NEW E10 PETROL MAY BE GOOD NEWS

In an effort to reduce carbon emissions to net-zero by 2050, the Government has stated their intention to move to the E10 grade of petrol – which they estimate could save around 750,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. According to the Department for Transport (DfT), using E10 fuel in your classic may cause: • Blocked fuel filters • Damaged fuel pumps • Degradation to flexible fuel hoses • Corroded carburettors Controversially, Paul Ireland, author of Classic Engines: Modern Fuel, suggests that classic engines may actually run better using ethanol-blended fuel. Speaking to Express.co.uk, Paul said: “We’ve found with the classic engines, carburettor engines run a lot better on fuel that has ethanol in and there are various reasons for that. In other words, ethanol petrol engines run better and because they run better they are actually less likely to do themselves damage. One of the problems that modern petrol causes is this phenomena called cyclic variability.” Cyclic variability causes cylinder pressures to scatter and in severe cases can cause fuel to burn or misfire. Paul adds: “Ethanol in petrol, it reduces cyclic variability, the engines run better on it so it is actually doing less damage to themselves when they are running.” Paul does concede though that, as with all modern fuels, E10 is not problemfree. You can read more about Paul’s research on this topic on the MGT Society website. In contrast, Martin Greaves of Classic Performance Engineering is concerned about the use of E10 in classic vehicles. He states, “In the industry, we are already seeing problems arising from the current addition of low levels of ethanol in existing fuels (even up to the 5% level). These problems include deposits blocking fine- mesh fuel filters, degradation of fuel pipes and hoses and internals of carburettors suffering corrosion. The regime required to fully empty and clean fuel systems between uses of the car is prohibitive both in terms of time and practicality, and replacing components with ethanol compatible ones may not always be economical, or in certain cases, even possible.” If you’re happy with how your classic is running on E5, there’s no need to worry. The Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs is committed to ensuring that E5 fuel is retained as a freely available protection grade for classic vehicles, with the Government confirming that current E5 fuel will still be available on forecourts even when E10 is introduced.