Do you have to use premiun fuel with the V6?

Asked by skiakgta Mar 22, 2007 at 05:55 PM about the 2002 Volkswagen Passat GLX Wagon

Question type: General

12 Answers

24,210

Dear skiakgta-- Volkswagen call for a minimum of 91 octane for the 2002 Passat V6. That means premium gasoline. Many people I know, however, defy manufacturers' recommendations and use regular until they hear a ping or feel a difference in performance. Taking that chance is up to you. Good luck from Bovan.

11 people found this helpful.
765

Octane rating is only one concern. I have run lower octane (regular unleaded) in my Passat however, I find equally important is the quality of gasoline used. While it's tempting to go the cheaper brands they can and frequently do have a long-term effect on your engine. Higher quality fuels with detergent additives (and frequent oil changes) will keep your engine from sludging up.

7 people found this helpful.
145

youll get better mpg with premium so they offset in cost between premium and regular will be have balance within 10 fill ups.10 tanks premium=11 tanks regular premium is much better for the car also

5 people found this helpful.
75

You dont have to, but u get better torque with higher octane, and its better for the engine, i would say every 3rd tank, use 99octane. I always used 99 on my VR6. 91 octane seems a bit poor for a engine like that i think =)

4 people found this helpful.
115

VW cars all had calls for reflashes all the cars to low grade, so owners who dont pay attention can use low grade and get better mileage. Specifically 1.8T's. They will still dial in on higher octane, but not as hard. If you want and are going to run 91/93, get it chipped by APR and get your moneys worth from the cars performance and mpgs. Would never look back.

5 people found this helpful.
105

use 91, i use shells V-POWER. seriously it helps

4 people found this helpful.
10

It doesn't say fill up premium only for no reason, But its safe to fill up regular every now and then. If you keep only using regular though, it will cause knocking to your engine, and decrease its performance. You'll also will get better performance and mpg. Me personally, i always fill up 93octaine in my IS300.

1 people found this helpful.
145

ok.. you can use whatever you want but it's at your own risk.. the vr6 "requires" 91 instead of 87 because of the temperature in the combustion chanber. 87 rated fuel will spark prematurely due to high temperatures which can cause a "knock" (crank shaft wanted to reverse it's rotation direction) 99% of the time the engime management software can compensate and in turn you just lose MPG, but if it doesn't catch it, you can cause severe engine damage. Plus realistically.. the wasted gas mileage will equal out you just buying the premium fuel..

8 people found this helpful.
115

My 93 Passat VR6 says recomended 98 octane min. 94. They have a higher compression ratio so thats why Volkswagen recomend using premium fuel. Your VR6 will run better on premium and will get pre-detonation if you run it soley on regular fuel.

4 people found this helpful.
815

I own a 03 GLX V6 4Motion wagon and don't listen to the people that say to use it every 4th tank, use it all the time unless not possible, The prievous owner used regular and averaged 18MPG, I use premium and I have a VERY heavy right foot, I average 20MPG. Also they want you to use premium because the block has a 11.2:1 compression ratio. thats high, so use premium

7 people found this helpful.
60

I wish somebody would have told me this before. Now I'm stuck with a $950 bill for 2 fuel pumps from using regular gas

6 people found this helpful.

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