Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 20:44:58 -0400
Reply-To: James <jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: James <jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Gas - Cheap vs Expensive
In-Reply-To: <vanagon%2015051515110634@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252"
David, this is a beautiful response.
The key part is: "And that
> number is 87, regular grade fuel. If you're
> really flogging the beast the owner's manual says
> you can use higher octane (mid-grade) if you want, just in case."
My Canadian owner's manual says to use 87 octance, but recommends the mid-grade, 89 octane, for "heavy loads and high speeds under hot conditions". When up in the Appalachians of New Hampshire or New Brunswick, I buy 89 octane. (Actually in NB, I often buy the 91 octane, as NB regulates gas prices and 91 octane is only 6 cents a litre/23 cents a US gallon more than 87 octane there, unlike Ontario, where the spread is 14-16 cents a litre or more!)
James
Ottawa, ON
> Date: Fri, 15 May 2015 15:11:13 -0400
> From: dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET
> Subject: Re: Fwd: Gas - Cheap vs Expensive
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>
> At 02:23 PM 5/15/2015, PB wrote:
> >About a year and a half ago there was a thread about which gasoline to
> >use. If I remember right, there was a general consensus that Vanagons were
> >made to use cheap gas,
>
> Stop right there, please. If we think in cheap
> vs expensive it all gets very confusing. After
> you figure out what sort of gas you want to use
> then you can try to find it cheaply.
>
> The Vanagon requires fuel with a certain octane
> rating to operate correctly. Octane rating is a
> number that rates the gasoline's ability to
> resist exploding inside your engine. You don't
> want it to explode. You want it to burn rapidly
> but smoothly, and for the Vanagon at sea level
> you need to use fuel with octane rating of at
> least 87, American style. Butbutbut, you
> say. There are two common methods for rating
> octane, called the Research method and the Motor
> method. In Europe they like the Research method,
> and the Vanagon needs gas with a Research Octane
> Number of 91, just like it says on your sticker
> (you can see the RON if you look). In the US for
> some reason we like both methods. We like them
> so well that we use the average of the two for
> the octne number we stick on th epump. And that
> number is 87, regular grade fuel. If you're
> really flogging the beast the owner's manual says
> you can use higher octane (mid-grade) if you want, just in case.
>
> If you go up in the mountains you'll get another
> scare because the pumps will say 85 on them --
> that's ok, because of the altitude 85 octane is
> sufficient. Note that "high-octane" gas isn't
> filled with more energy than regular -- it's
> actually filled with a bit less. Its virtue is
> burning smoothly in high-compression engines that
> tend to make the fuel explode. Its other virtue
> is that in order to encourage you to buy the
> fancy gasoline, the blender/refiner/brand may put
> lots of lovely detergent and ssuch in their
> high-test, but skimp on it in their regular
> grade. If that were true, either using Techron
> from time to time or switching to the expensive
> gas would keep your engine from getting all crudded up internally.
>
> And that brings us to Top Tier gasoline. Some
> brands have agreed to sell only gasoline with a
> superior detergent package and other good
> qualities, and in turn VW and other mfrs suggest
> that you buy this high-quality gas carried by the
> Top Tier brands. It comes in high, mid, and low
> octane, but they all have the good detergent
> package. VW thinks it's a very good idea for you
> to use gas meeting the Top Tier standard as it
> will keep your engine clean and happy
> inside. But they don't care which brand you use,
> and they don't forbid you to use gas that is not
> Top Tier. They just warn that you may not like
> the long-term results when your engine
> potentially gets all clogged up with stuff.
>
> Yours,
> David
>
> > so I immediately switched from 91 octane Costco gas
> ><http://blog.modbargains.com/what-is-top-tier-gas-and-why-it-matters-its-at-costco/>
> >to 87.
> >
> >A few weeks ago, after a tuneup and compression
> > adjustment
> >in all 4 cylinders, my mechanic, Bela, told me I was using "BAD GAS." He
> >told me that Costco gas was BAD, and would ruin the cylinders, and that I
> >needed to use 91 (89 at the lowest) octane *MOBIL* gas for the best
> >performance. (Mobil gas is extremely high-priced, and averages $.3
> >5
> > - $1.00 per gallon above all other brands.) OK. So I switched to Mobil
> >91 octane - for my van ONLY, and I actually have been getting better
> >mileage. (Had to use Gas Buddy to find the lowest priced Mobil, which is
> >
> >on my daily route, and pay cash to avoid credit card surcharge
> >.)
> >
> >
> >Yesterday, I noticed the dog-eared stickers on my passenger door, and was
> >able to see that 91 octane was recommended when the vehicle was made
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