Trends of the automotive market require the application of new engine technologies, which allows for the use of different types of fuel. Since ethanol is a renewable source of energy and it contributes to lower $CO_2$ emissions, ethanol produced from biomass is expected to increase in use as an alternative fuel. It is recognized that for spark ignition (SI) engines ethanol has advantages of high octane number and high combustion speed. In spite of the advantages of ethanol, fuel supply system might be affected by fuel blends with ethanol like a wear and corrosion of electric fuel pumps. So the on-board hydrogen production out of ethanol reforming can be considered as an alternative plan. This paper investigates the influence of ethanol fuel on SI engine performance, thermal efficiency and emissions. The results obtained from experiments have shown that specific fuel consumption has increased by increasing ethanol amount in the blend whereas decreased by the use of hydrogen-enriched gas. The combustion characteristics with hydrogen-enriched gaseous fuel from ethanol reforming are also examined.