Re: newbie questions ... (snow tires, and octane number)

[Jason Douglas (jdouglas@mitre.org) <m17108@mwunix.mitre.org>]

Avinash asks: what octane?  Manual says 92, how about 89 or 87?

There is legitimate confusion here and its vw/audi's fault.  All the gas pumps
I've ever seen in the states are labelled using the "Cost of Living Council"
method, which is the average of the Research Octane (RON) and Motor Octane
methods.

According to Bentley, 91 RON or 87 CLC is the minimum you should use.  I use
87 in my saugmotor (literally, "sucking motor" in German i.e., non-turbo) and it
works fine/lasts a long time :)  Bentley also recommende 95 RON, which is
presumably labelled at the pump as 91 CLC.

BTW, I haven't noticed a difference between 87 and 91 CLC.  Has anyone else?
Do you have to run several tankfuls before you see the difference?

Jason