What is E10 Fuel?
One question that is continuously brought up to us at our car shows and meets is "can you explain E10 fuels?" This article has been written to try and aid your understanding of the modern standard of petrol and to give you some tips to combat any effects posed to classic vehicles by them.
"E10" refers to the ethanol content within modern petrol. E5, which until September 2021 was the standard for petrol, containing up to 5% ethanol. The new E10 standard fuel, aimed at lowering CO2 emissions, now has up to 10%. The "up to" is important, as not all petrol will contain 10% ethanol. In fact most fuels don't have anywhere near this amount of ethanol in them. Some companies are even known to have very minimal ethanol in their fuels.
Is my car compatible with E10?
E10 petrol is a suitable fuel for more than 90% of petrol vehicles on the road today. Specifically, most cars made after 2011. However, for us unlucky classic car enthusiasts, there are very few classics that are compatible for use with E10. This does not mean that your car will not run if you do choose to use E10, however, the worry comes with the long term effects that ethanol has on classic cars.
Solutions to E10
This presents classic car owners with a decision to make; do we use standard petrol in our classic vehicles, or do we find ways to prevent any damage that this might cause to our cars.
Yes, it is true that you can still get E5 petrol, now labelled as Premium Unleaded, however, any amount of ethanol can have long term effects on your classic. There are some fuel companies that sell unleaded petrol with very minimum ethanol in, however in order to comply with regulations, they are still required to label them as E5.
Most notably, Esso sell a premium unleaded which is stated to have no ethanol in. One of the most convenient ways to protect your vehicle, is to simply not put the ethanol in your tank in the first place. Our local Esso garage in Thatcham, Berkshire, at the time of this article sells this. However, not all Esso garages will necessarily have this fuel on their forecourts, and if they do, it will obviously come at a premium. If you do choose to use this fuel, look out for "Synergy Supreme+ 99 premium" on the label.
There is another way to combat ethanol in petrol. Fuel additives are a great and cost effective way to prevent damage to your vehicle. All E5 and E10 petrols, as well as having ethanol in, are unleaded. These fuel additives allow you to solve more than one problem at a time, by not only inhibiting the ethanol, but also protecting and cleaning engine components, such as valve seats in classic cars and improve their performance.
Below we have a list of our top 4 additives (not in order) to improve the long term health of your classic car.
1. E-Guard Road Additive by Tetraboost - £5.95
Tetraboost E-Guard Road is a potassium-based lead replacement additive for modern fuels to protect non hardened valve seats. E-Guard Road also protects your cars engine and fuel components from the corrosive effects of ethanol. E-Guard Road has the added benefit of improving your octane by up to 2 points, improving performance of your car. One 50ml bottle of E-Guard Road treats 50 litres of fuel, which at a current price of £5.95 works out to under 12 pence per litre, making it slightly cheaper alternative to premium unleaded. Just simply pour the additive into the tank before filling your car up. Click here to purchase this product directly from our online store.
2. VSPe Power Shot Plus by Millers Oils - £31.95
Millers VSPe Power Shot Plus is an all in one additive for modern fuels. Much like E-Guard Road, VSPe inhibits the effects of ethanol up to E15, whilst introducing a synthetic lead replacement to protect valve seats. VSPe also has the added benefit of improving your octane by up to 20 points. Millers VSPe is great for people who want to use this with every visit to the fuel station, as it is more economic than E-Guard Road. One 500ml bottle of VSPe treats 500 litres of fuel, which at a current price of £31.95 works out to under 7 pence per litre, making it a far cheaper alternative to premium unleaded and E-Guard Road. The multishot bottle means that it is easy to put the right amount of additive in the tank at the forecourt, hassle free, before filling your car up. Click here to purchase this product directly from our online store.
3. E-Guard 15 Additive by Tetraboost - £35.95
Tetraboost E-Guard 15 is currently the only lead replacement to add Tetra Ethyl Lead (TEL) back into the fuel to replicate genuine 4 and 5 star leaded petrol. In a similiar fashion to the previous products, E-Guard 15 is an ethanol inhibitor and lead replacement, which can improve performance and reduces valve stem and guide wear even with hardened valve seats. It improves combustion, throttle response and pick-up and leads to cooler running. When mixed with higher octane unleaded fuel, it can create 5 star 100 to 106 octane petrol. Indicated by the name, the manufacturer states this additive is suitable up to E15, future proofing this as a must have fuel additive. At a current price of £35.95, this additive works out to a hefty 34 pence per litre, however, can provide unrivalled performance and results for your vehicle. Click here to purchase this product directly from our online store.
4. Fuel Life Extender Additive by Tetraboost - £6.95
Tetraboost Fuel life extender is a slightly alternative additive for fuel. This is an ideal alternative for people who choose to continue using E5 fuels to protect their classics over the winter months. As most cars sit with fuel in them over the winter, Fuel life extender is designed to delay the onset of fuel oxidation in modern petrol, which is often referred to as 'going off'. Fuel life extender extends the storage life of petrol and works to clean out tanks by dispersing sludge left in the bottom of a tank. One 50ml bottle of Fuel life extender treats 50 litres of fuel, which at a current price of £6.95 works out to under 14 pence per litre, which although slightly more expensive than E-Guard Road, as a one time winter solution, can be a life saver for a car. Just simply pour the additive into the tank before filling your car up before storage. Click here to purchase this product directly from our online store.
Hopefully we have cleared up any unanswered questions or concerns you may have about E10 fuels and you can now look into which additive or solution is right for you. All of the products listed above are available on our online shop. We provide local delivery for all our products, or you can collect in person at our store.
Finding All Of This Confusing?
If you are still unsure about E10 petrol and need some advice on what to do with your vehicle, or to discuss with us any of the products listed above, please get in touch. We are more than happy to answer any questions you may have. To contact us, please call or email us via our details below.