Gas Question

Hi. I am new to this forum. My wife and I are are about ready to purchase a 2000 1.8T passat. My question is, what type of gas do you use or what is recommended? I talked with a volkswagen Salesperson a year or so ago and he told me that he talked with the North American sales rep. from VW and he said that you did not need to use premium gas. Is this true. he also said that there are only a handful of cars that truly need premium gas in the world today. Thanks in advance for any leads.

It's kind of a long standing debate I would think. Some high compression performance engines will run poorly on anything less than 91 octane (Porsches come to mind). I have a '95 Passat with the VR6 engine. I was told to only use premium (91 oct.) awhile ago. I did this for a long time and had no problems. Recently, with the high gas prices, I changed to 87 oct. and the car still runs great. I've been running this for about a year and have had no problems. One thing I have noticed though is a difference between fuel suppliers. Maybe I'm just crazy or paranoid but I think the car runs better with one brand of gas over another. Try it out and see, if you find one you like, stick with it. I think your driving style can make a difference also. Mike.

Mike-

Thanks for the info. I asked the previous owner what gas he used and he said 87 grade gas. he used it for 4 years without any problems. so, I will prabably do the same. maybe I will put 91 or 93 grade in every 4 fill-ups. Thanks again.

Bill