E-10 ethanol/Petrol

[Gigagator]

Originally Posted by StewartIngram

Where did I read the good news about E10? Was a thread on here, or an email (possibly from DMGS?).
It was in the last couple of weeks I'm sure. Basically someone knew the designer/team leader or whatever at Rover. Apparently Rover was ahead of the game and designed the 75 (and possibly other models) to run on E10, as it was a fuel available abroad at that time.
I'd like to take a copy of this comment to my local garage as they are interested in this, but I've searched and can't find it.

Stewart

I had an email from DMGRS with this information in and have kept it for my own information.

Here is the email copied and pasted in its entirety.

We've all seen the uproar the move to E10 petrol seems to have caused - so we thought we'd clear things up a little.

It's worthy of note that while we've done a lot of research on the topic, the information below is put together purely as a 'helping hand' and your own judgment should be used.

It's no secret that MG Rover were a pioneering company and liked to 'push the envelope' when it came to technological advances - and the good news is that this approach was taken when it came to Ethanol-containing fuels too.
Europe moved to E10 petrol many years ago, and with their finger on the pulse as usual MG Rover (along with Land Rover) made sure that all vehicles from 1996 onwards were compatible with E10.
Land Rover have formally confirmed this on the Government website - however with MG Rover long gone there's no official way for the Government to confirm this and publish the information online.

The good news is that Land Rover used the K Series and KV6 engine from 1996 in the Freelander - along with a very similar fuel system and many shared components.
This, along with one of the ex-chief engineers for MG Rover confirming the compatibility of the new fuel when the UK launch was confirmed, means that any MG Rover from 1996 onwards will be absolutely fine to run on E10.

Any MG Rover made before 1996 is a trickier topic - while there weren't many changes made to the fuel system before and after this date, it's possible that the seals used aren't designed to be Ethanol-resistant.
We would recommend sticking with either E5 (Super unleaded will continue to be E5) or using a fuel-stabilising additive designed to help older cars run on E10 when filling.

Again, the information above is put together from the data available to us - but we are confident any MG Rover from 1996 onwards will be fine using E10.

Thank you to DMGRS for sending this out by the way.