FR TFSI on regular unleaded warranty question

[BeezerDiesel]

Dragging this up again, I was reading a bit in an old magazine earlier (working nights with a touch of insomnia!!) and it mentioned that yes the TFSI (now TSI, which started off as the monker for the super-turbo charged 1.4 unit) can run perfectly well on 95 RON stuff with a very slight loss of performance (obviously the knock sensor is going to wind back the timing a little) but the lower octane petrol will occasionally cause the Nox catalyst to block up and this will need to be burnt off. I assume the car will do this by richening up the mixture to make the exhaust gasses really hot or something.

 

[darrellr]

Apologies for dragging this up again but ...

The comment is that there isn't a suitable fuel available in the country to justify the TFSI moniquer and so they are using the TSI one.

Well - hmmm - not sure about this.

T-FSI was supposed to be T for turbo and FSI for Fuel Stratified Injection. The FSI element refering to the ability to create a more concentrated air-fuel mix closer to the spark plug and leaner elsewhere thus providing more power for the amount of fuel used. The main stipulation at the time was that the fuel had to be Sulphur-free to work.

Regarding this idea that we don't have high enough RON fuel in this country to justify the TFSI tag suggests that (a) other countries do, (b) that FSI technology is RON-related and (c) some regulatory body has forced VW to change. Whilst I can see some logic to (b) the other two just don't sound likely.

I'd be more inclined to think that the switch to TSI is more marketing related.

 

[Poverty]

Its marketing related. TFSI has nothing to do with ron its how the fuel is delivered to the engine.

Audi still sell their vehicles as TFSI.

 

[Maximus2000uk]

My FR says 'Repsol 95 RON' inside the filler cap.

 

[phil3012]

My FR says 'Repsol 95 RON' inside the filler cap.

So does my Cupra. But when I asked customer services they recommended 98 RON or above on both the FR and Cupra.

 

[Poverty]

Thats only because your engine works at its optimium at that ron. Do you guys really think VAG sell cars worldwide that require the nannying of 98 ron and above?

95 ron is fine all day everyday for the rest of your lives. Even Porsches say 95 ron is fine on their highly strung sensitive NA engines, and they work on a 3% output tolerances.

 

[Maximus2000uk]

Well they can recommend whatever they like but as most people do not call to check, 95 RON shouldnt be a problem with the warranty

 

[phil3012]

Well they can recommend whatever they like but as most people do not call to check, 95 RON shouldnt be a problem with the warranty

Yup, I agree.

Forgot to add that they said it would run on 95 RON okay but with a possible loss of economy or performance.

Some people on here run their Cupras on 95 RON and haven't had any issues.

 

[Poverty]

99% of the VAG 2.0 Turbo in the world run 95 ron

 

[leonbtcc140]

Tescos sell 98 Ron as standard

 

[dshiels]

I have a company fuel card so I tend to use 98 ron although the problem is that not all petrol stations in N Ireland who accept my fuel card actually have 98 ron, only 95 so occasionally I have to fill up with that.

My question is, what is the impact of using 98 on one fill, and the 95 on the other. Does the ECU learn as I had this problem with my old MR2 Turbo.

Thanks

 

[farrar]

My 1.4 TSI 125 says 98 RON inside the filler cap but I pretty much always use 95. Not noticed any major difference.

 

[Igor23]

Tescos sell 98 Ron as standard

Er not exactly, around here, their super unleaded is 97 Ron, down in Kent, its 99 Ron.
With regard to using 95 Ron in a high compression engine, I've heard horror stories of melted valve gear, resulting from long term use (albiet constant high speeds) in 1.6 vag engines, so I've always used V-power, I'm lucky, there's a garage 1 mile from me...

 

[RS4Barry]

Just to chuck a spanner in the works - I read an article recently which stated that to get the fuel benefit of V-power it was best to only visit a really really busy station as with all high octane fuels they go off quicker and reduce in quality and indeed ron much quicker than 95. It was actually suggested that due to the higher demand for 95 it could infact be possible to get equal or higher quality 95 than v-power due to it being a lot fresher as replenished more frequently.

 

[P0LKR]

Just to chuck a spanner in the works - I read an article recently which stated that to get the fuel benefit of V-power it was best to only visit a really really busy station as with all high octane fuels they go off quicker and reduce in quality and indeed ron much quicker than 95. It was actually suggested that due to the higher demand for 95 it could infact be possible to get equal or higher quality 95 than v-power due to it being a lot fresher as replenished more frequently.

So what fuel are you going to use in your K1 then?

 

[RS4Barry]

V-power and octane booster lol - just to be sure

 

[flakmunky]

Beware, Tesco petrol will ruin your engine in a matter of minutes.

 

[rpmleon]

Ran my TFSI DSG for the first 5000 miles on 98 Ron (Super Unleaded) then (Feb 08) changed to 95 Ron (Normal Unleaded) as an experiment for 2 months. Please see the thread entitled "DSG TSFi Mpg......." for the ongoing results.

Based on the results to date:

I have seen a drop of approximately 1.5 to 2mpg. Taking into consideration the cold weather we have had and the fact that I have had several occasions in the last few weeks to "really put the car through its paces" whilst demonstrating it to several friends who have taken an interest in purchasing a new car AND the difference between the cost of Super and Normal unleaded petrol. I am

I "personally" have not had any "noticible" difference in performance which possibly a true Petrol Head would . All I know is that if I have to deal with the occassional "Sunday Driver" or "Fog Lights on CHAV TWAT" Well............. Jobs a gudun

An additional few points to note in respect of the results

I do not drive like a boy racer but then again I am not a granny driver

I do not drive many miles per month and the majority can be considered as "Urban" driving only.

My own decision at this time is to stay with unleaded which, if I do get problems, WILL get sorted under warrenty because (as said in previous responses) this is what the manual (and filler cap label) says I can use

 

[Mike H]

The Cupra has had VPower in it from day 1

My previous MG ZS180 and MG F were both fed VPower during their times with me - even though, in the case of both, there was no tangible benefit from doing so (ie no automatic advance etc).

Don't know whether it's psychological, and I can't quantify it, but all cars always seem more responsive; more 'sparkling'. More especially, when the head was off the F, guess what - it was all clean and lovely inside. Not a hint of crud of any description

That's good enough for me.....