[northernvw]

A freind of mine, Sarah, bought a 2001 Jetta 1.8t. The other night at dinner I asked how she likes buying premium , as regular here is 1.30 a litre. She said she only buys regular, but her engine light comes on a lot. I even showed her on the gas dor where it says premium and she would not listen to me.

Tom

 

[FaLeX]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (northernvw)

why bother...some people have to learn the hard way....
you have already tried your best, people are stubborn

 

[geoken2]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (FaLeX)

yeah, just save your energy for the huge laugh you'll have when her motor is totally shot.

 

[cougar]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (geoken2)

- Her motor will start to ping
- It will likely annoy her
- A mechanic will tell her that she needs to put premium in it
Is that about how this will probably go?

 

[[email protected]]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (geoken2)

Ahh, that takes me back to when I was 16 and worked for a Cadillac dealership at a lot attendant. One of the things I had to do was gas up all cars sold and routinely gas up the used cars. Only problem was I was naive and put regular in EVERY car sold off our lot. One of the first XLR’s sold in America was topped off with a new tank of 87 before being delivered, the Porsche Boxster we sold was pumped with 87, the SS Camaro, you name it I put 87 in it.

 

[Pepper_Ronnie]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (rotaeven)

Quote, originally posted by rotaeven »

Ahh, that takes me back to when I was 16 and worked for a Cadillac dealership at a lot attendant. One of the things I had to do was gas up all cars sold and routinely gas up the used cars. Only problem was I was naive and put regular in EVERY car sold off our lot. One of the first XLR’s sold in America was topped off with a new tank of 87 before being delivered, the Porsche Boxster we sold was pumped with 87, the SS Camaro, you name it I put 87 in it.

Owners....Time to sue the dealership.

 

[ilkhan_v4]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (northernvw)

I think a lot of this comes from these "news" stories you'll see every once in awhile on the local news about how MOST people don't need to use premium, you're wasting your money, oil companies just profit, blah blah blah. They usually coincide with gas price hikes.
Then of course, at the end, they add a quick little "check your owner's manual" disclaimer to cover themselves.

 

[spoonie]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (ilkhan_v4)

time to find brighter friends.

 

[nuke941]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (cougar)

Quote, originally posted by cougar »

- Her motor will start to ping - It will likely annoy her - A mechanic will tell her that she needs to put premium in it Is that about how this will probably go?

Nothing will happen, have you guy even owned 1.8Ts.... man dont be quick to judge....
nothing will happen other than a minor reduction in power and millage. Why? there is a sensor that detects pre detination and retards the timing of the engine. Heck mine was even chipped, no pinging ever... and the engine was reliable as hell.. and I drove 55k in two years.
So if this fact wasnt true with most cars you will have engines blowing all over the place(sort of) whenever somebody puts in a lower octane fuel for engines that are tuned for premium......
So primum is really good, other stuff wont do any harm for the 1.8T anyways...

Modified by nuke941 at 10:49 AM 9-9-2005


Modified by nuke941 at 10:51 AM 9-9-2005

 

[MEIN_VW]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (northernvw)

It won't hurt the engine, but she'll burn more gas than if she used premium. The engine management computer will retard the ignition to avoid pinging - but the result of this is that the engine will burn more fuel and won't get optimal fuel economy. Yes, she'll save money initially, but she'll burn more fuel which negates the savings.
EDIT: This applies only when using a fuel grade that is lower than what the manufacturer recommends, ie. using less than the recommended 91 octane in the 1.8T.



Modified by MEIN_VW at 2:21 PM 9-9-2005

 

[billgti]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (MEIN_VW)

Quote, originally posted by MEIN_VW »

It won't hurt the engine, but she'll burn more gas than if she used premium. The engine management computer will retard the ignition to avoid pinging - but the result of this is that the engine will burn more fuel and won't get optimal fuel economy. Yes, she'll save money initially, but she'll burn more fuel which negates the savings.

exactly. using lower octane fuel than recommended is just false economy. if u run on non-preimium gas, u end up spending the same amount of money as if u were running on preimium but u get noticeably worse performance.

 

[ATL_Av8r]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (northernvw)

Is she hot? Otherwise I may not want to waste my time

 

[The Kilted Yaksman]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (spoonie)

Quote, originally posted by spoonie »

time to find brighter friends.

X2

 

[muturk]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (The Kilted Yaksman)

i put regular in my 1.8t and it runs just fine. No engine lights or anything. Actually still is pretty powerful. I guess if I heard it knocking or something i would up the gas, but good to go for now...

 

[juice]

Tell her to do the math...dealers charge an hour of labor to merely scan for the MIL code. That's $85, if you are lucky and no harm was done.
The difference works out to $150 per year or so, and you'll lose some efficiency so probably less.
Normally I'd say no harm done, but her engine is getting a check-engine light, so obviously that's not the case here.

 

[KILLAHDANKS]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (northernvw)

HEY SARAH. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAAHHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHAAH, its ok if you disagree but I hope you know you prob get worse milage and are hurting your car. Which is more important cost for gas or cost for repair on your car.

 

[KILLAHDANKS]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (KILLAHDANKS)

They dont tune you computer for no reason people!

 

[FatSean]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (KILLAHDANKS)

The engine light goes on because the knock sensors are being triggered by the low octane fuel your cheap friend is putting in there. The engine is designed for better, so the light comes on to let you know that maybe you've got some fuel issues...and to let you know that timing (and boost maybe on a turbo) is being reduced to accomodate.
If she can't afford to fill up with the right fuel, she can't afford that car.
delusions of grandeur!

 

[Quattro Krant]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (FatSean)

I run 87 in my A4, and I'm fine http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif No change in mileage, no pinging, nothing.

 

[mtrainTurbo]

Re: Help convince my friend to put premium in her 1.8T (Quattro Krant)

The CEL light comes on because its an effing MkIV VW with all their associated problems, like MAF sensors.
Nothing will happen aside from the reduced milage and performance.
Tell her she should have bought a better car.