Hi there,

For any of you who maybe travelling to/through Germany in your Coupes and use normal petrol (95 Octane), you should avoid the newly introduced E10 (10% bioethanol) fuel. It is not suitable for our cars. Use Super (95 Octane) or Super Plus (98-100 octane) instead. These have 5% bioethanol or less, which is OK.

Can anyone confirm if this is definitely the case? I am currently in France and E10 is readily available (and cheaper than normal 95). On the basis it will be all we can buy at sometime in the near future what is the option long term?

Why?

I'm not intending to use it myself, as my car needs Super, but is it just a case of octane, or does the fuel system not like the ethanol content?

I have found a list of Fiat vehicles which are OK for E10 fuel.

It is in German though.

It seems that all Fiats after the 2000 model year and certain earlier ones listed are compatible.
The Coupe does not appear on that list, although nonturbo models using both the 2litre 16v and 20v engines do.

Here is the link, page 5 lists Fiat.

I think you'll find it's the latter: the high ethanol content will cause damage to rubber pipes and seals in the system, and not only that, ethanol readily absorbs water leading to phase separation, and contributes to a short "shelf life" of a couple of weeks.

I blame the Yanks and their powerful farmers lobbying for bio-ethanol to be used to replace MTBE, which hasn't needed to be replaced anywhere else. Once again, some misguided "green" policies are to blame. Much like the phase-out of lead (TEL) and lower sulphur gasoline, mechanical changes are needed to cope (but in this case, mostly to do with the fuel system itself rather that cylinder head mofifications).

Thanks for the link Pete, whilst the Coupe isn't shown, there is a Lancia Thesis 20vt on the list as not suitable (if my total lack of German has read it right) and presumably that uses the same engine and some other components. Bugger!

Lancia Thesis 20VT has much modern injection and turbocharger from Fiat Coupe!

I half filled my Coupe with E10 100 octane by mistake the other day. When I noticed I drove to another station and filled it with regular 95. The mixture should be no more than 5% now. Ive parked the car up for a few weeks. Should I drain the fuel?

There should be no issues. The problems with the fuel system arise from long(ish) term contact with the fuel; the engine management will cope with the change in burn time over a short period and by adding standard 95 you will have reduced the alco content anyway.

http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&topic=110782&gonew=1

Barnacle helpfully sums it up here ...