Hi all, I'm new to this site & I just brought a 1987 TM/TN Magna & there is a United Petrol Station near where I live & I am wanting to know if the Ethonal blended unleaded petrol is safe for my car being a car made in the late 80's. I am using standard unleaded at the moment to be safe but I rather save 4c at the bowser & also rather use a cleaner petrol

JackFrost

Mitsubishi: All petrol engine vehicles since 1986 will operate satisfactorily on E10. Mitsubishi vehicles with carburettor fuel systems built before 1991 may experience hot fuel handling concerns and may experience a lower level of durability in some fuel system components.

courtesy of http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s1466787.htm

Mitsubishi: All petrol engine vehicles since 1986 will operate satisfactorily on E10. Mitsubishi vehicles with carburettor fuel systems built before 1991 may experience hot fuel handling concerns and may experience a lower level of durability in some fuel system components.

courtesy of http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s1466787.htm

My Magna's engine is the carburettor model so what that artical is saying is that my engine may experiance some difficultty using petrol with 10% ethanol, the unleaded with ethanol at the local United petrol station has up to 5% ethanol, is that going to cause problems?

If I was you, I'd play safe and use straight unleaded. Unless you get it on good authority that it's 100% safe to run in your car.

I agree with BB, for the sake of 3-4c a litre its not worth it.

well i use it on my 97 scooby and believe me it makes my turbo heats up and u can smell it(metal gettin cooked). not that its no good for the rex but it can generate heat in the engine bay more than usual. so its up to u wether u wanna save 4c or spend a few doughs on replacing ur engine block or sumthin else.:think:

theres a servo similar to the one you are talkin bout but they give a waranty that if the engine blows or anything bad happens and its because of the fuel they will pay for it usualy bout 4c-7c cheaper than safeway

There's actually a pretty good article in the latest Wheels on E10 ethanol blend with the most interesting part being that burning Ethanol releases only 67% of the energy compared to regular unleaded petrol. An E10 blend then results in 97% (and equivalent in fuel consumption) of the energy of unblended fuels basically offsetting the slight reduction in price. Basically It says not to bother using it.

There's actually a pretty good article in the latest Wheels on E10 ethanol blend with the most interesting part being that burning Ethanol releases only 67% of the energy compared to regular unleaded petrol. An E10 blend then results in 97% (and equivalent in fuel consumption) of the energy of unblended fuels basically offsetting the slight reduction in price. Basically It says not to bother using it.

While I agree that what you have said above about the energy is a commonly quoted "fact", I have read the results of numerous independant trials which reveal that ethanol blended fuel actually generates more power in cars equipped with a knock sensor than non blended 98ron fuels. I have also seen a trial (admittedly not very scientifically accurate) which compared the fuel efficiency of premium unleaded (98ron), E5, and E10 blended fuel - and the E10 was the most efficient, followed by the E5 which was considerably more efficient than the 98ron.

My TN ran fine on ethanol for 12 months, till it burst into flames (not petrol related lol) :D
You'll be fine.

My TN ran fine on ethanol for 12 months, till it burst into flames (not petrol related lol) :D
You'll be fine.


HaHaHa

*stays away from ethanol*




j/k

thanks for the info guys, I joined this site for information on the mechanical side of things for my magna cause mechanics isnt my forte, & what i've seen in the photos of the members here your magnas look gr8 now i'm thinking of doing a few mods to mine, if you see me putting up alot questions don't panic, like you all that have magnas you want to keep your cars going effieciently and smoothly as long as possible thanks guys

), E5, and E10 blended fuel - and the E10 was the most efficient, followed by the E5 which was considerably more efficient than the 98ron.

Where can you still get E5. The petrol station i use use to have but now states 'up to 10% ethanol'???

Where can you still get E5. The petrol station i use use to have but now states 'up to 10% ethanol'???

Don't know about the ethanol blends used by the "independent" chains, but I'm pretty sure Shell Optimax Extreme is a 100ron E5 blend.

well when ethonal first came out i got excited coz it was so cheap that i tanked up at first it ran good then it all went down hill. car wasnt feeling right. felt slugish and my neighbour had the same problem. drained out all the fuel and filled her up with optimax and it still ran crap for a few minutes until the optimax cleared everything all up and my car ran normall again.

im never touching that fuel ever again no mater how many article or people tells me how good they are. id rather pay few cents exrta per litre and stick with normal unleaded or good old optimax.

well when ethonal first came out i got excited coz it was so cheap that i tanked up at first it ran good then it all went down hill. car wasnt feeling right. felt slugish and my neighbour had the same problem. drained out all the fuel and filled her up with optimax and it still ran crap for a few minutes until the optimax cleared everything all up and my car ran normall again.

im never touching that fuel ever again no mater how many article or people tells me how good they are. id rather pay few cents exrta per litre and stick with normal unleaded or good old optimax.

You do realise that what you experienced was most likely the result of water in your fuel tank being disolved into the ethanol in the fuel (alcohol being alot more water soluble than petrol), and then in turn being pumped thru your engine.

Sure it makes it run like crap for the 1st tank full, but by the 2nd or at most 3rd tank full of ethanol fuel, your car would have been running 100% again, and your fuel tank and fuel lines would have been the cleanest they have been in a long time.

i have run United's Boost 98 in 3 different cars quite a bit, and i reckon they run smoother than on optimax, but i believe im using approx 1-2L/100km more than when im running optimax etc...

Where is ethanol blend fuel cheaper than unleaded? In QLD (or at least where I live) Shells' E5 is 17c/L dearer than standard unleaded. :confused:

Where is ethanol blend fuel cheaper than unleaded? In QLD (or at least where I live) Shells' E5 is 17c/L dearer than standard unleaded. :confused:
its cheaper down here

Where is ethanol blend fuel cheaper than unleaded? In QLD (or at least where I live) Shells' E5 is 17c/L dearer than standard unleaded. :confused: That is confusing because the Boost 98 ethanol petrol at United here is 4c cheaper than standard unleaded & I have found that even standard unleaded at United here where I am is on average 1-2c cheaper than the Caltex/Woolworths & the Coled Express without any discount dockets

That is confusing because the Boost 98 ethanol petrol at United here is 4c cheaper than standard unleaded & I have found that even standard unleaded at United here where I am is on average 1-2c cheaper than the Caltex/Woolworths & the Coled Express without any discount dockets
are you confusing matters re PULP 98 & 95 at United?

I'm in Vic, the Uniteds I go to sell both 95 and 98 with E.

95 is 4c cheaper than their standard unleaded, so its same as using supermarket coupon

98 with E is 6-8c dearer than the 95 with E... but I don't buy 98 from United.

United 95 runs my V6 fine, can't feel any difference. No diff on mileage that I can see.

My TN AstronII was very fussy on fuel but, loved Shell ULP and ping'ed on most others
especially when filling up at one of the dodgy servos that were later found to be
diluting with paint thinners etc.

well when ethonal first came out i got excited coz it was so cheap that i tanked up at first it ran good then it all went down hill. car wasnt feeling right. felt slugish and my neighbour had the same problem. drained out all the fuel and filled her up with optimax and it still ran crap for a few minutes until the optimax cleared everything all up and my car ran normall again.

im never touching that fuel ever again no mater how many article or people tells me how good they are. id rather pay few cents exrta per litre and stick with normal unleaded or good old optimax.
Exact same thing happened to my car, but like BB said maybe it was just because of water going through the engine? But like you i'm going to be safe and just not use it, usually only a couple of cents the difference anyway.

The E5 in QLD is 100ron.

Where is ethanol blend fuel cheaper than unleaded? In QLD (or at least where I live) Shells' E5 is 17c/L dearer than standard unleaded. :confused:

Independant fuel retailers sell ethanol blended fuel for abit cheaper than regular unleaded (normally an E10 95Ron blend for 2-4c/L cheaper than reg unleaded). Freedom fuels and United are two brands common here in Brisbane and down the Gold Coast.

Shell Optimax extreme is a different matter all together. It has 5% ethanol content, but because it is 100ron - they think it justifies charging an extra 6 or 7c/L on top of Optimax 98.

Bit more reading for you all re ethanol. This is in relation to SAAB but speaks about Ethanol Fuel. Thought i would post the link since the subject has been bought up.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20523452-421,00.html

Regards

Thanks again everyone u have been a great help. Just on a side note with this thread on ethanol petrol, the united servo here were i am, the ethanol fuel they sell is E10 not E5 like i mentioned b4 :headbange my mum uses it 4 her '97 ford falcon & she has found that her car runs smoother & more effeciently over regular unleaded from shell/coles express, she refuses to buy petrol from woolies cause she got a dodgy petrol from a woolies servo a few months after she bought her car last year & she had to replace the fuel line & tank so sometimes becareful where u get your petrol from

thanks again

Bit more reading for you all re ethanol. This is in relation to SAAB but speaks about Ethanol Fuel. Thought i would post the link since the subject has been bought up.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20523452-421,00.html

Regards


I seen this on the news, the car can either be used with 100% petrol or 100% ethanol (note: aus dosent have any service stations with 100% ethanol)

Good idea though, alternative fuels research and development is needed

What the government should do is force Australia Car manufactures into making engines that run on 100% Ethonal and have a grant for those to get their cars converted to 100% Ethanol, and then provide bowsers at every petrol station for Ethanol. This would solve our petrol price crisis...

This would not only be good for the environment but all of us would be happy due to the increase in power we get out of ethanol... :)

What the government should do is force Australia Car manufactures into making engines that run on 100% Ethonal and have a grant for those to get their cars converted to 100% Ethanol, and then provide bowsers at every petrol station for Ethanol. This would solve our petrol price crisis...

This would not only be good for the environment but all of us would be happy due to the increase in power we get out of ethanol... :)
Doesn't it currently cost more to produce 100% ethanol than it does to produce petrol? Also you'd have people just filling up jerry cans and going home and drinking it lol.

Doesn't it currently cost more to produce 100% ethanol than it does to produce petrol? Also you'd have people just filling up jerry cans and going home and drinking it lol.

:bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl: :bowrofl:


Good call, im not basing this on any research just personal opinion at the time of post..... But why would SAAB produce a car that runs on 100% ethanol if it wasnt for a point.

how bout this

What the government should do is force Australia Car manufactures into making engines that run on 100% Ethonal and have a grant for those to get their cars converted to 100% Ethanol, and then provide bowsers at every petrol station for Ethanol. This would solve our petrol price crisis...

This would not only be good for the environment but all of us would be happy due to the increase in power we get out of ethanol... :)

hmm not possible i don't think, i don't think Australia can produce enough ethanol to supply such a demand. especially with rebate and laws, there would be a rush for conversions, new purchases of cars that are E100 friendly, and not enough ethanol to go around

Also something else i thought of, how would the government tax such a fuel? The current taxes on alcohol would make the fuel more expensive than petrol, alot more! Otherwise people woudl just buy the 100% ethanol fuel and make their own grog at a fraction of the price.