ASI, the Automotoclub Storico Italiano, the influential Italian club for historic vehicles, together with Innovhub, the experimentation laboratory of the Italian automobile industry, have carried out a series of important tests to demonstrate the perfect compatibility of biofuels in historic vehicles for significantly reduce their emissions. ASI had already proven, with the official figures available, that historic and collector vehicles certified in Italy have a residual influence on emissions, due to their very low use. This club has been carrying out studies on alternative fuels for years so that historic vehicles are no longer seen as a problem and are perceived as an important asset in the country’s industrial history..
The advantage of biofuels is that, thanks to their manufacturing process, they allow CO2 emissions to be reduced since the carbon dioxide emitted by the exhaust of the car that uses them is largely balanced with that absorbed during the cultivation of the crop. land, plants and any other element used for its production. The objective is to test in a real and scientific way, on the track and in a laboratory, the real compatibility of the new ecological gasoline in historic vehicles.
Track and roller bench tests
For the study, a magnificent Lancia Stratos preserved in the ASI Bertone Collection, almost 50 years old, fueled by Sustain Classic Super 80, a second generation biofuel produced by Coryton Advanced Fuels, a company with which ASI has collaborated since 2023 as part of their sustainability projects. It is a fuel made from waste from the recycling of agricultural waste, mixed with additives and a percentage of gasoline. In the case of Sustain Classic Super 80 the mixture is 80% biofuel and 20% fossil gasoline. The Lancia Stratos traveled a total of 639 km on the track for six hours and consumed 90 liters of biofuels, with impeccable performance, without failures or variations in performance or temperature compared to traditional fuel. A slight improvement in maximum speed was perceived but probably due to the higher octane rating and better combustion of the biofuel.
The biofuel It also passed the exhaust emissions test in the laboratory at Innovhub’s Milan headquarters. In the urban cycle, a reduction in carbon monoxide emissions of 26% was detected, which rose to 31% in the interurban cycle. A reduction in exhaust emissions of unburned hydrocarbons, including methane and particulate matter, was also found.. The data obtained during the repetition of the test cycles carried out on the roller bench demonstrated a tangible reduction in emissions of the most important harmful substances.
