High Octane was: what's the best kind of gasoline?True, i used high test with my air-cooleds
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Sean Garrett 
  To: 'Matthew Libby' ; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
  Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 2:48 PM
  Subject: High Octane was: what's the best kind of gasoline?

  So one might construe that the Air-cooled brethren ought to use higher octane to prevent pre-ignition. We do have much higher head temps.

  Sean Garrett 
  1981 Westy (his) 
  1995 Eurovan Camper (hers) 
  sean.garrett@asu.edu 

  > -----Original Message----- 
  > From: Matthew Libby [mailto:MLibby1@CFL.RR.COM] 
  > Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 11:41 AM 
  > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM 
  > Subject: Re: what's the best kind of gasoline? 
  > 
  > 
  > This is a false conception about high octance/  Higher octane 
  > just means 
  > that the fuel is harder to ignite.   Only high temp and or 
  > high compression 
  > engines benefit at all from high octance. 
  > ----- Original Message ----- 
  > From: "Malcolm Stebbins" <Malcolm.Stebbins@MSVU.CA> 
  > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM> 
  > Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 9:27 AM 
  > Subject: Re: what's the best kind of gasoline? 
  > 
  > 
  > > I dare not post anything w/o first doing an archive search :-))) 
  > > 
  > >  I did find that Joel Walker posted on this topic back on 
  > 17 Sep 94!  ( 
  > > http://gerry.vanagon.com/cgi- 
  > > bin/wa.exe?A2=ind9409&L=vanagon&P=R17458 ) 
  > > 
  > > I then did a google.com search related to this topic as I 
  > was trying to 
  > > find backing for what my mechanic tells me:  Premium gas is 
  > 'better' in 
  > > that one can go farther on a tank of premium than on a tank 
  > of regular 
  > > and that one should be looking at costs per kilometre/mile 
  > rather than 
  > > cost/litre (gallon).  He also suggests that since premium burns more 
  > > slowly (I'll assume that this is correct) that there is 
  > more of 'push' on 
  > > the piston and less of a 'slap' therefore being easier on 
  > the engine. 
  > > 
  > > So what did I find on Google?  Nothing.  I tried AAA and CAA too: 
  > > nothing.  Can anyone speak to this issue?  Malcolm 
  >