I have received a couple of emails regarding the possibility of E10 biofuel becoming commonplace in the UK. In Germany there were protests against the introduction of this fuel and it's use has been delayed.
While E10 has not yet hit the UK, the interesting side of this is that the majority of 95 RON unleaded fuel in the UK is already E5 (ie. carries 5% biofuel in the mixture).
One of the down sides of increasing the biofuel percentage in petrol is reduced mpg. This will happen regardless of your driving style, since the density of the fuel is lower. Any perceived loss of performance however will depend on how you drive! Unless you have a bottomless pit of cash to spend on petrol and go around with your right foot fully depressed to the floor all of the time, you're unlikely to notice any difference in actual performance.
Currently, the practice for either older/classic/sports/high-performance vehicles running on unleaded fuel is to use a good quality 99 RON petrol instead. Quite what the effects of E10 fuel is likely to have on older engines, as far as wear or degredation to components is concerned, has yet to be established, but when 4* petrol was withdrawn in the UK, various additives were developed and became available (such as Castrol Valve Master) to compensate for the loss of lead in fuels for cars unable to run on unleaded petrol. One would assume something similar will become available to compensate for cars with engines wholly unsuited to E10. Clearly, a whole host of impractical and (very likely) impossible modifications would otherwise be required on the engines concerned.
Short of running your car on Avgas or marine engine fuel (where biofuel of any type is banned entirely), and conducting a comtam check each day before driving, the tide of fuel change will happen at some point in the not too distant future.
I will endeavour to keep up with whatever data or information comes to light and to inform 964 owners of any changes afoot.
While E10 has not yet hit the UK, the interesting side of this is that the majority of 95 RON unleaded fuel in the UK is already E5 (ie. carries 5% biofuel in the mixture).
One of the down sides of increasing the biofuel percentage in petrol is reduced mpg. This will happen regardless of your driving style, since the density of the fuel is lower. Any perceived loss of performance however will depend on how you drive! Unless you have a bottomless pit of cash to spend on petrol and go around with your right foot fully depressed to the floor all of the time, you're unlikely to notice any difference in actual performance.
Currently, the practice for either older/classic/sports/high-performance vehicles running on unleaded fuel is to use a good quality 99 RON petrol instead. Quite what the effects of E10 fuel is likely to have on older engines, as far as wear or degredation to components is concerned, has yet to be established, but when 4* petrol was withdrawn in the UK, various additives were developed and became available (such as Castrol Valve Master) to compensate for the loss of lead in fuels for cars unable to run on unleaded petrol. One would assume something similar will become available to compensate for cars with engines wholly unsuited to E10. Clearly, a whole host of impractical and (very likely) impossible modifications would otherwise be required on the engines concerned.
Short of running your car on Avgas or marine engine fuel (where biofuel of any type is banned entirely), and conducting a comtam check each day before driving, the tide of fuel change will happen at some point in the not too distant future.
I will endeavour to keep up with whatever data or information comes to light and to inform 964 owners of any changes afoot.
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