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Motorists should check with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries before filling up with E10.
V8 supercars may run on ethanol and the vegetable-based fuel may be suitable for most modern cars...
... but there many older cars and many modern vehicles which are incompatible.
The RACQ has warned that modern motorcycles, scooters, boat engines and garden equipment such as mowers and trimmmers will not run on ethanol. RACQ technical sevrices manager Steve Spalding says motorists should check the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) website for their specific model.
"Vehicle age is only a guide as some makes of car built in the last decade are not compatible," he says. "The vehicle manufacturer is the only reliable source of information about a car's compatibility. Our advice is not to use E10 if it is not listed as compatible."
His warning comes as state governments move toward mandating the use of ethanol in fuel and car companies, such as Holden and Bentley, move toward 85 per cent ethanol content compatibility.
However, the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers list their products as non-compatible with any ethanol content, affecting as much as 70 per cent of motorcycles and scooters.
"Incompatibility is primarily linked to the materials used in the fuel system, such as hoses or tank, and associated degradation of these components, but can be linked to performance reasons with some vehicles," Spalding says.
"Repairs can be expensive if the fuel injectors become contaminated with small debris from the deteriorated part. Plastic motorcycle tanks are a good example. If a vehicle isn't listed as compatible then E10 should not be used. If regular ULP is not available then the motorist should either find another service station or purchase enough PULP to let them continue on their journey."
Spalding also warns that vehicles running on E10 will have "a slight theoretical reduction in economy" due to the lower energy content of ethanol-blended fuels.
"Under normal driving conditions this may not be noticeable as other variables are far greater, such as traffic conditions, routes driven etc," he says.
"We tested two late model Holden VE Commodores in 2007 over a week on rural roads west of Toowoomba and found E10 increased fuel consumption by about 3 per cent. This is in line with its theoretical lower energy content.
"Any claims that ethanol blended fuel delivers more power should be disregarded. Ethanol has a lower energy content than ULP so any blending will reduce the energy content accordingly."
Jeromy Moore, race engineer for V8 Supercar drievr Craig Lowndes says ethanol is a better fuel for making maximum power and economy when tuned with a leaner fuel mixture and higher engine compression ratio.
"Hence why lots of drag cars are converting to it," he says. "A couple of things that can help ethanol's fuel economy are its octane rating of 129RON versus standard unleaded's 91, meaning you can increase the engine's efficiency by running more compression. You can also run the mixture leaner due to the octane and the cooling effect of the alcohol on the pistons."
However, he says they are not allowed to tamper with their race engine's compression ratio, so fuel range is reduced.
Visit the FCAI website to find out if your car is compatible with ethanol blend petrol.
