# Best Brand of Gas for an S3



## DAC350 (Aug 25, 2014)

I know of the octane requirements, but are there specific brands of gas that are preferred for the S3? I'm also curious if anyone has had good results with another brand of oil other than Castrol Edge Professional.


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## India Whiskey Charlie (Feb 15, 2006)

http://www.toptiergas.com/


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## T1no (Sep 22, 2012)

top tier gas! but me personally only stick to 
chevron
shell
76
mobil

maybe costco lol

i know youre asking about performance?!?! but i honestly cant tell. i pick those because those ones around my area is clean.


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## RyanA3 (May 11, 2005)

SHELL

/thread


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## dan_s3 (Jul 8, 2015)

The cheapest!!! lol


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## TnTNYC (Aug 1, 2012)

Shell 93 only...


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## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

Chevron E85(4 gallons)/91 Octane gas blend... Allows you to run 100 Octane GIAC tune! :thumbup:


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## gamegenie (Aug 24, 2014)

Amoco Ultimate (BP) - Offering Unleaded Premium gas Octane at 93 since the late 80s.


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## A3_yuppie (Jun 5, 2006)

T1no said:


> maybe costco lol


Even if the gas itself is fine, idling while literally inching forwards for 20 minutes in line to get to the pump must be bad for any engine, especially an FSI engine.


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## araemo (Dec 9, 2012)

CbutterK said:


> Chevron E85(4 gallons)/91 Octane gas blend... Allows you to run 100 Octane GIAC tune! :thumbup:


Two concerns with that:
1: E85 is not always 85% ethanol, it's a variable range between 51% and 83%, which means the math isn't always the same.
2: Are all the lines/fuel system components rated for that higher ethanol content? (you're probably ending up at about ~17%-35% ethanol depending on how much was in the E85 in the first place, and whether the 91 octane is E10 or not). 17% is probably ok, since all cars sold in the US now have to handle at least 15% ethanol in the gas, but 35% is probably enough over what they're designed for to be concerning to me.


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## CbutterK (Feb 27, 2015)

araemo said:


> Two concerns with that:
> 1: E85 is not always 85% ethanol, it's a variable range between 51% and 83%, which means the math isn't always the same.
> 2: Are all the lines/fuel system components rated for that higher ethanol content? (you're probably ending up at about ~17%-35% ethanol depending on how much was in the E85 in the first place, and whether the 91 octane is E10 or not). 17% is probably ok, since all cars sold in the US now have to handle at least 15% ethanol in the gas, but 35% is probably enough over what they're designed for to be concerning to me.


Chevron station where I fill up with E85 has a dated sticker that guarantees 85% rating, so I assume it is somewhat consistent. And I don't do it this every fillup. To keep the ratio consistent, I run a full tank or two of 91 only till empty(on 91 tune), then I blend it again, to run 100 tune. That said, the newer cars can handle the E85 from a corrosion and other issues that the older cars are not equipped to handle. The only possible issue is the fuel delivery. Since E85 requires about 25%+ more fuel to maintain the appropriate AFR, the Fuel pump/injectors needs to be able to deliver the increased amount of fuel required. The stock S3 pump/injectors can handle the 4 Gallon blend, but can't go much beyond that from what I am being told by GIAC. So it's a balancing act, to maintain at least 100 Octane level with the help of E85, while not using too much E85 to require additional fuel delivery, which if it goes beyond the pump/injector capacity, will cause lean AFR.

So far, some that are using this E85/91 blend in AZ, we are all having great results without any issues whatsoever. I ran a tank of the E85/91 blend($45) & 100 Octane race gas($120), back to back during a track event, and there was no noticeable difference in performance between the two, and no faults logged with E85. The E85 blend actually seemed to make the engine run a little cooler even...


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## illbillTS (Apr 11, 2006)

CbutterK said:


> Chevron E85(4 gallons)/91 Octane gas blend... Allows you to run 100 Octane GIAC tune! :thumbup:


I'm surprised you got away with running the 100 octane tune with that low a blend and using only 91. According to this calculator that's only 95 octane (E30). How do your logs look, do you see a lot of timing retard when running the race gas file?

I went back and forth with GIAC about running the 100 octane tune on my TTRS and they told me with blends above E30 they've run into problems with fuel cut and lean codes on stock fueling when testing with the Mk7 GTI and B8 S4, and I'd need an E50+ blend to run their race gas file. I don't worry about fuel cut because I have a Loba motorsports pump, but I run an E30 blend and my LTFTs hover around +13-15%. I don't think I'd have the ECU fuel adaption head room to run E50.


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## DasCC (Feb 24, 2009)

Stick with Chevron or Shell.


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## DarkSideGTI (Aug 11, 2001)

I have a buddy who works for a local refinery here and he said that they provide the gas for multiple local gas stations. Those same stations will sometimes get gas from one of the other local refineries. They often add cleaners to them such as Techron, but those don't help with performance. The best thing you can do is go to a station with a fresh supply of gas, I try to stick to busy stations that turn their supply quickly.


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## ThorMjolnir (Apr 9, 2014)

*The Best Gasoline is Non Ethanol*

Gasoline with no ethanol has higher BTUs. Below is a list of gas stations in all 50 states and some other countries that sell no ethanol gas. I go out of my way to get the only available 93 octane no ethanol in the KC metropolitan area. Higher BTUs mean more energy. Usually more HP and MPGs. I notice better acceleration and mpgs when using 93 no ethanol when compared to gasoline that has up to 15% ethanol. It's ridiculous how some states don't even require stations to disclose how much ethanol is their gas! Some states even require ethanol to be blended in non premium gas! Also, the engine/turbo makes a much more noticeable growl. Hence why I only use 93 no ethanol. 

http://pure-gas.org/


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## ThorMjolnir (Apr 9, 2014)

I'm sorry, but we should not be using our topsoil to produce ethanol for energy consumption. It's absolutely ridiculous. However, we should be using nothing but hemp fuel. Too bad our world governments have not had the balls to step up to the petro thugs. Henry Ford's first Model T was constructed from hemp and designed to run on hemp bio fuel. However, the US outlawed hemp in 1937 due to the potential damaging effect it would have on the petro industry. This is actually why marijuana is illegal as well. Excuse my tangent, but it's almost been a century now and it's really stupid. Hemp actually revitalizes the soil it grows in.


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