I understand how octane ratings work, our E85 has an octane of 115 (I think) versus a max pump gas of 98 (both RON).

I was interested because I'm tuned for 98 and my holiday spot only has E10 98. Are there any concerns about switching? I have E10 available locally to me also.

It's probably also noteworthy that JDM cars are approved to use up to E3, likely to cause issues?

 

Ethanol ratings that low will not cause any issues. Here is the States our fuel is typically rated "Not more than 10% Ethanol". There is really no way to tell what the exact ethanol content is, some stations still sell pure gasoline.

E85, yes, you will need a tune, but 10% or less will have a negligible effect on performance.

BTW, I just realized you are in New Zealand. NZ calculates octane differently than here in the states. 98 in NZ is closer to 93 here in the states, they only use the RON rating, which is usually 10 points higher than the MON. In the States we add the two and divide by 2 (i.e. 98 RON + 88 RON = 186/2 = 93 AKI).

 

Yeah, NZ (and a few other places) use RON values, we have 91, 95, 98 which probably roughly become your 87, 91 and 93. The only difference I know of is that our ethanol is a milk by product.

 

That's crazy.

 

The boaters in my area don't like the ethanol because it gums up their carbaraters after sitting for a while. Interesting to read how that is because of its ability to absorb water.

The county I live in seems very anti ethanol, there seems to be a lot of ignorance and misinformation. I had a gas station manager tell me that I might need to use stabil of I used e85. Lol!

Do you think e85 will ever be accepted and be a viable alternative fuel source?

 

93 with 10% > 91

 

Check every study, research result, consumer review... Ethanol (E10, E85 and the ethanol lobbyist proposed E15) = LESS mpg.