The government’s plan was to dump regular unleaded and replace it with a 10 per cent ethanol blend or ‘E10’ by July 1 this year.

“Motorists already pay enough for petrol and I am not going to force people into buying more expensive premium petrol to run their cars,” premier Barry O’Farrell told The Herald.

Ethanol is a type of alcohol produced through the fermentation of grain, corn or sugarcane.

Mixed with petrol, it is a cleaner burning fuel that produces less greenhouse gases than unleaded petrol.

However it is not recommended for use in pre-1986 vehicles or those fitted with a carburettor, due to potential material incompatibility and hot fuel handling problems.

Armidale mechanic and president of New England Hot Rods and Customs, Greg Love, said he simply could not use E10 on any of his vehicles.

“There is no way in the world they would run on E10,” he said.

“We just don’t use it at all, we have high performance vehicles and they need the high octane to fire properly.

“The only thing we use it (E10) for is to clean parts occasionally.”

Modelling by the University of Queensland and the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce, obtained by The Herald, shows 25 per cent of cars in NSW cannot use ethanol fuel and would have been forced to use premium fuel instead.

The government’s backflip means these motorists will not have to pay up to 15 cents more per litre for their petrol.

Mr Love said cars that are made recently, specifically Ford, are made to run on E10, but older cars vary with the fuel they need to run.

“It just really varies with cars, some of the older standard cars are made for a lower octane, so premium is not good for them,” he said.

“But they still wouldn’t run well on E10.”

“They (the government) should just leave it alone, because they have the choice to buy whatever they need or want now and that’s how it should be.”