Date:         Thu, 13 Mar 97 08:01:54 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Gasoline Grade?

On Wed, 12 Mar 1997 21:20:10 -0600 Thad Hunkins said:
>	What is the professional opinion on gas grade.  My manual (88
>Vanagon) says 87 octane is fine.  The guy I bought the vehicle from used
>nothing but premium.  Can I bump it down safely??

well, i'm not a "professional", but sometimes i play one on TV. :)
in MY experience, with MY 88 bus, with the gas stations in MY area, and
with the way *I* drive MY car ... i have not found any difference in
fuel economy or performance between any of six brands (that i use) nor
between any of the three octanes available hereabouts (87, 89, and 92/93).
the 89 and the 92/93 just cost more. if anyone would like me to, i can
send a little file of the comparison between the brands/octanes for the
125,000 miles i've put on the car so far (fingers crossed, cause wallet
am empty!).

now ... have said the psuedo-scientific stuff, do i run the 89 and 92/93??
sure. why? well ... cause it makes me "feel" better sometimes to do it,
and cause i'm still trying to get an even amount of each brand per octane
through the car. yeah, that's it! i'm "still testing"! :)

seriously, it's YOUR money and YOUR car. you run which brands and which
octanes YOU feel comfortable with. if YOU feel any difference with a
particular brand or octane, and that difference feels "good", then that's
what you should run. for you. and YOUR car.

or do a "test", like me. :)

joel