As long as you are not in Cornwall, Devon, Teeside or Scotland where they do contain ethanol (as per Esso website )
Fair enough mate. Went to my local Shell station this morning (on the bike despite the bloody freezing weather) and sure enough, all pumps now display an E5 sticker, including the V-Plus. May as well stick to the cheaper option I guess. Going to check out the Esso station tomorrow.
There's a little black and white E5 sticker on the pump. Shell and BP garages now have them. Our local Esso station advertises their Synergy super unleaded but I've yet to find the pump there - and yes, I have been looking! The local Gulf garage doesn't seem to sell super unleaded either and the nearest Jet garage (in Selby) only sells E5. SIGH!!
if you read my first post, you will see RON rating has nothing to do with ethanol content, RON is the amount of lead (substitute) that affects knock on timing. ethanol is alcohol added to make a cleaner burn for emissions. super unleaded is a higher leaded unleaded fuel if that makes any sense, like the old 4 star.
The reply I read from Esso stated that they had to display the E5 sticker on the pump because that although their super does not contain ethanol (except SW and NE regions) they could legally put it in. My guess is that they are covering their arse in case they have to move stocks around at some point.
The E5 stickers mean there can be anything from 0%-5% ethanol in the fuel so unfortunately there is no way of knowing if it is ethanol free or not other than checking with the individual suppliers
