Correct fuel type for Octavia RS

[ddizzle]

Hi guys,
I note that the brochure and most places on the internet state that the minimum RON fuel for the 2015 model Octavia RS is 98RON. However, my fuel flap say 95RON. When I consult the manual it is a mess of different possibilities for every single Octavia in the world and I cant' decipher which one is applicable for Australia.
I'm of the belief that 98RON should be used but wanted to know if I am wasting my money.
Your thoughts are much appreciated.

[Lucas_R]

98 all the way.

[afterdarker]

Petrol is so cheap at the moment why are you even concerned about it?

The car will run better on 98 every time, but is fine to run on 95. I've even filled my RS up with 91 - by mistake one day - and it ran quite OK (but would recommend 91 in emergencies only)

[Transporter]

I've even filled my RS up with 91 - by mistake one day - and it ran quite OK (but would recommend 91 in emergencies only)

I would always stick with the manufacturers recommendations and go with minimum 95 in emergency only.

[afterdarker]

I would always stick with the manufacturers recommendations and go with minimum 95 in emergency only.

Self evident - but what is there is no 95 or 98 to be had? Not uncommon in rural areas, where frequently they have diesel or 91 only. What I am saying is you can get home on 91 if you have no alternative.

I most often face the issue on a country ride on my motorcycle which has minimum 95 RON recommendation but when you are on a remote ride and just come off some gravel road and there is the local cafe and an old petrol pump and all they have is 91, what are you going to do, call the NRMA and say please visit me with a can of 98? OK see you tomorrow as I will sleep in the pub overnight waiting for you to get here and yes I will pay $$ for remote call out? Of course not, you can put 91 in it, get further down the track to a bigger town and top it up with 98. Do that with an RS very occasionally and at least it will get you home, it will not blow up your engine.

I will now be howled down by all the petrol purists here that never drive out of urban areas.

Anyway just put 98 in it day to day, you actually get better mileage from 98 than 95 IMO and certainly it runs better.

[ddizzle]

Thanks for the repies. As mentioned, I believe in putting 98RON in my RS.

I think the varied responses just serves to highlight just how confusing Skoda is on this issue. It seems stupid that the website/brochure says one thing, the dealer suggests something else, the manual lists all possibilities, and the fuel flap says another. Makes it hard to comply with warranty if you are trying to follow "by-the-book".

[Reichter]

I always fill with 98 in ally vehicles. Even my 2002 Honda CRV. When doing long trips in remote areas, I bring octane booster with me. small bottles that go with a whole tank. so a few bottles will help you get out of trouble.

[Gerrycan]

The Manufacturer's recommendation is for a minimum of 95 Octane and as many here have said the general wisdom is that 98 is better.
Having said that I run a 1.4tsi which is also recommended to have 95 Octane and I tried several concurrent tanks of 98 to see if it could fix a post cold start hesitation issue I experience. Quite honestly I could not detect any improvements to power, response, or economy to justify continuing to use 98 and so have switched back to 95.
Engines do vary so it is worth doing the experiment for yourself.
The 1.8tsi Octavia (not the Scout) is in a relatively low state of tune compared to the 1.4 or the 2.0 engines and can supposedly be run on 91 Octane but the fuel sold in Aus is not great quality and still has relatively high proportions of sulphur compared to Europe.
In South Australia 95 is generally 11cents more than expensive per Litre than 91 and 98 a further 6 cents more still.

[brad]

The 1.8tsi Octavia (not the Scout) is in a relatively low state of tune compared to the 1.4 or the 2.0 engines and can supposedly be run on 91 Octane but the fuel sold in Aus is not great quality and still has relatively high proportions of sulphur compared to Europe.
.

My 118kw 1.8tsi says 95ron minimum on the fuel flap.

Running 91ron (stupid dealer owed me a tank of fuel and then added 50L of 91ron) results in a noticeable decrease in torque over a smaller rev range and an increase in fuel consumption from about 6.5L/100km to 7.5L/100km under the same running conditions. I assume this is because the ECU pulls timing and increases fuel flow to compensate for the reduced octane.

More importantly, while the power returns almost immediately after filling with 98 ron, it takes around 2 tanks of "the good stuff" (say 1000km) for the MED17 ECU to restore the fuel economy.

I think most important is the cents per kilometre figure. On my car, it's pretty much the same whether it be 91ron, 95ron or 98ron. At current prices that's around 8-8.5c/km

[dArK5HaD0w]

on the mk2 vRS, the fuel cap shows 98 as recommended, with 95 as min.