Safest Level of 'E' Fuel's in Stock Supra

[Kai]

Okay - I haven't seen this question asked before, or an answer to it, so i'll start it off.

In the UK, at the filling station i go to, it sells '99 octane' which is actually 5% ethanol. It's not had any problem running on it, and in fact runs slightly happier on it than regular 98 octane. However, with the increasing preponderance of Ethanol fuel such as E85, the fuel is cheaper to buy than the regular stuff as its not taxed as heavily. I know there are different grades of 'E' fuels, E10/15/20 etc, but whats the safest level of 'E' fuel that you can use in a stock Supra without having to change the fuel pump, lines etc?

I was thinking E15/E20 would be the limit, but if someone knows more - please let me know!

 

[MDCmotorsports]

I would also have to agree that e10-e20 is THE MAX you should go.

E fuels have less calories than a straight petrol fuel.

That being said, its harder for your computer to compensate.

 

[Kai]

Hmm, does that mean that the E5 '99 octane' that i've been filling it up with is doing no good?

 

[pimptrizkit]

no,


here in the states, if you use bp or arco gas you are filling up with 10% ethanol.

so 5 % wont hurt.

what he ment by caleries, is alcohol fuels burn slower, and have less bpu per weight, then gas,

so you need more alcohol to make the same power, but also need to change your timming a bit, and the computer cant compenstate for that , so adding alot more ethanol to your gas really doesn't help fuel economy or power, just resides to a cheaper alternative...

 

[Kai]

Hmm, well economy doesnt bother me, as it's cheaper to buy than the regular stuff. 99 octane E5 is less than 95 octane

If i manually advance the timing to 14 degrees, would that compensate? and would the ECU go 'aaaah! not teh alcohole!'?

 

[Nick M]

Toyota says 10% max ethanol, and to never use methanol.

 

[Kai]

Aaah. Thanks again Nick. However, where did you dig up that nugget of information?

 

[Nick M]

Aaah. Thanks again Nick. However, where did you dig up that nugget of information?

In the ever elusive owners manual.

 

[Kai]

It states in the owners manual? wow.

Still looks like it'll be about a year before even E10 will be available and there are only about 5/6 stations that sell E85 in the whole country. I was asking mainly for safety of the E5 stuff i put in it and should E10 become available, whether that would be safe too.

I would ideally like to convert to E85 use eventually, but if i change the pump and the lines etc, i'm guessing by the earlier ECU point that i'd have to change management, or at least supplement it.

 

[Nick M]

E85? Read Figgies conversion thread.