{"id":309,"date":"2020-09-17T17:30:52","date_gmt":"2020-09-17T17:30:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bmtech.com.au\/what-fuel-should-i-use-in-my-car-and-what-is-e10-fuel-anyway\/"},"modified":"2022-10-28T14:32:32","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T03:32:32","slug":"what-fuel-should-i-use-in-my-car-and-what-is-e10-fuel-anyway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bmtech.com.au\/what-fuel-should-i-use-in-my-car-and-what-is-e10-fuel-anyway\/","title":{"rendered":"What Fuel Should I Use In My Car (And What Is E10 Fuel, Anyway?)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Not much escapes the inevitable march of marketing. Supermarket shelves are chock-full of products that can only be differentiated by the eye-catching packaging they come in. Don\u2019t be fooled; everyone is selling the same thing they\u2019ve always sold. It\u2019s just the names that have changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fuel hasn\u2019t escaped this phenomenon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pop open your petrol flap and you\u2019re likely to see something like \u2018Unleaded Fuel Only\u2019, or \u2018Premium Unleaded Fuel\u2019. Turn to the bowser, and you might be confronted with options such as \u2018V-Power\u2019 or \u2018Bio e-Flex\u2019. Sorry? Where\u2019s the regular unleaded I\u2019ve always used? What year is this? How long was I sleeping for?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Filling up your car is supposed to be a no-brainer. Sure, you may not know how to change the oil or even change a tyre (if that\u2019s you, we have a step-by-step guide<\/a> to correct that), but pulling into the servo and topping up the tank was never a cause for concern. And it needn\u2019t be. Just forget the fancy marketing names and focus on the numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we get into the details, here\u2019s the brief:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what do the numbers mean? They refer to the fuel\u2019s octane rating, which is a measurement of a fuel\u2019s resistance to burning too early inside your engine. If the fuel burns too early, it can cause \u2018pinging\u2019, which can be mechanically devastating to an engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In brief: you can use a higher-octane fuel than what your engine needs, but not a lower one.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if your car requires 91 unleaded, then you can use 95 or 98 unleaded without doing any damage. Some fuel retailers actually say you\u2019ll get better performance doing this, or better fuel economy (depending on how you drive). However, the improvement is so marginal that it is easily outweighed by the extra money you\u2019ll be forking out for the premium fuels. In essence, you can use 95 or 98 in a car designed for 91 fuel without doing damage, but it\u2019s money for jam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, if you use a lower octane-rated fuel in your car than is stipulated by the manufacturer (for instance, 91 in a car requiring 95 unleaded), you can do serious damage to the engine. If the fuel burns too early (which is what 91 will do when compared to 95 or 98), the temperature inside the combustion chamber will rise to levels that some components aren\u2019t designed to handle. It is potentially an unmitigated disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n E10 fuel is a response to our turbulent times. Australia consumes about 20 billion litres of petrol every year, and the vast majority of the crude oil required for that comes from regions rife with instability, like the Middle East. In an attempt to reduce our reliance on crude oil from these parts of the world, E10 fuel was introduced, which is simply unleaded made up with 10% locally-made ethanol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in mind that E10 fuel is not<\/strong> a substitute for premium unleaded; do not use it in cars requiring 95 or 98 octane fuel. It\u2019s only a substitute for regular (91) unleaded. Most cars on Australian roads designed for regular unleaded can run on E10 fuel. To make sure yours can, check out this comprehensive list at FCAI<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, next time you pull up at the bowser, forget the marketing and focus on the numbers. If your fuel cap reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not much escapes the inevitable march of marketing. Supermarket shelves are chock-full of products that can only be differentiated by the eye-catching packaging they come in. Don\u2019t be fooled; everyone is selling the same thing they\u2019ve always sold. It\u2019s just the names that have changed. Fuel hasn\u2019t escaped this phenomenon. Pop open your petrol flap […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["entry","author-relacion-manager","post-309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCan I damage my car with the wrong fuel?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is E10 fuel and can I use it?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Forget the fancy names<\/h2>\n\n\n\n