Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

When unleaded came in specialist garages could fit a gadget that, with an adjustment to the timing, allowed the car to run very well on unleaded. I can't think what it was called now but it was something that I was told was fitted to aircraft engines at one time. The name 'catalyser' seems to ring a bell and if that is the correct name then it's been on my 'one day to be a classic' for years and ran OK all of that time. Cost-wise the car is only insured for an annual mileage of 1,500 miles so that would not be too costly.

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

As then I'm sure that there will be an answer for those facing any difficulties.

Isn't 1500 miles a year the new average?

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

Yes, I guess it is now with limited mileage due to not being able to go anywhere. My mileage when working was getting on for 18-20,000 a year, then it dropped to around 10,000 on semi-retirement, down further still to 4,000 miles a year now fully retired. The VW Golf is now seven years' old and has only covered 27,000 miles. I was going to buy another VW Golf but the depreciation at £50 a week is too much and besides, the current Golf has only had two new tyres in all that time so is still almost a new car.

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

It was the Catalytic converter or cat for short.

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

Isn't that the device fitted in the exhaust system though, the one that's attracting thieves to steal for the expensive metals contained in it?

This one, the 'catalyser' is fitted into the fuel line and whatever it contains allows unleaded to be used rather than the cost of new cylinder heads or refurbishing the existing ones.

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

Like others, I was unaware of this change.

I assume that cars for which the new E10 petrol is compatible can still use E5 petrol perfectly safely. The article doesn't mention this, of course.

If both are suitable for our car, I shall use whichever of the two is cheaper also bearing in mind that (according to the article) the E5 fuel provides slightly higher mileage than the E10.

I'm also not sure how the fuel pumps' colours indicate E5 and E10, though I assume that it will be written on them somewhere.

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

The way it's going with so few miles each week I will be forgetting where the fuel station is. Although I drove past it today and couldn't believe the cost of diesel, £123.9 a litre! Unleaded was £115.9 a litre so both are very different to the last lockdown when fuel was very much cheaper due to lack of demand. It was around £109.9 for diesel then but now that's all changed. I suspect some garages are making up their losses by charging so much more for a litre. Plus of course the differential between unleaded and diesel now being around 8p more when some years' ago it was 2p LESS! There's some manipulation of prices going on somewhere!

If only I could run the Golf on heating oil, it's the same only probably a different colour and that's only 39p a litre (including 5% tax) which shows how much tax is levied on fuel for cars etc.

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

A friend of ours, a fireman at the time, used to run his diesel on chip oil. It was an old car, though, but it ran perfectly well except for smelling like a fish and chip shop!

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

I've heard about that before. Someone had the bright idea of collecting all the old, used fat from chippies and used it in his car. The chippies were previously paying a lot to have it taken away, he did it for far less and got free fuel into the bargain!

I doubt my VW Golf would run happily on it and new engines are rather expensive!

Re: Is your car E10 petrol-ready?

I wouldn't have done it either. Though I had a 2003 Skoda Fabia. I still wouldn't have risked it.