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The effect of gasoline RVP on regulated exhaust emissions has been investigated in a fleet consisting of five current European vehicles. The effects of MTBE with changing RVP and E70 were also studied. All vehicles were equipped with the standard OEM small carbon canisters and three-way catalytic converters and the regulated emissions measured over the new European test cycle. A rigorous refuelling protocol was employed to ensure that the carbon canisters were loaded in a repeatable way before the emission tests. The results show that a reduction in RVP gave benefits in CO and NOx, but no effect on exhaust THC emissions. The benefits for CO and NOx were greater in non-oxygenated fuels. Of the five test vehicles, three showed CO emission benefits due to RVP reduction, whilst CO from the other two was insensitive to RVP changes. Four vehicles also showed NOx emission benefits due to RVP reduction whilst the NOx emissions from the other vehicle were insensitive to RVP changes.

A test programme has been conducted to study any potential long term effects of gasoline sulphur on catalyst performance, using a newly developed transient engine-bed ageing cycle. The ageing cycle, which was based on repeated European Extra Urban Drive Cycles, was chosen to ensure that the catalyst experienced a realistically wide range of temperatures and space velocities, together with transients, idle and periods of overrun. Two nominally identical platinum/rhodium catalysts (manufactured from the same batch) with matched lambda sensors, were aged for a period of 80,000 km each, one being aged using a gasoline containing 50 mg/kg (ppm wt) sulphur, the other being aged on the same fuel doped to 450 ppm wt S. The emissions performance of both catalysts was measured after 6,000, 40,000 and 80,000 km ageing, by fitting the catalysts to a test vehicle, and performing emissions tests over the European test cycle at both sulphur levels.