E10 fuel consultation

[Nick Salmon]

The government has announced a consultation about the introduction of E10 fuel. Call me an old cynic but I think we can take it as read that they have already decided the outcome of the consultation and that we will be saddled with the horrible stuff before too long.

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultati...e10-petrol

[Robert Leigh]

Many of us have already used it on mainland Europe. My feeling is that results can be alright if you have a suitable carburation system, and it doesn't find leaks where there weren't any previously. The standard Austin Seven systems with their generous hot-spots may have problems. Time will tell. Perhaps Reckless has some more useful comment, being resident where E10 is widely available.
Robert Leigh

[bob46320]

Fortunately on my RN, we have been running it for some time. Suffering vaporisation on very hot days (38 deg C plus). If you have 'rubber' flexible fuel tube anywhere in the system, E10 eats it ! Even the latest DIN stuff from Germany goes hard within 18 months.

[Ruairidh Dunford]

We used it for our last trip to France as an experiment to see if we encountered any problems.

2500 miles over the course of a month, where temperatures peaked at 39c. The car was fully loaded with 5 passengers and all camping gear in a small trailer pulled behind.

We had no issues whatsoever.

[Reckless Rat]

Over here even cooking unleaded contains ethanol, but only 5%. In my non compliant cars I use E5 98 unleaded. I don't use E10 even in the Mem'Sahib's shopping trolley 107, but that's from personal choice. Motorway services tend to only have E10.

[AustinWood]

The E10 causes problems for the Citroen SM. This is because they run with very high underbonnet temperatures. Friends taking their cars abroad found that they ran fine on the fuel from UK but after filling up with E10 ran very badly indeed. This was fuel vapourisation.
This could perhaps cause similar problems with updraught carbs especially those with no bonnet vents like my RK. I've never had any problems I could put down to alcohol fuel even after long climbs in 2nd gear in very hot (for UK) weather.

[Bob Culver]

Ethanol fuels are a swindle in that ethnol has much less energy volume for volume.

[Robert Leigh]

Last June on a hurried trip to the west side of Paris in my vintage Riley Nine (gravity feed from an underbonnet tank which is well warmed!) I used motorways as much as possible for speed, so that is where I bought fuel (E10). There were no problems, but the crossflow head with the hotspot removed ensured that the carburettor stayed reasonably cool (it usually has condensation on the outside). With an Austin 7 it is very difficult to keep the carb satisfactorily cool; even with modified manifold arrangements the air from the radiator gets quite hot, and a car which is fine in winter can be a problem in summer.
Robert Leigh

[andrew34ruby]

Looking at the government information it seems the industry will not be moving entirely to E10. The high octane 'super' will not be E10.

Though I still feel that lower speeds would be a better way of reducing carbon emissions.

[David Stepney]

Looking at the government information it seems the industry will not be moving entirely to E10. The high octane 'super' will not be E10.

Though I still feel that lower speeds would be a better way of reducing carbon emissions.

Perhaps we should all get out in our Sevens more.last weekend, coming back from a shopping trip in Ruthin, I managed to keep 14 other motorists at 35mph on the uphill section  of the A494 between Glanyrafon and Bethel. (I stopped at Bethel and let them all past. They had all been very patient and I was beginning to feel guilty!)