3L 2005 100%Ethanol

[Michel]

I will probably go to France and i know that you can find there 100% Ethanol for less than 0.70e instead of 1.9e for the classic petrol. Can i use it without damaging the engine? does it safe without a specific equipment?

Thank you

[R4v3n]

Hi Michel,
as you may have seen through some of my posts, I'm French, living in France (and I got the only ever imported Vellfire here \o/ ) .

 

Short answer : 

It could damage your engine because you need to inject 30% more fuel when running on E85 than SP95 or 98, and your injectors will probably not be able to achieve this, then you'll get a check engine light with "System too lean" error. So you NEED a kit if you want to run 100% E85, don't do it without.

 

Long answer :
So first of all, we don't have any 100% Ethanol (E100), we have E85, which means this fuel CAN contain up to  85% of ethanol (in summer), and a minimum of 65% of ethanol (in winter).

Because of this, you need at least injectors 30% bigger than stock ones (for example, I used to drive my Lexus IS300 (2JZ-GE) with Supra's injectors without any kit with 100% E85, and it runs great.
On stock injectors, in the best case, you can put a kit with an Ethanol sensor that will adapt the injection timing to the current percentage of ethanol.

Last but not least, since fuel prices are going straight up, you can't find 0.70€/liter E85 anymore.

You'll find it at 1.1/1.2€ per liter now.

 

I hope it has been helpful
 

[AlfAlphard]

Hi. Just reading this post above, on fuel types. Interested as I hope to be going to France later this year. I have a 3 lit 2006 Alphard. All of the above was over my head. My question is, would I be able to buy the same fuel in France as I can hear in the UK. I mostly use the 95 octane fuel. Many thanks in advance.