what type of gas should i use?

[dragoncoach]

How much of a difference does it really make? I always have put 93 in my car, but if gas goes up to $4 a gallon I'll have to start putting the regular in the car--I'm 17 and don't want to spend all my money on gas. I only drive like 300 miles a month or so, most of it in town. Bone stock 2009 GTI.

Clark

So in 300 miles, you use, maybe, 12 gallons. At .15 a gallon, it will cost you $1.80 more a month! Are you are willing to use cheap gas which will affect performance and possibly damage your engine over $1.80? If you can't afford it, you should have bought a Honda which runs on any grade gas. btw, we use 91 Chevron or Shell.

 

[VancouverGTI]

It's all good. :thumbsup: I still believe though that it's best to use something just a little better than the minimum. If the minimum required is 91 PON/AKI then I would advise for 93. Just for peace of mind that's all, plus the extra horsepower. That's why my dealer recommended to use 100 RON instead of 98 which is the required for my car. They specifically told me so the day I bought the car. Now if gas price is a restriction then that's another thing.

Nothing wrong with a little peace of mind, I agree. Gas prices are on peoples' minds nowadays, for sure... kind of surprised it's not more of a restriction for you than for us, honestly!

Personally, I'd love to know how much horsepower is to be had from running more octane than, "required". I suspect it's not much, but don't have any 91 vs. 93 octane dyno runs to back that up.

At the very least, I'd be more inclined to run higher octane in the summer when air temps and pre-ignition potential are higher as well. As you say, cheap insurance! :thumbsup:

 

[DarkX]

Well since I haven't used anything other than 100 RON since my very first refill for 3 years now, I'm not in the position to tell the difference. I can only tell you what my dealer said when I asked them about power gains over regular unleaded (95 RON). They said, for my car, around 25bhp. If that number is too generous I dunno, the reason I've been using 100 RON has to do with reliability issues so whether I gain 10, 15 or 25bhp is of no interest to me. Together with my excellent oil, car's been running smooth as silk and that's all I care about.

Now gas prices are very high here as you know. Our government has been sticking it in our butts lately. Our 100 RON costs around 1.8 euro per liter. Really expensive I know. Here's the thing though; regular unleaded (95) is only about 40 cents cheaper while super unleaded (98) is somewhere in the middle. So the price difference just doesn't justify taking any risks - not that I would take any risks after having spent 39,000 euro to purchase a car, regardless of fuel price. But even for someone that might be willing to take the risk, I don't think that 20 cents per liter (x 55 liters for a full tank = 11 euro) of difference would be enough of a motive.

 

[1972vw]

only 300?! thats nuts! im 17 and i do like 1800 a month lol and i dont even commute anywhere

Well to drive to school for me is all of like 3.5 miles, other than that it's just to and from church twice a week which is maybe 5 miles, if that. I do other stuff but it's all within the 10 mile range.

So in 300 miles, you use, maybe, 12 gallons. At .15 a gallon, it will cost you $1.80 more a month! Are you are willing to use cheap gas which will affect performance and possibly damage your engine over $1.80? If you can't afford it, you should have bought a Honda which runs on any grade gas. btw, we use 91 Chevron or Shell.

You have a point...I'll keep using the 93. As far as gas stations go...we don't have a Chevron, and the local Shell is known to have water in the gas, so I go to the BP. Haven't really noticed a difference between any of them, but I don't drive my car very hard.

 

[vagike]

93 octane can vary from pump to pump, station to station.

Some refineries will blend ethanol in with 93 octane, others do not.

Also, each refinery blends 87, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94 differently because they each use different processes, and different blending stocks.

 

[Turbostream]

vegetable oil

 

[richard.alvarez2]

hey, im new to gti's and i just purchased a 2007 mkv, but im not entirely sure what type of fuel to use. i did some researching and i got the sense that i should use 91 or 93, but im not sure and i still have a week before i pick up the car. any tips? thanks.

use what it says on the gas door, i got my 2007 rabbit at 94k and got 125k now, i average 320miles per tank regardless of the kind i use. hope it helps