E85 Ethanol

[ravencsr]

Just picked up my brand new SSV VE. I'm just on empty and now I have to choose what fuel to put in.

Sticker under petrol cap states up to '85% Ethanol Suitable'.

Official Holden VE Handbook :

'CAUTION

USE OF FUEL CONTAINING ETHANOL

When purchasing such fuel, we recommend that the vehicle be operated on fuel containing no more than:
3.0l v6 Petrol = 85% ethanol
3.6l v6 Petrol = 10% ethanol
3.6l v6 dual fuel = 10% ethanol
6.0L V8 petrol = 85% ethanol

Under no circumstances should fuel containing more than these percentages of ethanol be used. Use of such fuels may result in engine malfunction, starting and operating difficulties and materials degradation. These adverse effects could result in permanent damage to the vehicle and personal injury. It is also important to note that when ethanol blends are used, fuel consumption can be expected to increase due to the lower energy content of ethanol.
The use of fuel containing more than these percentages of ethanol may also affect your New Vehicle Warranty to the extent that Holden considers that the fuel affects the specifications and quality of your vehicle........
.............
The use of any fuel, other than the fuel specified on the following page, may seriously damage the vehicle and may void the warranty. Only clean fuel of good quality should be used.'

The following page in the handbook states 91 RON or 95 or higher RON.

Is the handbook outdated now? From what I've read, you need to tune the engine for E85 to get the benefits?

Just wondering what people are doing. Think I'll just put 98 RON in until I hear back from others.

FWIW I wont be modding the engine in anyway, will keep it stock if that makes any difference.

Thanks
Corey.

[bluessv]

You can use E85 in your car without needing a tune. The E85 will be cheaper than the 98 RON but you'll get much less km's out of a tank. There are plenty of reports that suggest the use of E85 and 98 RON works out similar costing. However using E85 will screw up other components much quicker, such as O2 sensors so when you consider that I personally think its much better to use the 98 RON. Hope that helps

[GKW]

Your are right, you need the car to be tuned to 85 RON to get the benefits.

Using 98 won't be an issue, but Holden tuned it to 91 when it left Elizabeth, so 98 will give you a better, cleaner burn but not too much improvement.

Try 95 RON. As you will not be getting any mods or a tune it shouldn't be an issue and to be frank, it'll be cheaper and the difference between 95 and 98 on an untuned donk won't be noticable. I saw found no difference between Mobile's 95 and 98 RON prior to getting some mods and a tune.

Whilst you are not planning on any mods, think about a tune at minimum, just to get the most of of the L98. You'll gain re power and economy from a tune, but thats when you then decide that's it 98 RON from then on.

[ravencsr]

Just filled up with 98. Reason being.......... cant get E85 anywhere near. United in Hoppers Crossing or Caltex in Mount Waverley and Springvale. Too far.
Ah well, will fill a couple of tanks at 98 and then change over to 95 to guage performance/cost/milage.

Thanks for the replies.

[Shorty33]

I have a 3.0L SIDI. I use the 91 octane. I can't see any point paying extra.
Because I'm old-fashioned, I was happy to leave E10 alone, but on a long trip, I found myself in a town where only one servo was open, and they were out of everything but E10, so, reluctantly, I filled up with E10. The car went fine: 675km on 61 litres.

With fuel prices, etc, I expect that within 10 years, we'll all be using E85.

[one_and_only2004]

Your are right, you need the car to be tuned to 85 RON to get the benefits.

Using 98 won't be an issue, but Holden tuned it to 91 when it left Elizabeth, so 98 will give you a better, cleaner burn but not too much improvement.

New VE SS' are flex fuel compliant - they have the tune for E85 built into the computer already. The motor is complied by Holden to run E85, so do as you wish. E85 isn't 85RON it's closer to 115 - you usually get a bit more power out of it compared to petrol - even from the factory without an aftermarket tune.
Your car also has a high and low octane petrol fuel table built into it. Expect a few more killerwasps if you run 98.

[TraidMarc]

your are right, you need the car to be tuned to 85 ron to get the benefits.

Using 98 won't be an issue, but holden tuned it to 91 when it left elizabeth, so 98 will give you a better, cleaner burn but not too much improvement.

Try 95 ron. As you will not be getting any mods or a tune it shouldn't be an issue and to be frank, it'll be cheaper and the difference between 95 and 98 on an untuned donk won't be noticable. I saw found no difference between mobile's 95 and 98 ron prior to getting some mods and a tune.

Whilst you are not planning on any mods, think about a tune at minimum, just to get the most of of the l98. You'll gain re power and economy from a tune, but thats when you then decide that's it 98 ron from then on.

wtf?????????????????

[Ian Johnston]

Probably not applicable to you, but on other forums, they mix 50/50 E85, and 98ron.
But that is mostly on modified engines. And, they have to tune for the E85, and in some instance, change to bigger injectors.
But, as said, that is on modified engines.
If it uses more fuel on E85, why bother? What is cost difference between 98, and E85??

I use 95, or 98 in my VE GTS.

[jamesmp]

I've always used E10 95 in my Commodores and never had a problem with wear and tear and/or power on the loud pedal. The increase in fuel consumption for my VE SV6 from 98 RON to E10 95 was about 0.5L/100km.

[jamesmp]

I should have written that as a percentage ... It's less than a 5 percent increase around town.