Yep that, and the comically incorrect 'advice' I've seen bandied about through his various intrusions into the public domain. :roll:

 

[mcbutler]

I have the normal 2.3. I notice the engine seems to accelerate more aggressively with the higher octane and the exhaust will pop more.
But with standard fuel the acceleration is quieter and smoother and rarely pops. Depends on brand. If i go standard i seem to prefer a good brand like Shell, just seems better than the local supermarket stuff.

Don't know if the higher is causing the ignition timing or mixture to change via the knock sensors, resulting in the popping exhaust.
Just doesn't pop with standard fuel.

Same here I have a 23i the response and noise is certainly different on Tesco 99, lovely popping burble on manual gear changes.

If you use it all the time the ECU will learn that it can advance the timing due to the increased knock resistance of the higher octane fuel. This increases response and in the old days advancing ignition timing was a feature of 'tuning' a car. So the argument that it does nothing is invalid. The knock sensors exist only to tell the ecu it has reached its max advance under the current driving condition.
For example in a straight off the line drag the ignition is allowed to advance fully as the engine is spinning fast and light.
If your on full throttle in high gear pulling a caravan up a hill (that would be a good photo) the engine will knock a lot earlier in the advance curve.

You will get 1 to 2 BHP from the higher octane fuel but it is not that simple, it changes the 'BHP 'curve' making the engine slightly nmore flexible and lowering the power band slightly.

We both drive 23i so we both know.

 

[Smartbear]

Have you got the Dyno print out you can post showing the mapping improvement on your 23i?
Rob