Caltex replacing unleaded with 91 E10

Padrino90 · 16-12-2009, 10:51 PM

just wondering if any one else has noticed caltex slowly replacing all uleaded (yellow bowser) pumps with 91 E10 bio fuel ones...????

My local servo has replaced every single uleaded bowser...WTF???

Share your thoughts.

Cheers

GS608 · 16-12-2009, 10:59 PM

I'm pretty sure i read a press release stating that they would be increasing their e10 pumps and reducing the amount of regular unleaded available

Yellow_Festiva · 17-12-2009, 12:07 AM

Yes... regular 91 will soon be a thing of the past.

However... I'm not happy at all with the lack of regulation of the RON of E10. I have seen it advertised from 91 to 95 RON. That's a HUGE variance.

And what I don't understand is that ethanol is meant to be an octane booster (thus the higher RON of 'regular' E10).

But of that is the case, why is E10 also 91? Are they blending it with lower grade regular (say 87-88RON) to get it up to the absolute minimum needed to be legally sold?

Jason.

burnz · 17-12-2009, 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yellow_Festiva

Yes... regular 91 will soon be a thing of the past.

However... I'm not happy at all with the lack of regulation of the RON of E10. I have seen it advertised from 91 to 95 RON. That's a HUGE variance.

And what I don't understand is that ethanol is meant to be an octane booster (thus the higher RON of 'regular' E10).

But of that is the case, why is E10 also 91? Are they blending it with lower grade regular (say 87-88RON) to get it up to the absolute minimum needed to be legally sold?

Jason.

agreed same with my servo E10 was 95ron then 91ulp and 98pulp

now it's E10/91ron then 95ron and 98ron.

and it's killing my honda lawnmower, corroding the carby. that all three types of fuel.

Iggypoppin' · 17-12-2009, 12:22 AM

What are the benefits of ethanol in a blended pump fuel? I am ignorant in these things concerning fuel.

Yellow_Festiva · 17-12-2009, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 76txcoupe

What are the benefits of ethanol in a blended pump fuel? I am ignorant in these things concerning fuel.

Off the top of my head:

1) Higher octane.

2) Made from a renewable source.

GS608 · 17-12-2009, 12:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by burnz

agreed same with my servo E10 was 95ron then 91ulp and 98pulp

now it's E10/91ron then 95ron and 98ron.

and it's killing my honda lawnmower, corroding the carby. that all three types of fuel.

yep a lot of things need regular unleaded..as 95 and 98 are already mixed with ethanol i understand? soon the only way to get regular unleaded will be from marine servos..not lookin forward to that hey

burnz · 17-12-2009, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR-CHIEF

yep a lot of things need regular unleaded..as 95 and 98 are already mixed with ethanol i understand? soon the only way to get regular unleaded will be from marine servos..not lookin forward to that hey

might have to run the lawn mower on avgas...

Copie · 17-12-2009, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XR-CHIEF

yep a lot of things need regular unleaded..as 95 and 98 are already mixed with ethanol i understand? soon the only way to get regular unleaded will be from marine servos..not lookin forward to that hey

Regular 95 and 98 does NOT have ethanol in it. And come 2011 there will be no more regular unleaded, only e10, 95 and 98 octane fuels available from caltex and/or its wholesalers.

Also im not 100% sure about Brisbane or Melbournes Disty's, but i know that both Sydney and Newcastle, E10 is currently being pumped out at 94.4 octane from both refineries. There 98 was at 101.6 yesterday

:

Padrino90 · 17-12-2009, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copie

Regular 95 and 98 does NOT have ethanol in it. And come 2011 there will be no more regular unleaded, only e10, 95 and 98 octane fuels available from caltex and/or its wholesalers.

Also im not 100% sure about Brisbane or Melbournes Disty's, but i know that both Sydney and Newcastle, E10 is currently being pumped out at 94.4 octane from both refineries. There 98 was at 101.6 yesterday

:

This is so stupid, most cars on the road today cant use E10...ie most cars pre 1996. What did they honestly think was going to happen to business by introducing this...morons...its off to Bp and Shell i go...

Joe5619 · 17-12-2009, 08:43 AM

I'm not sure about Caltex, but BP do this in Sydney.. I NEVER go to BP now as I know I can't get the fuel I want.. Bad luck for them as they as lossing business..

Padrino90 · 17-12-2009, 08:43 AM

Cant remember where but there have been a few posts where people in thier BA's were noticing corroded fuel lines and pumps after using E10.....

OzJavelin · 17-12-2009, 08:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Padrino90

Cant remember where but there have been a few posts where people in thier BA's were noticing corroded fuel lines and pumps after using E10.....

Great .. this will be wonderful for people with older cars (like my two AMC Javelins). One Javelin is already duel fuel .. looks like I'll just convert both of them to straight LPG so I don't have to deal with this crap ethanol buggering up the fuel system. What a nightmare ..

Renewable energy source my foot .. food as fuel is basically what it is ..

GS608 · 17-12-2009, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Copie

Regular 95 and 98 does NOT have ethanol in it. And come 2011 there will be no more regular unleaded, only e10, 95 and 98 octane fuels available from caltex and/or its wholesalers.

Also im not 100% sure about Brisbane or Melbournes Disty's, but i know that both Sydney and Newcastle, E10 is currently being pumped out at 94.4 octane from both refineries. There 98 was at 101.6 yesterday

:

i thought i read somewhere that the premium fuel used up to 5% ethanol. come to think of it i'm pretty sure i've seen it on a pump as well.

MAD · 17-12-2009, 10:59 AM

Shell V-power extreme 100 had a 5% ethanol blend.
I'm pretty sure BP Ultimate used to have 2% ethanol as one of the cleaning agents, I cant find any info on it now though.

csv8 · 17-12-2009, 11:51 AM

Queensland Government has legislated that E10 in petrol by Dec 2010 !!!!!

BFYOOT · 17-12-2009, 12:36 PM

prob that they are now finding with ethanol as a fuel is that its putting a lot of strain on the supplies of grain etc which are already under strain from the drought. good luck if the drought gets worse and there is no grain, whats going to go first, the fuel or the weet-bix?

JMO · 17-12-2009, 12:43 PM

I still don't understand why a few years ago (9 or 10 maybe) Ethanol was a big no no to have in fuel as it increased wear on the engine. AFAIK too high a concentration of Ethanol will increase the burn temperature and cause wear.

I even recall some 7 Eleven pumps advertising that their fuel did not contain ethanol. It was in the media too.

So if it was a bad thing then, what has changed since? Please, enlighten me

RG · 17-12-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMO

I still don't understand why a few years ago (9 or 10 maybe) Ethanol was a big no no to have in fuel as it increased wear on the engine. AFAIK too high a concentration of Ethanol will increase the burn temperature and cause wear.

I even recall some 7 Eleven pumps advertising that their fuel did not contain ethanol. It was in the media too.

So if it was a bad thing then, what has changed since? Please, enlighten me

It became profitable......

pauljh74 · 17-12-2009, 05:45 PM

... and the government got behind it

trippytaka · 17-12-2009, 06:36 PM

It's hilarious... remember a couple of years ago there was a huge uproar about Ethanol being mixed into fuel by independent servos? Brazil has been running on Ethanol for years, not 10% blend either.

I have a mate who is doing research into tuning ethanol and bio fuels at the moment. Will have an article on it soon.

Nikked · 17-12-2009, 09:41 PM

lol @ everyone thinking E10 is an stupid idea.

Bring on Ethanol blends.

And i hope more new cars will be made E85 compliant.

It a logical step foward.

rancidpunx · 17-12-2009, 09:54 PM

I was under the impression that ethanol blended fuels give you less range on a tank aswell as corroding fuel lines and causing premature wear. A mate was running it in his Holden ute (VS i think) and didnt realise, after a week it started running like . Will not fill up there any more. Fine since.

Copie · 17-12-2009, 10:33 PM

Ha @ the people thinking e10 is bad, in south america they run at 40% ethanol to hydrocarbin mix, the imported holdens have nothing changed in the fuel system except a bigger pump.

The pre 96 thing is also a load of rubbish, we use it exclusively for the runabouts and all of those have 400+k's on them without a hiccup regarding the fuel system.

Read the MSDS's at the servos to see what has what in it, you will find that premiums have an additive pack (usually toulene), e10 has the ethanol, as well as a conditioner agent as well.

Also you will find that most E10 coming out of refineries is not at 10% infact Caltex runs between 3-8% depending on the time of day it is removed from the stacks and filtered.

And you cant get extreme anymore, well from a servo anyways. All the fuel companys will have e10 only in the next 12-18months there is no escaping it. If you want real jungle juice, order it by the barrel.

qwiksix · 17-12-2009, 10:36 PM

Had a lady in front of me @ the Caltex queue yesterday asking about this. Basically, she was upset because it meant she had to buy premium (95) as her car was not E10 compatible. The premium is ~ 8c/l dearer than what she used to pay for the regular (ie without 10% ethanol).

More profit maximisation from the oil companies.

qs

Green X · 17-12-2009, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe5619

I'm not sure about Caltex, but BP do this in Sydney.. I NEVER go to BP now as I know I can't get the fuel I want.. Bad luck for them as they as lossing business..

Mate It's BP 3rd biggest oil company in the world all of Sydney could stop buying fuel off em and it wouldn't matter. They'll just on sell it to Shell, Caltex Ect if they don't already.

Padrino90 · 18-12-2009, 08:32 AM

Heres a link showing what cars are compatible, have a look and see if your cars listed

http://www.caltex.com.au/biofuels/carcompatibility.aspx

I for one still dont think ill be using it yet

Bossxr8 · 20-12-2009, 12:29 AM

One Shell servo in Geelong does E10 and no 95 Pulp. So I no longer go there. I can get through a week on a tank of 95, need to top up a tank of E10 to get me through a week, so the cost savings are nil, and i'd rather not run ethanol in case of long term fuel line damage etc.

dave351cid · 20-12-2009, 01:06 AM

the world was going to end when the stopped putting lead in petrol back in the `80s too.

hmmmmmm....... must be why there are no cars on the road these days and all the fuel companies have gone broke .

:

Nikked · 20-12-2009, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave351cid

the world was going to end when the stopped putting lead in petrol back in the `80s too.

hmmmmmm....... must be why there are no cars on the road these days and all the fuel companies have gone broke .

:

Exactly, E10 being bad is just an old wives tail.

I haven't used normal unleaded for a while, (Actually, never with the turbo) I mainly use a 95-98 octane blend, but i've also used E10...and there has been no noticeable change in performance.