Leaded or unleaded?

B14, B172, B19/200, D16 engine, ignition, cooling, fuel & exhaust system, gearbox, variomatic, final drive... | Tuning: engine swaps, welded diff, clutch upgrades...
NO parts requests here, please use our V3M BUY & SELL corner
User avatar
foggyjames
*** V3M DONOR ***
Posts: 9361
Joined: 29 Jan 2004 04:20 am
Location: Nottingham, UK

Re: Leaded or unleaded?

Post by foggyjames » 10 Oct 2011 10:47 pm

Loving the technical discussion here chaps :)

FWIW, my 1986 B14.4E car would pink just a little bit on 95 octane, especially on a hot day. Perhaps the supermarkets are watering the fuel down with camel piss again?!

cheers

James
VOC 300-series Register Keeper
'89 740 Turbo Intercooler
'88 360 Turbo Intercooler
'85 360 GLT
'81 343 GLS R-Sport
'79 343 DL
'70 164
...and some modern FWD nonsense to get me to work...

fatuglypaapa1
Posts: 39
Joined: 08 Apr 2022 03:19 pm

Re: Leaded or unleaded?

Post by fatuglypaapa1 » 21 Jun 2022 06:54 pm

I am reading a lot here. But all I know is that I'm running my mk1 340 with E10 and it runs great. Am thinking of going up to 98 though since that is what is recommended in the manual, or it actually says 97 octane but that does not exist here.

User avatar
bogbasic
Posts: 1863
Joined: 21 Nov 2004 10:12 pm
Location: New Malden, Surrey.
Contact:

Re: Leaded or unleaded?

Post by bogbasic » 23 Jun 2022 02:38 pm

My 1.7 has been fine on E10 and the 360 runs OK on it, too, but the mixture for the latter car is a bit strong at the moment so the toxic gas emissions are fairly badly sh*te. I think, probably wrongly, it's all the aromatics they put in unleaded petrol to compensate for the lack of lead. Oh, we did love tetraethyl lead! Will try to get the 360 into a better place, environ-mentally, that is.
1988 340 1.4 GL, 218k, 5 door (Grey Bess). Gone to CBA.
1991 340 1.7 GL, 64k, 5 door, petrol blue (Deep Blue).
1988 360 2.0 GLE, 140k, 5 door, ocean blue metallic (Blue Bess).
1989 340 1.7 GL, 108k, 3 door (Red Ness).
More info here!

User avatar
TasMan
Posts: 209
Joined: 04 Jun 2019 06:09 pm
Location: Ayr, SW Scotland

Re: Leaded or unleaded?

Post by TasMan » 25 Jun 2022 10:38 am

Like everything these days, all the 'good stuff?' that used to be in things like paints and fuels are gone and replaced with environmentally friendly alternatives that cause numerous other problems.
I am trying to only use E5 in my 360 to minimise ethanol content that plays havoc with fuel lines etc. Over the winter I brim the tank and add in Stabil fuel stabiliser. I also noticed a difference in tick over having run a dose of injector cleaner.
If I did have to use E10 I would try and stick to a Shell, Esso, BP rather than supermarket special brew.

I guess everyone has their own take on the issue!
Cheers
Dave
1987 360 GLT

fatuglypaapa1
Posts: 39
Joined: 08 Apr 2022 03:19 pm

Re: Leaded or unleaded?

Post by fatuglypaapa1 » 25 Jun 2022 06:01 pm

TasMan wrote:
25 Jun 2022 10:38 am
Like everything these days, all the 'good stuff?' that used to be in things like paints and fuels are gone and replaced with environmentally friendly alternatives that cause numerous other problems.
I am trying to only use E5 in my 360 to minimise ethanol content that plays havoc with fuel lines etc. Over the winter I brim the tank and add in Stabil fuel stabiliser. I also noticed a difference in tick over having run a dose of injector cleaner.
If I did have to use E10 I would try and stick to a Shell, Esso, BP rather than supermarket special brew.

I guess everyone has their own take on the issue!
Cheers
Dave
The debate on what fuel has always been a fun topic here in northern sweden. You have some people swearing on their dead forefathers that ethanol eats up your fuel lines and clogs your filters. Then you have veteran mechanics like Bosse Bilmekaniker and other various tv mechanics here who are driving around in their ancient volvos with e85 and all they complain about is that in the winter it's a bit difficult to start :lol:

Post Reply