I recently purchased a 2012 Audi A4, my first ever cool car. I have received conflicting advice about whether I need to always, ever use 91-93 octane gas. Any dangers using lower octane?
Look in your owners manual. If it “recommends” 93 octane then use whatever octane you want to. If it “requires” 93 octane then you need to use 93 octane.
Missileman is correct, and I can only echo his suggestion that the OP open the glove compartment, take out the Owner’s Manual, and read the details on this car’s fuel needs, its maintenance schedule, and its controls. I can guarantee that the OP will learn many things in addition to his question regarding fuel.
However, I have to add that, even if 93 octane gas is only “recommended”, rather than “required”, it is very likely that the car’s gas mileage will drop with the use of lower octane fuel, thus making it a questionable way to save money.
You can use 87 octane, but your performance and fuel economy will suffer.
BTW, just on the off chance that you made a typo, if you meant S4 instead of A4, you need to use premium only.
Waste of time going cheap . Lower octane means retarded timing means lower gas mileage . If pennies mean that much to you buy a Yugo .
It’s the turbo 4, right? I would only use premium.
Your gas cap may also tell you whether premium is recommended or required.
If gas cap says recommended try regular. However many time regular fuel in a engine designed for premium can lead to lessor MPG which negates the savings and sometimes costs more.
Premium is recommended. But consult your owner’s manual to be certain.
Above posters are spot on, use what the owner’s manual says. In many newer cars the octane rating is “recommended”, & if the driver doesn’t use the correct octane, the engine quickly figures it out and adjusts its operating parameters, likely retarding the ignition timing among other changes. How that affects fuel economy and acceleration will vary car to car. But if the octane is a “requirement”, that could mean there is a possibility of engine damage if the wrong octane is used.
your Audi has several special needs far as fluids go read the owners bookit might save your wallet
Use the premium even if you don’t have to. Some engines that say regular is recommended might benefit from premium. Some of those engines have eleven to one compression ratios or close to it. Yes I still use regular in the Rav4 but sometimes I pay more for fuel that is “all that”.
If you have all that compression and all that power and all that performance in the Audi, pay for gasoline that’s all that. I didn’t answer your question but the answer was free.