MX5 on biofuel?

[Shermio]

Any thoughts as to whether it will work on the MX5s or do them harm? Im thinking of filling up

[badcf4]

please do some reseach first

id start off by reading this

http://nzhondas.com/phpBB2/1-vtu71425.html?start=0

[poison]

I'd certainly avoid it for a while. NZ has had a few recent screw up's with our fuel. There was the first lot of lead free that destroyed internal rubber seals and gaskets in some cars. And wasn't there a big screw up with diesil about two years ago where it was blocking filters.

IMHO like most new things never go with the first generation

[SLYDIT]

Australia have been running 10 to 15% ethanol in thier fuel for years and i havent heard of any problems with mx5's..
Interestingly the higher the ethanoll mix the better as it stays "suspended" in the fuel better. Low percentages of ethanol will not stay in the fuel Eg a 5% mix is just about useless because it evaporates out too fast.

There are only two real disadvantages to ehanol fuel..(well 3 if you count the price.)this is straight from an oil company meeting a few weeks ago.

1) Ethanol fuel cannot be stored for medium to long term as the moisture in the air "sucks out" the ethanol and it loses its effective octane rating. so if you dont use the car much, then dont keep it filled up and stored.Water in tanks is also very bad.

2)Ethanol mixtures do not tolerate ANY type of corrosion in the fuel system. The ethanol blend has the effect of speeding up the corrosion process of steel to a GREAT extent.It will NOT cause corrosion in normally good steel.just speed up already rusty parts.

You will see LOTS of service stations getting ripped up in the next year and having thier steel tanks and lines removed and replaced with fiberglass ones so they can store the ethanol fuels safely.This is good for me because it keeps me in work.

[jif]

I'd be *really* hesitant to use a full tank ... firstly it's corrosive to most older (cheaper) fuel line components.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioalcohol ... nd_ethanol

Secondly it's going to screw around with the ideal air:fuel ratio. Pure ethanol ideal mixture is ~9:1 compared to regular petrol at 14.7:1, so a 10% ethanol mix will make you a bit lean. For the forced induction crowd, that could mean melted engine bits...
http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/resources/news6.php

Thirdly mileage is going to drop slightly, if that's of importance ...
http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp ... le_id=5613


Having said all that, mixing in 1/4 to 1/2 a tank should be OK, but then I'd just take the normal 95/98 RON if it's available... and I'd still check with Mazda to see if your 2002 can take it.

Funny that all the breathless news articles didn't mention these issues, eh ..?

[peter]

don't use it, it's inflammable.




eter
DRGN1

[Gort]

peter wrote:

don't use it, it's inflammable.

You mean flammable?

[SLYDIT]

well like i said..its been in australia for more than five years and i havent heard of any mx's turning into driving BAR B Q's....

[jif]

Mazda: E5 and E10 suitable on MPV (1999), Mazda2 (May 2005), Mazda3, Mazda6, RX-8, MX-5 (2005), CX-7.

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