Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 08:58:00 CDT
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Octane Rating for Waterboxers
On Tue, 22 Jul 1997 13:48:51 +1000 Stephen Overmyer said:
>I was advised by the guys who sold & service my 2.1l Waterboxer that
>it is preferable to run it on Premium Unleaded.These guys are Germans
>and have been in the VW business since 1967 so are pretty credible.
>The reason for this according to them is that the van will run slightly
>cooler,gives a little grunt down low and increases mpg.
one thing for everyone to remember is:
my gasoline is NOT the same as YOUR gasoline. automotive fuels vary
considerably from area to area, even within the same country. the "blends"
of fuel for Colorado are not the same as for Florida. it's close enough
so that you shouldn't have major problems, but it is different.
and, for example, in my local Alabama area, there are THREE suppliers or
distributors of petroleum products (oils, gasolines, grease, etc) from
ALL the petroleum companies in this country. so Friday Oil Co. (one of
the locals) will come out and fill up the Shell Oil station, but they
also fill up the Exxon station and the Texaco station. Wyatt Oil Co.
fills up Amoco, BP and Unocal. Hunt Oil fills up Parade, RaceTrack and
some other minor brands. but they all swap every now and then. it's not
uncommon at all to see a Shell truck at the Unocal station.
so what you are getting ain't necessarily what you think you are buying.
and the octanes are only a little better: what is sold hereabouts as
93 octane is more likely 90 octane. maybe 91. what is labeled as 87 octane
is probably 85. my point being that if Amoco labels their Premium fuel
as 93 octane, but they buy it from the same folks as Unocal (who label
their Premium as 91 octane), which octane are you getting: 91 or 93?
the only real way to tell how YOUR bus runs on the fuels in YOUR area is
to try it. if you don't like the lower grades of fuel, move up one grade.
still don't like it? run the top of the line. it's YOUR money, and YOUR
bus, so make YOURself happy. :)
besides ... you probably drive differently than i do. :)
anyway, in MY area, with MY bus, and MY choices of gasoline brands and
stations, the 87 versus 93 octane question seems to be a no-brainer:
the 93 costs more, but does NOT deliver any better mpg. perhaps it cleans
the injectors better than the lower grade, but i don't know.
so i run mostly the lower grade. but now and again, i sneak a tank of
the Premium stuff in, just for funsies. :)
joel
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