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 :D

[aliasmk2]

Ye that what I have always said, but ultimate seems to crud in comparison to the above

I have tried other e10 blends & not had the same result

[ScienceVR6]

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.



There is no plans to have a premium ethanol.
United have whats called Boost 98. And its an ethonol blend, and makes my VR6 go right hard.

[balkanac]

My car gets BP 98 Ultimate, and it will stay that way. I don't want to experiment with my engine. There is not many stations in Perth that sell biofuel anyway

[Jarred]

United have whats called Boost 98. And its an ethonol blend, and makes my VR6 go right hard.

Where is this united? Might have to try it.

I generally run 91 (yea you read it right) in the laser, cause that's all it needs. Every now and then I'll put an octane booster/injector cleaner/premium in here to help clean it out a bit.

Havn't driven my golf long enough to test out different fuels. But i wasn't planning on runnin 98 all the time, as manufacturor specs indicat 91 min. (it's a mk1 okay?) so I'll probably end up running it at 95 for a bit more power/smoothness.

With my engine, I would be willing to experiment with ethonol mixes. see what happens. why not, engines only live once! :?:D

[ScienceVR6]

Where is this united? Might have to try it.

I generally run 91 (yea you read it right) in the laser, cause that's all it needs. Every now and then I'll put an octane booster/injector cleaner/premium in here to help clean it out a bit.

Havn't driven my golf long enough to test out different fuels. But i wasn't planning on runnin 98 all the time, as manufacturor specs indicat 91 min. (it's a mk1 okay?) so I'll probably end up running it at 95 for a bit more power/smoothness.

With my engine, I would be willing to experiment with ethonol mixes. see what happens. why not, engines only live once! :?:D
I know of 5 off the top of my head, Hallam, on the princess hwy, Narre warren, on Narre crany road, drouin, on princess way, and warragul on the same road. Also Belgrave gembrook road in Emerald, and there a a heap more.
http://www.unitedpetroleum.com.au/

[aliasmk2]

I have gone back to using 98oct.
After driving on e10 for a while I started having problems with the car starting, it would run rough & blow smoke. The engine has 295k on it & the valve guids seem to have gone, when I run 98oct I don't seem to have the start problem as much, in fact the car starts good most of the time.( time for the ABF)
It is not recommended to use on engines with high K's buy the servo stations as it will makre the car run hot, I did not have any issues with temp only bad starting

Ian

[nick1234]

G'day mate,

I owned a 1987MK2 Golf and was advised not to fill up with biodiesel as this fuel, similar to ethanol is quite aggressive and the pipesystem of older vehicles cannot sustain it. That applies for diesels as well as petrol engines.

I am now driving a VW Polo (1998) and I never put any ethanol in it. You'll be okay with the current VW range as these have been upgraded specifically to meet ethanol and biodiesel fuel.