What fuel do you use? E10 or 99?
- Thread starter TomEbbs
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John Woodward
Active member
I use E10 all the time, with no apparent problems, but when I stop using the car regularly, I fill up with Esso E5 as it doesn't go stale so easily or separate like E10.
I believe in Mainland Europe, E10 is the only petrol generally available (I may well be wrong)
All Ford's built in Europe were E10 compliant from 1992, except one version of the Mondeo.
I believe in Mainland Europe, E10 is the only petrol generally available (I may well be wrong)
All Ford's built in Europe were E10 compliant from 1992, except one version of the Mondeo.
John Woodward
Active member
Forgot to say that I do at least 10k miles a year between my 2 Puma's.
YOG
Active member
The question should be:
What fuel do you use? E10 or E5?
UK petrol ratings are:
E10 (octane 95+), with up to 10% renewable ethanol.
E5 (octane 97+), with up to 5% renewable ethanol.
Additional petrol choice currently available is Esso Synergy Supreme+99, which is supplied ethanol free in some parts of the UK. However, from September 2023, this ethanol free will transition to contain up to a maximum of 5% ethanol at all Esso pumps, irrespective of which part of the country they are located.
What fuel do you use? E10 or E5?
UK petrol ratings are:
E10 (octane 95+), with up to 10% renewable ethanol.
E5 (octane 97+), with up to 5% renewable ethanol.
Additional petrol choice currently available is Esso Synergy Supreme+99, which is supplied ethanol free in some parts of the UK. However, from September 2023, this ethanol free will transition to contain up to a maximum of 5% ethanol at all Esso pumps, irrespective of which part of the country they are located.
I only ever put 'Super' in, but its purely a weekend car so the cost is not a factor.
I believe if chipped and always running on higher octane they can get a bit more out of the tune.
I believe if chipped and always running on higher octane they can get a bit more out of the tune.
caprixpack
Active member
Always run mine on BP ultimate or vpower, but I am running nos.
I have had my Puma mapped to run on 95- 99 octane so that I can run on lower ethanol.
what ECU do you have?
Waterboard
Member
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- Aug 23, 2017
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I love it when I see people discussing fuel going ‘off’.
As a rule this engine isn’t tuned enough to demand 99, it does fine on 95 to 97 but if you love your engine or it’s tuned or you drive it hard then the more controlled burn in a 99 helps everything behave.
An interesting thing on this, I run a 3 cylinder Toyota aygo as it’s uber economical. Even though it’s remapped to a massive 70hp it’s very sensitive to fuel. She pulls harder and revs further on 95…
As a rule this engine isn’t tuned enough to demand 99, it does fine on 95 to 97 but if you love your engine or it’s tuned or you drive it hard then the more controlled burn in a 99 helps everything behave.
An interesting thing on this, I run a 3 cylinder Toyota aygo as it’s uber economical. Even though it’s remapped to a massive 70hp it’s very sensitive to fuel. She pulls harder and revs further on 95…
Waterboard
Member
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Higher octane gives you a more stable burn - it’s kinder to an engine that’s being pushed. That’s a simple way of describing it.
E5 allows the engine to be run more advanced and release more power and torque. Anyone old enough to remember the introduction of unleaded petrol in the UK will attest to the loss of power & drop in economy on cars (Like the Vauxhall Cavalier I had as a company car which had an ECU which could be set to run on unleaded.) The TAPE ECU particularly has an easy software adjustment to force-set the advance for premium (E5/99) fuel. If you can't feel and measure a difference, your car is probably not running properly. Anyone who has an OBDII adapter and is running the Torque app will see the ECU is constantly remapping and changing the ignition advance as it detects the intake temperature, use of E5, etc. Ignition Timing Impact on the Performance of an Old Technology Vehicle Fuelled by Ethanol/Petrol Blends
the old gimmer
Member
Hi Neil,
Thanks for that post really helpful, I’m running the racing puma and found recently that seemed to be slightly down on power mid range. Not being a mechanic I didn’t realise the ECU was constantly remapping and could detect the use of E5 fuel.I’d planned to swop from an E10 to an E5 fuel certainly feel more confident in doing this since I’ve read your article.
Thanks
Not true. Modern ECU use their sensors to constantly re-map dynamically - even acording to how you drive. If you drive like a granny for half a day, the ECU will fall back to a conservative mode. Give it a blast and the engine will recover and remap to suit the driving mode. As I said elsewhere install the Torque app and you can observe this in real time - good reason to fit an Android 2-Din head unit for this feature alone. Torque — OBD2 Performance and Diagnostics for your Vehicle
Waterboard
Member
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- Aug 23, 2017
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- 118
So, the above is sort of right but it doesn’t actually remap - the read / write isn’t there.
It just trims out what it can in a limited way.
And, more importantly, for a tiny 130 / 150bhp engine, it really doesn’t matter does it
It just trims out what it can in a limited way.
And, more importantly, for a tiny 130 / 150bhp engine, it really doesn’t matter does it
YOG
Active member
Would you really class a 20 year old puma ECU as modern?
Excellent, knew I had read it somewhere, thank you
yippeekiay
Well-known member
"Do not use supplemental additives etc etc"....
used ZX1 in my engine - made a decent all round improvement.
Better still, my nitrous made a HUGE funfactor improvement
used ZX1 in my engine - made a decent all round improvement.
Better still, my nitrous made a HUGE funfactor improvement
Have you actually looked at the sensor output? You'll see the fuel trim is constantly adjusting both ST and LT. based on the TPS and the intake temperature. The ignition advance is never constant. The MAF is reading the oxygen coming in, based on road speed (I have the FRP airbox mod with cold air feed from the lower grille). The exhaust gasses are being read and adjusted by the front Lambda sensor. The ECU is dynamically using every sensor output to re-map for the driving mode underway. An average will be written for the next drive. The image from Torque shows this all happening.
Last time I looked, this was the forum for the Puma. Most people here find the engine provides good performance for a NA 1.7 designed by Yamaha who know how to design performance engines. On a car of such a light weight. The power is a factor of an engine's output against the mass its dragging around. I've stripped mine to the minimum, removing the rear seats and trim. FRP airbox mod, 4-2-1, manifold sports cat remapped TAPE ECU, enlarged throttle body, etc. Its got AP coilovers on 16 wheels. Its glued to the road and insanely fast for a 22 year old car. The art is knowing how to get the best out of it. Sounds like that's a skill that maybe you've not mastered yet.
