Hi all,
It's been a while since I've been at this section of the board. I figure ya'll got sick of me with all the trouble I had this past winter

Anyways, I have a question now before my ragtop arrives over here in Europe. Do I need to change the timing to accomodate the higher octane gas that we have? Our gas is 95 and 98 octane unleaded, while the highest I ever used while in the US was 93. Will the car run fine with just the stock timing or? If not, what would be an approximate sufficient timing?
If I recall correctly the timing is now set at the stock 6 degrees (do you recall Vader?)

Thanks!


Ken

 

it should run ok as is, but you can run more timing and not have knock with the better fuel and that might get you better preformance. you might want to play with it a bit, move it 2* at a time and see how it preformans.

 

Sorry to say,but european 98 octane is almost same as us 93 octane,becauce european octanerating is ron,and us is ron+mon/2.

 

Yep, thats correct.. Same as the fuel over here in AUS. measured in RON

 

Ahhh sweet! That makes things just that much easier!!

Thanks a lot for clearing that up!


Ken

 

Ken,

If my memory is any good (and that's a big ???) the base timing was left at 8°BTDC when it left the garage. I'll look through my files to see if I made a note of it, just in case.

I was going to ask if the rating was based on research, road, or an average, but Jari and Lars already answered that.

Another issue may be at play, however. You're going from about 230m ASL (750' elevation) to something potentially less, possibly as little as 100m ASL (< 300'). With the greater air density, you may make a little more power but could possibly have to retard the timing slightly. I wouldn't bother until you get a chance to drive it for a month or so, but just keep it in mind.