austingm 0 Posted May 26, 2008 In Malta we don't have the luxury of choosing between differnt types of unleaded fuel. The choice unfortunately is pretty simple: either LRP (lead replacement petrol) or Unleaded. Which fuel would be best for a fully rebuilt 1.6 GTI engine? Thanks Austin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnsimister 10 Posted May 26, 2008 No XU engine needs either lead or a lead substitute because they have very hard valve seats. They are designed to run with an octane rating of 97 or 98, though (apart from the cat XU9JZ which I assume is set for standard 95 octane unleaded), but you can retard the ignition timing by 2 degrees on the 1.6 (set it to 28 degrees at 3000rpm if it's an XU9JA) and run it on 95 octane unleaded. The loss in power is barely noticeable and in the UK many cars were thus adjusted by main dealers when they were current. The 1.9, however, doesn't run well with its ignition retarded and really needs super unleaded (97 or 98 octane). What octane rating is your unleaded in Malta? Is it the standard Euro 95? That will dictate whether you need to retard the ignition or not. Hope that helps. John Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
johnsimister 10 Posted May 26, 2008 Having said all that, if your LRP has a higher octane rating than 95 - UK LRP was the same as the old four-star, ie 97 - you could use LRP with the standard 30deg/3000 timing and get the fractional power benefit of the higher octane. But if LRP is more expensive then I wouldn't bother. I ran a 1.6 on 95 octane for several years and it was fine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
