Date:         Mon, 14 Sep 1998 21:52:08 -0700
Reply-To:     David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Vanagon fuel requirement
Comments: To: "Roy O." <keepsake@PANGEA.CA>, Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
In-Reply-To:  <00f401bde051$94458a00$3d72a1cf@nothing.Pangea.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

In British Columbia there are a few more choices in gasoline.  Chevron and
Petro Canada (select locations) have 94 Octane and Huskey and Mowhawk have
93 (10% grain alcohol - bad for the fuel injectors o-rings), Shell has 92
and Esso and most Petro Canada's have 91 octane as their highest octane.

A good rule of thumb is to remember that the higher the octane the less
potential energy the gasoline has and therefore you will need to burn more
to produce the same amount of power.  In a low compression Vanagon 87
Octane will give you the best economy.  The problem with most 87 octane
fuels is there is no cleaning additives.  Chevron is the exception to this.

When I had my wasserboxer I always used 87 octane from Chevron or 89 Octane
from Petro Canada as there was no benafit for the higher octane.  Now that
I have the 10.5:1 compression ratio Audi engine I usually run 89 as a
minimum and treat it to 94 when I can.  The timing is set to 12 deg BTDC on
my Audi engine with 94 octane fuel.  The total advance is +30 degrees from
the initial timing value.  When I put 87 octane fuel in the tank the knock
sensor will bring the timing down to about 4 BTDC so the overall advance is
less and therefore I get less power.  The 8 degree difference account for
about a 5 to 8 hp difference and an even greater torque difference.


At 21:35 9/14/98 -0500, Roy O. wrote:
>    According to a local VW dealership, VW Canada had  tested Canadian
>gasolines a few years back and gave their stamp of approval to  Shell
>gasolines. The independent mechanic to whom I trust my vehicle now,
>strongly recommends staying away from ethanol type fuel due to its rubber
>destroying tendencies.   As for myself, I use fuel from the big three here
>in Canada (Shell, Esso, Petro-Canada (formerly Gulf Canada    Roy O. '87
>Westfalia   (till death us do  part)

-- David Marshall, Quesnel BC, mailto:david@volkswagen.org --
   -- 78 1.8L VW Rabbit, 80 2.0L VW Caddy, 87 Audi 5KQ  --
   --  85 1.8L VW Cabrio, 88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab  --
   --   Volkswagen Homepage http://www.volkswagen.org   --
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