Hey, AFers
Ok, last saturday I asked for Super which is what i've put in the car since day 1 and the guy handed me a receipt for regular but said he did put super, long story short after arguing with the incompetant gas pumper and his manager I left, not evena quarter mile down the road my check engine light came on and the car bucked and started shaking, sure-fire signs of lower octane gas and i've definitely lost some power in my engine. I've filed my complaints, what should I do, any suggestions?

 

Is your car stock? Are you chipped? I have researched gas octane and what cars arespecified for which type of gas. In my findings, I read that cars with forced induction (turbo, supercharger) need to use what is required by the manufacturer. For example my 00 2.7T requires a minimum of 91 octane, though I use 93. I have tried 87 octane with my car in stock mode (I have an apr chip), and there was a huge difference in the performance of my car. The car ran terrible and the idol was horrible but I did not throw a CEL. Cars that are naturally aspirated such as the 2.8 can probably get away with using a lesser octane gas.

Other vehicles that require higher grade gas is Porsche, Mercedes, BMW......you get the drift!

Hope this helps!

OOOO

 

I would not go as far as saying that stuttering and shaking is a sure fire indication of low octane gas. The higher octane comes into play at high engine loads to stop pre-ignition. In older cars you could hearpinging that indicated pre-ignition was present and you were damaging the motor. In newer Audis there isa microphone ( yes a real microphone) attacheds to the motor that listens for pinging and it quickly retards the timing when it hears pre-ignition beginning.

I suspect they not only sold you regular gas, but it is old gas. I would drain the tank as much as possible and put in good gas. I'd also add a can of dry gas for the first tank full and FI cleaner for the next few tank fulls.

Other than that tell everyone you know that which station screwed you so they it dosen't happen to them.

Next time pay attention to what the attendant is doing or fuel the beast yourself....

 

What is the code for the check engine light?? NH_USA pretty much hit it right on the money.....try and drain it if it is running that bad. The check engine light might be for the knock sensor which could have been caused by the bad gas.