Is anyone running Shell E10 fuel in their 3.0R?

[Ric]

The Shell servo closest to my work (corner of Dandenong Rd and Warrigal road) has just changed from supplying Shell-95 to Shell-E10.
i.e. all the pumps that were previously 95 are now E10.

They don't make it easy to see what the octane rating is. Buried on their website, it states that E10 is "minimum octane rating of 94", so we're right on the edge of the 3.0R's stated minimum of 95.

Has anyone tried a few tanks of it?

(Now V-power is 13 cents more than unleaded, there's more incentive to just put Shell-95 in, which is only 6 cents more.)

[Arith]

It's probably safe but I wouldn't touch the stuff.

[Spec B Wgn]

Ric, could i suggest checking the Shell website on vehicles suitable for E-10

unfortunately we dont get jungle juice in Adelaide like the eastern seaboard..

typical sleepy town syndrome

[smythie]

I'm with Jim. Probably safe but I won't touch anything with ethanol in it if I can get straight petrol. As I haven't gotten the car far enough out of Sydney yet to fill the tank outside the greater Sydney area, it has only drunk the Mobil or BP (once or twice) 98 RON fuels

Keep in mind that your fuel economy will get a little worse going to an ethanol blend as well. I'd guess that the V-power would also return worse-lineball economy when compared with the other 98 RON fuels

[Mav]

sorry for a lill off topic,

how many k's are u gettin per tank smythie?

[smythie]

I'm now getting around 11.2-11.4 l/100km since I started commuting between Parramatta and Bankstown during the week. So I guess that is something like 560-570km

[WhiteGTB]

Nah, not me Ric..... only putting 98 in mine.

[3rspecb]

Ric,
Below is the responce I got from Subaru when I enquired about E10 a few months ago.

I asked the question becuase the Liberty servo near my house has 100octane E10.

Dear Mr ##$,

Thank you for your recent email to Feedback at Subaru Australia.

Regarding your enquiry in relation to fuels, please be advised your MY06
Liberty 3.0R spec. B is able to operate on a maximum of 10% Ethanol
blend as long as it meets the 3.0R's minimum fuel requirement of 95RON
or 95 Octane.
In conclusion our Subaru engines are not designed to run on E85. Ethanol
has much less energy per litre than petrol, so to get the same power and
drivability you have to run much more fuel through the engine. This
would require a complete engineering redesign of the vehicle fuel and
emissions systems. Ethanol is also more aggressive to fuel system
components when used in large quantities (such as E85).
We hope this information will be of assistance to you, once again thank
you for writing to us.

G.

[Ric]

There's a big difference between E10 and E85!
I'm more concerned about the slight drop in octane rating, although being a normally aspirated engine, there's less risk of damage.

[coyote]

The ecu will adjust, you just need to accept a slight drop in performance. Doing an ecu reset when switching to the new fuel would be a good idea.

My GTB has been run almost exclusively on E5 for the first 6 months and E10 since then.

The statement that a switch to E85 would require a complete engineering redesign is just complete bullshit. The fuel system is quite capable and even if new injectors, rail and pump were required, that hardly qualifies as a completely re-engineered engine.

Numerous (basically identical) Legacies have been running for ages on E85 and the only reason they blow up is because Subaru can't design things like turbocharger oil feed pipes.

[Spec B Wgn]

we managed 9.2 litres / 100 km on a recent highway run..

got to be happy with that.

[UrbanGTB]

Its not the engine it wrecks, its the fuel tank, thats why the V8 Supercars don't use the 100RON Shell

[overl0ad]

what about the GTBs?

[1snap1]

NO DONT USE ITTTTTTTTTTTT its cheap for a reason... i use to work for them and promoting all different kinds of e10 fuel... and its still terrible... the cheapest alternative to fuel.. is standard unleaded and every 3rd fill use the premium... and shell is the best out of all the fuel stations... thats from what i know... every1 who did this job with me... never used e10 also..

my 2cents

[smythie]

Its not the engine it wrecks, its the fuel tank, thats why the V8 Supercars don't use the 100RON Shell

they're going to have to sort that problem for next year when they go to E85 (and either lose bulk fuel economy or bulk power)