No VPower

[Grey One]

Where I live in SW London, there is no VPower left anywhere (and very little other fuel, if any, available), so reluctantly I topped-up the ISF up yesterday with E10 (which by the way I was lucky to get anyway).  I checked on the HMG website and apparently all Lexus cars after 1998 can take this fuel.  Not happy to use this lower octane fuel, but if it is only for a couple of weeks I think will not do the ISD any harm.

How are other people coping?

[Arnett]

Considered getting a fuel additive for now while running e10 ? 

I always ran the GSF on normal fuel but that was before E10.  

Now days I think id be more inclined for premium, have you tried the sainsburys forecourts ? The premium fuel they use seems to be in good supply and is a good fuel. 

 

[Twellsie]

It will be absolutely fine, fortunately fuel availability doesnt seem too bad round here now

[hockeyedwards]

24 minutes ago, Grey One said:

Where I live in SW London, there is no VPower left anywhere (and very little other fuel, if any, available), so reluctantly I topped-up the ISF up yesterday with E10 (which by the way I was lucky to get anyway).  I checked on the HMG website and apparently all Lexus cars after 1998 can take this fuel.  Not happy to use this lower octane fuel, but if it is only for a couple of weeks I think will not do the ISD any harm.

How are other people coping?

I drove my LS for about 7 days as it had a full tank, thinking the whole stupidity would blow over (obvs it didn't). That now has about 1/4 tank left of 99. GS was on empty before the 'crisis' started and for love nor money could I find 99 anywhere, spoke to a few colleagues who work at local petrol stations and they were giving delivery priority to the lower octane fuel. So I also had to bite the bullet and put 95 in the GS (first time in years!), I don't intend to drive anywhere unless totally necessary.

We even made news headlines in eastern europe 'fighting for fuel' followed by a delightful montage of people having a good old square off... it seems that some reports have been over-hyped though as my Mrs received a phonecall from her worried mum asking if she was safe!!!

Overall thoughts, this country is turning into a meme!

[Rob RCF]

I was lucky I guess, filled up with V-Power a day or two before the crisis started, and haven't been driving much since so still have three quarters of a tank.

I would fill up with E10 (reluctantly) if necessary though, it won't do any harm. In theory the lower octane fuel will cause more knock, and the engine will detect the knock and alter ignition timing to compensate, so you will get slightly less power. Once you put 99 ron back in, the engine should readjust over time as far as I know. Or you might be able to speed it up with an ECU reset and low rpm pulls.

[Grey One]

Yes, this whole thing is getting a bit tiresome now, I just hope it doesn't drag on for a few months...

 

[Grey One]

I think the engine on the ISF is fine with the E10, it can certainly take and being NA is less stressed than a turbo etc.  

[Flytvr]

I never put super unleaded in any of my F cars. I thinks it’s pointless.

[Las Palmas]

4 hours ago, hockeyedwards said:

I drove my LS for about 7 days as it had a full tank, thinking the whole stupidity would blow over (obvs it didn't). That now has about 1/4 tank left of 99. GS was on empty before the 'crisis' started and for love nor money could I find 99 anywhere, spoke to a few colleagues who work at local petrol stations and they were giving delivery priority to the lower octane fuel. So I also had to bite the bullet and put 95 in the GS (first time in years!), I don't intend to drive anywhere unless totally necessary.

We even made news headlines in eastern europe 'fighting for fuel' followed by a delightful montage of people having a good old square off... it seems that some reports have been over-hyped though as my Mrs received a phonecall from her worried mum asking if she was safe!!!

Overall thoughts, this country is turning into a meme!

BBC is "overhyping" maybe. I read that though some places fuel are coming back, in south of the island there is still not much fuel.

 

I think the Pandora Papers are more serious stuff than the fuel problems (not for us of course). According to The Guardian.

[BillNick]

2 hours ago, Rob RCF said:

I was lucky I guess, filled up with V-Power a day or two before the crisis started, and haven't been driving much since so still have three quarters of a tank.

I would fill up with E10 (reluctantly) if necessary though, it won't do any harm. In theory the lower octane fuel will cause more knock, and the engine will detect the knock and alter ignition timing to compensate, so you will get slightly less power. Once you put 99 ron back in, the engine should readjust over time as far as I know. Or you might be able to speed it up with an ECU reset and low rpm pulls.

Interesting. I put my RCF on the dyno just after I bought it and it was slightly down on power vs what is written officially. The tester did ask what fuel I use and I had only been putting in 95 and I know from having the conversation that the previous owner also used 95 and lived right next door to a Tesco garage.

Since that Dyno test I have used Esso Supreme 99 only (about 5,000 miles worth). I might go back to the dyno see if it has made that small difference.

As for the crisis, well. I got very lucky as Lexus Sidcup owed me a gesture of goodwill and put in a full tank of BP premium for me on the day before the headlines kicked it all off 😄. Soon to run out of course lol.

[hockeyedwards]

16 minutes ago, BillNick said:

Esso Supreme 99 only

Ahh yes only the finest juice for our thirsty machines!

[Womble72]

E10 will be fine as others say, the car will just travel less miles on a tank, funny how it costs the same🤔……only time I’ve used premium over super was our Spanish trip, the cost of fuel was eye watering on french motorways…….I’d always check your cars prior to filling with E10, the IS250 on 2005-2007 can’t run on E10, there are a few that have slipped through the net with this rubbish.

[Las Palmas]

9 minutes ago, Womble72 said:

E10 will be fine as others say, the car will just travel less miles on a tank, funny how it costs the same🤔……only time I’ve used premium over super was our Spanish trip, the cost of fuel was eye watering on french motorways…….I’d always check your cars prior to filling with E10, the IS250 on 2005-2007 can’t run on E10, there are a few that have slipped through the net with this rubbish.

Motorways always charge extra motorways prices. Funny that instead of traveling on them there are excellent non-motorways roads that lead through much better-looking landscapes and where you can find excellent restaurants, where eating fine food cost less than in the McDonald like junk food stores you find on the Motorways. Have been travelling from Denmark to south Spain so many times that I lost count (starting before there were motorways in Spain) and use the old roads lead to more relaxed and pleasant journeys.

[Womble72]

Unfortunately on this occasion we had only a week, was after the first lockdown and the wife wanted to see her dad as the Spanish lockdown made ours look like an open prison…..I drove non stop for 21hrs, had a more pleasant drive home over the Pyrenees although the second lockdown was chasing us to the boarder 😳…….. he flew back a week after us and missed the second one by a few days……… they didn’t mess about our there

[Phil xxkr]

1 hour ago, Las Palmas said:

Motorways always charge extra motorways prices. Funny that instead of traveling on them there are excellent non-motorways roads that lead through much better-looking landscapes and where you can find excellent restaurants, where eating fine food cost less than in the McDonald like junk food stores you find on the Motorways. Have been travelling from Denmark to south Spain so many times that I lost count (starting before there were motorways in Spain) and use the old roads lead to more relaxed and pleasant journeys.

The Extra Mile: Delicious alternatives to Motorway Services in England, Scotland and Wales - paperback 

[mr2lad]

Ive been using E10 for ages …in fact done over 6000mls on it and haven’t noticed any performance or mpg issues, I regularly do a 600+ miles trip up and down from Surrey to NE Scotland every 2weeks, same route and same driving style ie zoooooom 😂 and nothing noticeable to report …so all this crap about not using E10 is just that….crap

maybe im just lucky…. But i will continue to use E10 and get more litres per £

[Rob RCF]

18 hours ago, BillNick said:

Interesting. I put my RCF on the dyno just after I bought it and it was slightly down on power vs what is written officially. The tester did ask what fuel I use and I had only been putting in 95 and I know from having the conversation that the previous owner also used 95 and lived right next door to a Tesco garage.

Since that Dyno test I have used Esso Supreme 99 only (about 5,000 miles worth). I might go back to the dyno see if it has made that small difference.

As for the crisis, well. I got very lucky as Lexus Sidcup owed me a gesture of goodwill and put in a full tank of BP premium for me on the day before the headlines kicked it all off 😄. Soon to run out of course lol.

According to the Fifth Gear test they did years ago, you can get a small but not insignificant power difference between standard and super unleaded. In their case with a Golf GTI they got about 2% better power with both Shell and Esso supers. They carried out the test quite scientifically so I have no doubt their results are accurate, however they could have improved it by expanding the test (more fuels, more cars, etc).

2% would be about 10bhp in the RCF (which is meant to run on 98 RON or higher, as stated in the owners manual). Of course the RCF's engine is very different to the Golf GTI's, so we don't know if it would be the same 2% difference.

But I think others here do have a point, in day to day driving you are unlikely to feel the difference, so if you have to put standard in I wouldn't sweat it.

[BillNick]

Now wondering how many years mine "suffered" the 95 for 😞

Still, I am sure the knock has more than adjusted itself now it has had Esso 99 for almost a year/6000 miles ish.

[4969_LXS]

I wouldn't worry about using E10 if driving on a regular basis.

I had no issues using it on the NC500 In September.

Many F owners state side are using E40 upwards with no issues. I believe RR Racing use E85 in their supercharged ISF track car.

Ethanol is less energy dense than petrol, so you have to flow more fuel for the same power. However, because it's an alcohol, when it's sprayed into the inlet manifold/combustion chamber, it creates a cooling effect due to evaporation. You can run more aggressive timing, boost and make more power, providing you have the fuel system to keep up.

Downsides of ethanol laced fuels, ethanol absorbs moisture. So not ideal for long term storage, and it eats away at rubber seals etc.

If you want to get your knock correction values up quickly, when everything is up to temperature start from just below 2000rpm, sport/sport+, manual mode to lock into gear and to make sure the torque converter locks, and boot it across the rev range a few times. 3rd gear is good gear. Just watch the speed at the top of 3rd 👀

[Texas]

On 10/4/2021 at 8:45 AM, Grey One said:

Where I live in SW London, there is no VPower left anywhere (and very little other fuel, if any, available), so reluctantly I topped-up the ISF up yesterday with E10 (which by the way I was lucky to get anyway).  I checked on the HMG website and apparently all Lexus cars after 1998 can take this fuel.  Not happy to use this lower octane fuel, but if it is only for a couple of weeks I think will not do the ISD any harm.

How are other people coping?

Which Gov website stated All Lexus cars from 1998 could take E10?

My 2007 Lexus IS250 Cannot!

[Silkmen]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:22 AM, Rob RCF said:

According to the Fifth Gear test they did years ago, you can get a small but not insignificant power difference between standard and super unleaded. In their case with a Golf GTI they got about 2% better power with both Shell and Esso supers. They carried out the test quite scientifically so I have no doubt their results are accurate, however they could have improved it by expanding the test (more fuels, more cars, etc).

2% would be about 10bhp in the RCF (which is meant to run on 98 RON or higher, as stated in the owners manual). Of course the RCF's engine is very different to the Golf GTI's, so we don't know if it would be the same 2% difference.

But I think others here do have a point, in day to day driving you are unlikely to feel the difference, so if you have to put standard in I wouldn't sweat it.

I've always use 95, the owners manual does state 98 but it also states 95 can be used with no detriment to durability or driveability.

I did try 98+ fuels a few times and in everyday driving I noticed absolutely no difference in economy or performance vs 95. For me the price difference of 20p per litre just isn't worth it and I stick to 95.

 

[B1RMA]

50 minutes ago, Silkmen said:

I've always use 95, the owners manual does state 98 but it also states 95 can be used with no detriment to durability or driveability.

I did try 98+ fuels a few times and in everyday driving I noticed absolutely no difference in economy or performance vs 95. For me the price difference of 20p per litre just isn't worth it and I stick to 95.

 

I've been using Sainsbury's premium petrol as V Power up the road is 20p a litre more expensive.

Many years ago my Jap imports a Pajero Evo, Vehi-cross and my SVX just wouldn't run nicely on anything else other than V Power something to do with the higher octane in Japan. My track prepped RX7 was rolling roaded/mapped to run on Power.

The cleaning agents in V Power Diesel are good but these days I just add Hydra Fuels Cetane booster/injector cleaner as it works out a lot cheaper

[Silkmen]

I appreciate old Japanese cars are more suited to 98+, however the RcF can run 95 without any issues and for me giving the engine a good thrash is better than any cleaning additive and much more fun!

[hockeyedwards]

Esso 99 (no ethanol) has given me around 40 miles extra per tank on day to day driving. Having driven the same roads for 2 years to work, had a fairly good gauge of what a tank would get me mile wise and after swapping to Esso 99 the difference was noted. Performance wise, couldn't comment either way. Also not stating any science behind my opinion, just stating what I noticed and do I think the price difference is worth the extra miles... 🤷‍♂️

Had also watched a youtube video from Bamford Rose regarding fuel (a little while back admittedly) and was an informative watch.

[Silkmen]

I drive different routes each week and average between 220-240 miles regardless of which fuel I use.

My driving style probably doesn't help either and it's great some folk benefit from premium fuel, even if I don't 👍