Boxer engines thirstier?

No, John, I do not. I appreciate being able to wait another week (or another 130 miles along the highway) before I MUST refuel. On a trip it gives me more flexibility as to where I buy gas. In town, that lets me tank up when prices are down, or pass on by when they are high!

I've now got one vehicle, a big GMC truck, with a 34 gallon tank. Since it gets over 20 mpg, I can go one week, two weeks, or three weeks on a tank around town. On the road I can stop 300 miles out, 420 miles out, or drive all the way to El Paso before I stop to refuel. I can, therefore, stop ONE TIME when I need to eat or use the facilities, rather than say, every

I am almost ready to buy a Forester, and one thing I in this thread gives me some pause: IS there a requirement for premium gasoline? I didn't realize there was.

The manual for my OBW H6 3.0 recommends high octane but says using low octane is allowed in an 'emergency'. I use mid-range as a compromise. I did run one tank of reg. - never heard any pinging.

Carl

Edward Hayes wrote:

Would that possibly be because the computer retarded the timing (and reduced performance) to compensate for lower octane?

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Oh yes I'm quite sure. I suppose 'require' is a relative term. Will running reg. in the XT result in pinging? how far can the ECU retard the spark?

No doubt I suffer some loss in performance (though not noticeable) and probably slightly lower fuel eff. but I suspect there is still a cost savings.

Carl

Bill Putney wrote:

I find the performance difference very noticable on my 2.5L Legacy. Running on 96 (or 98) RON it has a ton of torque right from idle. Running on 91 it can barely get out of its own way until you get to the plus side of 3000 RPM.

I don't think maximum power is affected much though.

-- Bruce

Very welcome news, Ed. Thanks