Just yesterday I noticed at the Chevron pumps that all three octane levels
contained Techron.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Miller <mwm@LANSET.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Saturday, March 04, 2000 8:55 AM
Subject: Re: Which gas??

>Dear vanfolks of wisdom,
>
>I had understood [from ex brother in law who has worked in the oil industry
>for a long time] that as of a few years back [5-7?] the gas companies, in
>the US at least, put all the cleaner additives in the lower octane as they
>do in the higher octane because the finer and finer injection systems
needed
>to meet pollution standards simply wouldn't work for very long without it.
>And they were afraid of law suits [Here's something you don't hear a whole
>lot - Hooray for the lawyers!].
>
>Anyone have more/other information on this?
>
>Mike
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Friday, March 03, 2000 11:45 PM
>Subject: Re: Which gas??
>
>
>> I use 87 in mine, before and after the I4 swap.  There are some pros and
>> cons to 87 over 91 octane.
>>
>> 87 will run perfectly fine in any boxer or even a 10:1cr engine like the
>> 2.0L that I am running unless it is really hot and you are subjecting the
>> engine to a heavy load like tall hills at high altitude or towing a
>> trailer.  If the timing is set correctly in the boxer knock will almost
>> never be a problem.  The knock sensor in the 10:1cr engine that I am
using
>> will ensure no knock as well - crazy people like me run at 12 BTDC (+6hp)
>> and still don't have a knocking problem!  The only disadvantage to the 87
>> octane is there is usually no expensive cleaners in it for the valves or
>> injectors.  This is why VW sells a fuel adative which is essentually
>> Chevron's Techron.
>>
>> 91+ octane (up to 94 here in Quesnel at Mowhawk - 5% alcohol) has the
>> adatives that keep and engine clean, but unless you want maximum
>> performance from an adaptive system like Motronic (no stock Vanagon has
>> this) you are wasting your money.  Higher octane fuel burns slower so
>there
>> is more resistance to pre-detionation AKA knock.  The adatives to make it
>a
>> higher octane lower the potential energy of the gasoline - causing you to
>> need more (expensive) fuel to do the same amount of work.  Also alcohol
is
>> very hard on the O-rings and the other rubber parts in a Volkswagen fuel
>> injection system as it tends to dry them out quicker.
>>
>> My solution to this is to go to Costco where they have the 3 pack of STP
>> injector cleaner and the bonus bottle of Octane Booster.  Every other
tank
>> I dump in a bottle of the injector cleaner and when I am carrying a load
>or
>> going into the mountians I use the octane booster.
>>
>> At 03:47 PM 03/03/2000 EST, John M. Moore wrote:
>> >Hi fellow listees:
>> >
>> >With gasoline prices through the roof, for the USA, what grade gas is
>> >everyone using?  Is it necessary to use 92 octane at $1.55, or is it ok
>to
>> >use 87 octance at $1.35?
>> >
>> >John Moore
>> >Tucson, AZ
>> >
>> >
>>
>> --   David Marshall -                    - Quesnel, BC, Canada   --
>> --    78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Caddy, 84 VW Westie, 85 VW Cabriolet   --
>> --       87 Audi 5000 Quattro, 88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab      --
>> -- David's Volkswagen Home Page        http://www.volkswagen.org --
>> -- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning  http://www.fastforward.ca --
>> -- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list) --
>