Suzuki Club UK

I’ve just bought a very low mileage Grand Vitara 98 to 05 fitted with the G16B 1.6lt petrol engine, Will this run on E10 without any issues?
The handbook etc is as clear as mud, not surprising really given the age of the car.

Hi Dunc
We have a 2005 GV1600 and according to the handbook we can use E10.
We do not actually use it on a regular basis,we normally fill up with E5 but occasionally E5 is not available in which case we would be happy to fill with E10.
The reason I do not use E10 as the norm is that it is likely to be harsher on fuel system 'rubber' seals/hoses etc.
I don't know what year your GV is but you would have to be guided by whatever the handbook says unfortunately.

regards baz

E10 is fine for use in it. Wouldn’t even think twice about it.

Thank you for the replies.
I looked up the Vin number and according to that it’s safe to use E10 though I think I’ll play safe and use E5 when I can get it.

I really wouldn’t worry about all the E10 hype. Ethanol has been in petrol for a very long time and a lot of other countries have been using e10 for over 10 years. As usual there was mass scaremongering by the UK media about it all.

If there was damage to be done it would have already been done with the 5% blend. Most cars since the mid 90s use rubbers and materials that can handle ethanol.

For older cars without fuel injection there might be a few more issues but for your fuel injected Suzuki it’s really nothing to worry about.

Update
I asked the question of Suzuki, giving them the vin number, they say E10 is fine to use in the car.

I always err on the side of caution as our GV is a nice low mileage example - we only use our GV sporadically depending on weather and my OH's working hours/shift pattern.
One of the potential problems with E10 is that Ethanol is hygroscopic,we live in scotland where the weather is often 'damp' LOL so because of the aforementioned sporadic driving patterns our GV can sit around for weeks without being used.
Not sure how safe it is to say that E5 has already got ethanol content as some E5 has very little ethanol content (but is allowed 'up to' 5%).
We do not have access to a garage for storage so perhaps you can understand being slightly worried about possible 'condensation' issues in the fuel system.
Everybody has different circumstances - if I had a dry garage or used the GV daily I would not worry about using E10 and we have used it occasionally on road trips as smaller filling stations up here do not tend to have E5 pumps anyway.

Your fuel system is sealed (except for the breather system that is valved) There should be pretty much no water for the fuel to absorb, even then if there is a tiny amount of condensation in the tank the Ethanol being Hygroscopic will actually help remove the water from your tank and it will be in such tiny amounts it will just run through the engine.

It will absorb water up to 0.5% of its volume, it doesn’t suck water out of the air, the water needs to be in the system in the first place and in contact with the fuel for it to be absorbed. So if condensation in the tank is forming then it’s going to be forming whatever fuel is in the tank. If you have more water than the fuel can absorb finding it’s way into the fuel system then that’s another issue

It’s honestly not something you need to worry about, I run E10 in my GV engined suzuki SJ and that only comes out on the odd weekend.

Only reason not to use E10 imo is performance related. Some older cars can’t adjust to the octane rating resulting in worse performance and economy.

I don't worry about it too much Scottie - we usually only do 4/5000 miles every year in the Suzi as we tend to use our Sportage for longer motorway trips etc - the Suzi gets used for fun trips to the highlands/islands/coast so the extra cost of E5 is chickenfeed compared to taxes etc to the Guvmint.
Whilst a metal tank which is kept full to the brim will not allow the formation of condensation - a partly empty metal tank 'might' ,our weather and temperatures/humidity are very different up here compared to the sunny south where you are and our GV is always parked outside !
As I said previously our 2005 GV is still on only 51,000 miles - it was a genuine one owner car when we bought it from Grimsby

My 1992 Vitara runs fine on E10, can't remember what the handbook said specifically but I'm sure it was that E10 ratio was the minimum recommended