Date:         Tue, 22 Jul 1997 13:48:51 +1000
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Stephen Overmyer <s.overmyer@UWS.EDU.AU>
Subject:      Octane Rating for Waterboxers

Blaine,

This is by no means meant as a "well intended lecture" as I am not
qualified to do that but is based on my own experiences with Australian
Waterboxers and is posted for your info if relavent to the US spec.
model.

I was advised by the guys who sold & service my 2.1l Waterboxer that
it is preferable to run it on Premium Unleaded.These guys are Germans
and have been in the VW business since 1967 so are pretty credible.
The reason for this according to them is that the van will run slightly
cooler,gives a little grunt down low and increases mpg.

All of this I have found to be true from my experience so far.I bought
van new in '92 (you could still get them here new then)and ran it on
ordinary unleaded for the first couple of years.I was advised to switch
and immediately noticed a small yet significant difference.
The temp. gauge used to sit upright in the "12 o'clock" position when
running and now sits at "11.58" if you get my  meaning,indicating
slightly cooler running temp.The acceleration is a little better and
the milage between fill-ups on a trip has increased by up to about
60km (35mi) Of course the fuel cost is a bit more but that's offset by
the extra distance covered,at least partially.

The sticker inside the driver's door specifies a minimum RON of 91 and as
our regular ULP is about 89-91 or so,it is borderline for my vehicle.The
Premium is somewhere around 91-93 RON (or may be up to 96)and definately
suits my van better.

One of the causes of head gasket failure is engines getting hot which
hardens the rubber gasket and eventually causes splits to occur and
subsequent leaking.If by using the Premium ULP I can keep the engine
that little bit cooler and prolong head gasket life,(it's becoming
painfully obvious from the listees experiences that it's not a case of
IF but WHEN !) then I believe it's worth the slightly higher cost of
the premium ULP.I also change the coolant regularly using only the VW
coolant so hopefully when my time comes,I will only need to replace the
gaskets,not the heads.The van has recently clocked up it's first 100,000km
(62,000m) so hopefully it's still some time away (fingers crossed!)

I know some people have very different views on the worth of the higher
octane fuels and my view is only based on my own experience and that of
other WBX Transporter owners that I know,but it does work for us drivers
of Waterboxers down under.

Cheers,

Steve O

'92 Transporter
'76 Crew Cab
'68 Beetle