Brand of Gasoline

[Michael Veglia]

FWIW, we used to only get "oxygenated fuel" here in CA in wintertime (this changed to year round sometime in the 1990s IIRC). Back when we were able to get "pure gas" I was able to easily get 30mpg out of my 4kq and 28 out of my 5ktq. These numbers plummeted in wintertime. Since then I have owned several 4kqs and another 5ktq and can't get better than about 24mpg (and mid-teens around town) now that we get only oxygenated fuel. So, there can be a huge difference if you live in an area that still goes back and forth (AZ may be one of those areas).


On another note, when I had my 1992 80q (my daughter's car now) it called for premium and actually did get better enough fuel economy to warrant it. I think the two 80qs I have owned are  the only NA engine cars I have owned that required premium. Turbos, yes, of course. Fuel grade made no difference whatsoever (aside from wallet lightening) on the 2.8L NA V6 in our '95 A6q for 100k trouble free miles (from 112k to 212k...and counting now that it is our nephew's car).

Our two daily drivers are total hogs, the '01 allroad (requires premium) and the '01 Ford F150 super-cab w/4.6L V8 (runs great on regular) both seem to get about the same mileage (slight edge to the allroad, but not much). Our '86 4kq doesn't do much better either. I don't think brand makes any difference at all, cleaning additives aside. In NorCal all the fuel comes from just a few refineries regardless of brand. Accuracy of the metering on the pump plays a huge role in manual calculations as well. I gather some pumps may not be so accurate sometimes.

My long and wordy .02 (per gallon?) worth...

Mike Veglia