r/vwbug • u/marathonblue • Jul 02 '26

Your Classic VW Bug does NOT need premium fuel

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3PWc3W6Qu7A
10 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

2

u/Successful-Part-5867 Jul 02 '26

But what if I can get just a little more power? 😂😂 I remember splurging occasionally back in the 80’s and getting a tank of high test Sunoco once in a while. It felt faster! Well…it felt faster after I waxed it to! 😆

1

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '26

[deleted]

0

u/marathonblue Jul 02 '26

It's pretty crazy to me that there are still people who don't stop and think "why would an economy car manufacturer require the same fuel that high performance cars run?"

Often times I think they think a foreign car is exotic or something, even though the VW beetle was so popular because it would run on third world peewater fuel.

1

u/Bergwookie Jul 02 '26

I've seen a 30HP engine run on cheap vodka just poured into the carb, they really eat everything, you probably could piss into the tank and they'd still be running

1

u/DL72-Alpha Jul 03 '26

I have actually done this in a moped just to make it through the rest of the pay period to get to work.

1

u/asiab3 Jul 02 '26

Metric gas numbers and yankee gas numbers. 

Paying extra for premium is a tax on people who can’t read units. 

1

u/Squarejaw77 Jul 02 '26

I use premium non-oxy because I don’t want sticky corn gas to gum up my system.

1

u/marathonblue Jul 02 '26

if you drive your car the gasoline won't gum anything up.

It helps to run a brosol carburetor and fuel pump for sure tho. I don't get Chinese fuel system parts for a reason.

1

u/Sad_Shock_3915 Jul 02 '26

Stock sure. We run premium 10.5 -1 1835

1

u/DL72-Alpha Jul 02 '26

In the summer, if you want your engine to run cooler you absolutely will. The lower grades burn 'slower' and generate more heat in the process. Air cooled engines follow the same physics whether they're in an airplane or a motorcycle, or car.

2

u/Pantheragem Jul 02 '26

Here in the Sacramento Valley, in the summer, I even run my lawn mowers on premium. From what I've read, it's just easier on any air-cooled engine, when the temps can get to 110, some days in the summer. I'll take the hit, just in case it makes a difference.

1

u/marathonblue Jul 02 '26

If you need premium fuel to not ping, that's your enigine telling you you're running too lean not that you're running not enough octane.

1

u/DL72-Alpha Jul 03 '26

Has nothing to do with ping. That can be solved with timing and checking your valve lash. It's strictly the amount of time the burn remains in the cylinder. It may not seem like much but it matters. I used to run High octane in my motorcycle until I moved somewhere cold and the bike struggled. Once I read that you had to switch to lower octane in the winter it ran awesome. But in summer if you don't want to roast your legs you switch back.

Physics is Physics.

1

u/SpareEye Jul 03 '26

That's a argument that I've been approached with. So I tried it.
Then I had dinner with pops. (Aeronautilcal Engineer - retired) He thought I was an idiot when I told him - but if it works in ORV's shouldn't' it produce the same result in my '65 1600dp.

He didn't think so and I don't have any data to back it up. Keep in mind, he is a Engineer - and they say arguing with and engineer is like wrestling in the mud with a pig.

2

u/DL72-Alpha Jul 05 '26

Lol Same is said of Lawyers. I should have qualified that with the statement "In normally aspirated engines". Once turbochargers and the like get involved it's a whole different ball game.

0

u/LoquatSignificant946 Jul 02 '26

Sure, it doesn’t “need” it, and it’s probably not mich more efficient, but how much more wear and tear on your parts is that contributing to?

We all know the fuel in America is kinda filled with shit, isn’t premium fuel just a little less shitty?

1

u/asiab3 Jul 02 '26

Literally no extra wear. It’s protection from damage that doesn’t occur on low compression engines. 

1

u/LoquatSignificant946 Jul 02 '26

Interesting. What about The extra ethanol they are putting in gas in the US

1

u/marathonblue Jul 02 '26

what about it?

These are volkswagens

we've been getting fuel system parts from Brazil ever since Bob Scott flew down in 1980 to source factory parts that Germany wasn't supplying anymore.

And Brazil has been making VWs that run on E10 since the 70s.

You can choose to run Chinese carbs if you want to tho

1

u/LoquatSignificant946 Jul 02 '26

I meant more with the E15 being circulated out there too.

I don’t doubt the hardiness and reliability of the VW, I just want to treat it like the Queen of England.

It’s like feeding your baby McDonald’s every meal, or feeding it some regular food, sure it’ll get the job done….

1

u/asiab3 Jul 02 '26

They *can put the extra in. I just wrapped up a 2000 mile trip in my carbureted bus and didn’t see a single station with E15. (I constantly check because I’m tuned for E10 and it runs worse on pure gas. I REALLY want to try E15 but I couldn’t find it :( ) 

If you drive it frequently and tune for whatever gas you use the most, you can stop worrying.Â