cocobeex

In Canada, Shell 93 Octane contains 0% ethanol
Shell call it V-Power Nitro+ ......

A tuner told me to try E85 mixed with Shell 93 Octane (Canada)
MB user manual said, do not exceeds 10% ethanol
So, I have been running 10% ethanol.
Mixed 60L (15.8 gal) 93 + 8L (2.1 gal) E85 = 10% ethanol.
The engine seems running a bit smoother.

I am wondering, If I increase it to 15% Ethanol.


What will happen ???

hotrodwagon

To piggyback off of your post. Which "brand" of fuel to people in Canada find is best for their amg? Petro, Esso, Shell etc

cocobeex

Most people prefer Shell and chevron as I know.

I go with Shell

hotrodwagon

Thanks. I haven't seen 93 octane from shell here in edmonton, only 91. Petro has 94 (up to 10% ethanol) and husky has the same.

The ethanol shouldn't have an adverse effect on the engine should it?

cocobeex

As I read online, cars before 2001 will have issue on their fuel system and engine. Because Ethanol is corrosive to certain plastic parts.

Cars after 2001 might have parts that will take small amount of ethanol.
That is probably why User Manual said upto 10% ethanol.

Correct me if I am wrong. Thanks!!

looney100

Guys, I work in the fuel industry. Don't put E85 in a car that isn't made for it. Ethanol can ruin fuel system components in high concentrations.

There is a reason the owners manual says max 10% - because that's all the car was made to handle.

People tend to love ethanol because it's high octane, but you need to be very cautious about using it in high concentrations.

looney100

As I work for one of the major brands in Canada, it pains me to say it, but it's all virtually the same.

There are three questions to consider when choosing gasoline for your car:

1) Is it Top Tier?
2)Does it have ethanol?
3)What's the octane rating?

Everything else is inconsequential. Any performance benefit one person thinks they're getting from one brand vs. another is imaginary.

cocobeex

Is 15% going to do any harm ??
And 15% is considering high concentration ??

looney100

15% is beyond the recommended range as owners manuals will say not to exceed 10% ethanol - which is the maximum that you'll find at most stations. Will it hurt the car? I don't know, my guess is it probably won't.

But why risk it? What benefit do you think you're getting from the higher ethanol levels? Ethanol also has issues with stability, moisture, and cleaning corrosion from fuel systems causing clogging.
My preference is to avoid it, if easy to do.

gaspam

this would increase octane rating, but E-85 requires more fuel to produce the same power. As a result, if you say put in 10 or 15% e-85 the same amount of fuel would pack less of a punch than standard 93, though it may resist detonation more. Hence why everyone has to go big *** injectors for e-85 conversions.

Normal gasoline has a stoichiometric air fuel ratio of 14.7:1, while E85 is 9.8:1. on pump gas we need 14.7 parts air to mix with one part fuel. On E85 however, we now mix one part fuel to 9.8 parts air. So on E85 the air/fuel ratio needs to be significantly richer, which means it contains a larger volume of fuel. To achieve this we need to inject around 35 per cent more fuel to mix with the same volume of air when we switch from gasoline to E85. In short, your car needs to be tuned to run correctly on E85.