Not good news for anyone running a pre 2011 petrol car https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/e10-fuel-confirmed-for-september-2021-introduction/

Having fought ethanol / water encrustation in the carbs once, I'm using about 45ml Startron per tank when car is likely to sit for a while, and I have switched fuel feed line to Teflon lined (exceeds SAE J30 R9), apart from the last section from pump to carbs. Better do that too.

 

I suppose the increased Ethanol of E10 will provide some charge cooling for boosted engines, but at all loads.

 

Note:

My feed line was already not original VW after someone stole fuel by slicing it during the fuel protests (2000?). I used stainless braided caring more about the outside than the part in contact with the petrol.

I remember there was a good thread chatting about this a year or so ago, if memory serves the main talking points were:

• Premium unleaded won't have the same requirements for minimum ethanol content so there should be petrol at an E5 rating still available, albeit more expensive and thus effectively a 'tax' on those who can't afford a newer car
• Replacing hoses, o-rings, seals for more ethanol-friendly materials could mitigate a lot of problems in the right cars
• Using a fuel additive like 'ethanol shield' etc should help, although adding extra cost and being a pita to remember to use

The other option is to dangerously separate out ethanol from the fuel in the garage like I do with the lawnmower but treating 2l of gas at a time is frankly scary enough.

3 minutes ago, dvderlm said:

I have switched fuel feed line to Teflon lined (exceeds SAE J30 R9)

Thats the stuff! Maybe there's legs in making a stickied list of approved things we can do to mitigate future issues?

3 minutes ago, zob said:

 

• Premium unleaded

As usual i got this the wrong way - in the uk its Super Unleaded is the actual premium fuel, premium unleaded is standard

Apologies if you guys have murdered this subject already.  I am just trying to find out whether a year 2000 6n2 1.48v is compatible with e10 or not.  Shell's superdooper 99 octane e5 is a bit costly!

 

Thanks all

Can you ask a VW dealer and report here?

I fear you'll need to use E5 super.

 

VW after 2002 are mostly okay for E10.

 

EXCEPTION

First generation FSI not suitable for E10.

 

Polo 1.4 FSI (63 kW) made from February 2002 to June 2006 (model year 2002 -
2006).

https://www.acea.be/uploads/publications/ACEA_E10_compatibility.pdf

As I read it,  it's only engines direct injection engines (FSI as VW call them). The 1.4 8V in your car pre-dates the VW FSI engines (it came in in the 9n's from about 2002 onwards), so there shouldn't be a problem as long as your fuel isn't sat in the tank long enough to start absorbing moisture from the air that's in there, but that's going to take months.  

Hi - I just managed to confirm that an old girl (1.4 8v 6n2) WILL be compatible with E10 - confirmed by VW.  (Per Yeti above) - I understand that there is a 2002 - 2006 version that is not compatible but thereafter again compatible.  8p to 10p per litre extra to buy the whizz bang e5 feels like an attack on the less wealthy to me.

 

Thanks all for your interest - I called 0800 333666 if anyone needs VW to confirm this stuff.

Edited 7 September, 20215 yr by DerekR

Hi all, some useful info on stabilisers and E10

 

For info: 

 

For better or worse I have now run a tank of E10 through my 1991 Polo Mk2F (AAU).  There have been no immediate ill effects, though I obviously cannot rule out long term issues. 

 

The stuff was in the tank about 2 months.  I got 43 mpg which is a little poorer (1 or 2 mpg) than in previous years for this season, though various articles have stated that a few percent and even up to 10 percent reduction in economy is to be expected.  It has also been mega cold weather recently and there were a few short journeys and the odd "dyno pull" to merge out of a dual carriageway layby which won't have helped.

 

It makes me wonder, if this stuff is better for the environment, but you have to burn more of it per mile.... what's the difference lol

 

Plugs looked OK after a couple of weeks.

 

I will probably try the E5 Premium stuff after I've used my most recent tank, though I may require a second mortgage to fund it...