E10 vs 95 for 3.5L V6

[shadowchild93]

Hi all,

Done a little research online in regards to using E10 over 95.

Review web pages state that E10 makes more power and worse economy in a car that is E10 suitable (Which the 3.5L V6 is)
Forums state that E10 has worse economy and worse power.

What is the truth in regards to the 3.5L V6 motor? Is E10 worth using when after more power or is 95 worth sticking to?

Cheers

[Martin77]

Hi there,
The octane rating for E10 in Australia is roughly the same as 95 petrol. Because of this E10 cannot produce more power (different engine tuning) than the regular 95 petrol.
Ethanol has lower heat of combustion than ordinary petrol so it will be a little worse in fuel economy. This is not much because E10 contains only 10% ethanol and assuming worse case scenario where the heat of combustion of ethanol is zero (which is not), E10 will be worse in fuel consumption by 10%.
In summary, the forum is right, E10 has less power and fuel efficiency but the difference is not much providing the car can take ethanol.

[curtis265]

This is true. Ethanol contains less energy than petrol so your ECU will use more fuel to get the same power delivery. Also consider long term effects such as worn fuel lines and more regular oil changes (that's more of an E85 thing though)

Here is a very interesting video


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltWcgiCm4NY

[u mad?]

lmao at him drinking it

[Fredoops]

The j35 engines have a comp ratio of 10:1 or 10.5:1 cane remember.

I'm pretty sure the ecu will advance timing to 95 octane. So it should make more power with 95 octane.

So I'm guessing the packing order should be....

98 = 95 > e10 = 91

[Martin77]

Fred, I think e10 has approx 94/95 octane and e5 approx 91 octane.

[shadowchild93]

Does this mean the 3.5L wont gain anything from 98 over 95? We have been currently running 95 premium and are happy to do so. If there's benefits from 98 then it might be worth while on long trips but, it seems to run quite nicely on 95.

[Fredoops]

Does this mean the 3.5L wont gain anything from 98 over 95? We have been currently running 95 premium and are happy to do so. If there's benefits from 98 then it might be worth while on long trips but, it seems to run quite nicely on 95.

well I personally haven't experienced any gain from 98 for any stock cars with engine compression ratios less than 11:1.

[shadowchild93]

Good to know. Thanks. 202KW or whatever the power is, definitely does feel like enough thats for sure. Thankfully, fuel economy is pretty good for such power levels.