I was told that I could run regular unleaded in my A6 2.8L.
Has any one had any problems using Regular?

Thanks

 

It says right on the gas door use only premium. You could run regular, but it would run like crap, possibly knock, and foul up your plugs and cats quickly.

 

I wonder if this is responsible for the sudden check engine light that came on the day after I filled it up with regular? It also seems a little sluggish in first gear before the trans shifts or I bump the RPM's. This is also a recent development since filling up with reg.

I'm down to 1/3 tank now, I will fill it up with Premium and see if the check engine light goes out.

Thanks jhuffman

 

When you fill it back up, put in a can of injector cleaner to clean out any gunk that might be left over (or from before). I recommend Z Max, but I haven't seen that many places (o Reily's has it) or buy a can of seafoam and dump that in the tank.

It also wouldn't be a bad idea to research the seafoam treatment on here also. Hope that clears thing up!

 

You can run regular, but our engines (N/A) run on the higher side of compression ratio. As weaksauce as the 2.8L engine is, the compression ratio is still higher than that of lets say a 5.7L Chevy V8. So running lower octane will force the ECM to pull timing and sacrafice power. Higher octane fuel (at least in california) has better additives that keep the engine cleaner, crappy 87 octane (cough arco) will foul up the intake valves with carbon really quickly.

 

Thanks auditech79

I think I have been convinced to spend a few extra bucks on Premium.
I read a LONG thread today found via the search function that also commented on added efficiency and better mileage with premium gas, there by equaling out the extra cost with more MPG...

what a great forum!

 

We've been burning regular in my wife's A6 for the last five years (140K miles) and it runs great. We started out using premium, but we tried regular and couldn't tell the difference, so we switched. If it was going to cause a problem, it sure should have showed up by now. I'm sure the compression ratio varies a bit from one A6 to another, so maybe I've got one that's on the low end.

 

Why risk causing future problems, spring for the few cents extra and have peace of mind. The manufacturer recommends 91 or higher for a reason. In germany regular unleaded starts at 91 octane and goes up to 97 or 98 octane, can't remember for sure.I mean, really how much more does a tankfull cost $2.00????

 

I was wondering the same thing.

I understand that the cars are supposed to run premium and That they will be getting better power.

I am in Southern MN, and I don't know what Gas prices are elsewhere, but the extra milage from Premium actually doesn't equal out in my driving. Granted 90% of my driving is 150+ miles per trip on the Interstate. What I would recommend to you is ...

Use Premium for around town driving, or when you want to beat on the car.
Use Regular for when you know that you are going to be making really long trips to save some money at the pump.


Just my 2 cents.