Thread: How will my V8 like unleaded with ethanol?

Mate ... as one V8 ( 4.4 P76 Leyland ) owner to another, get yourself a Gas conversion. The initial outlay will soon pay for itself and you will always have the dual fuel option when you want it. I've got an Impco carb system on mine and there is no real difference in loss of power that I can detect.

As far as fuel goes I won't use anything other than premium for my motor ...

Cheers, Simon.

Originally Posted by Carslil Jim

I have been using unleaded only up till now but the pricing differential is starting to make the ethanol based fuel more attractive. I know it does not deliver the same mpg but is it likely do do any particular damage?

If you are not familiar with my "Big Blue" its an 1985 3.5litre V8.

My 1985 3.5L v8 110 County would ping and have noticeably less power if I used regular unleaded or E10. The owner's manual specified 96 octane fuel. 95 octane was better than regular but it would always run best on 98 octane. Unfortunately 98 Octane is unavailable in many remote areas, so a stock of octane booster kept the engine happy outback.

Big Blue devours regular unleaded without pinging (18litres/100km city driving), but I must say she has little torque at low revs.

My bigger concern with E10 is what is it likely to corrode, if anything?

I like the idea of the gas conversion but when I investigated I found lots of challenges:
Loss of space with the tank in the back
Tanks too small that fit underbody
Cost of Installation...years to recover the cost
Queues at fuel stops
Time it takes to fill up with lpg
No guarantee that lpg prices will not soar.
....but I am open to comments.

My 1985 3.5L v8 110 County would ping and have noticeably less power if I used regular unleaded or E10

AFAIK the 81? to 85 V8s had 9.35 :1 CR and air injection to meet emissions. You can tell by looking at the engine number plate which has the CR printed next to the engine number.
If they are High comp, then they will need 98 to run without pinging.

Low compression engines run OK on E10, however I lose quite a bit of economy, about 6 or so % in my 3.9 92 RRC. I also feel there is a slight loss of power at cruise compared to unleaded.
Regards Philip A

Philip,
Many thanks for that comment. I have always wondered why I have an air pump located in the jumble of fuel lines. When I got Big Blue some of the lines were cut, and I suspected this all related to emissions.

So it comes to a calculation. If E10 is greter than 6% less in cost than unleaded, then E10 is cheaper.

I am finding Shell are gouging for unleaded so I have abandonded them and now use Mobil, but the differential at Mobil is probably less than 6%.

Thanks again.

Jim

Originally Posted by Carslil Jim

I have been using unleaded only up till now but the pricing differential is starting to make the ethanol based fuel more attractive.

Don't get too comfortable with pricing. A report last week noted that with the shortage of ethanol, E10 fuel could end being as expensive as premium. NSW has already had to defer the phase-out of ULP owing to the lack of ethanol.

I use PULP for two reasons - I have a high compression engine and I also mainly use LPG. With a 155 litre petrol tank, that much petrol takes quite a while to use so the phase separation of E10 is of concern. PULP doesn't have any ethanol.

Se also http://www.enertechlabs.com/fuel_pha...in_ethanol.php