Re: 2.7T Gas Mileage

* Pete:
> 
> "Benjamin Gawert" wrote
>> The fuel quality in the US is much lower than in western Europe. The 
>> Audis (and VWs and BMWs and Mercedes) that are made for the US contain 
>> specific modifications to run reliable with that low fuel quality.
> 
> Can you provide links to some documentation on this subject?  It's not 
> that I don't trust you.  It's just that I'd like to find a valid source 
> if this information.

I don't have a link by hand. There once were some articles on a oil 
company website that discussed that stuff but I can't remember the link.

You can for example compare the European fuel standards (EN228 for 
gasoline and EN590 for Diesel) with the equivalent US standards and 
you'll see that the European standards are much tighter.

Besides that, if you have access to maintenance/part documentation you 
can compare the specifications for US and European models of certain 
cars. I.e. the last Volkswagen Passat with 1.8l Turbo engine (20 valve) 
was sold in the US with 130hp while the European version had 150hp. This 
was done because of the lower fuel quality.

There are other differences as well. German-made cars sold in Western 
Europe usually conform to the German standard which means the car must 
run reliable even when driving at maximum speed for a long time. 
Overseas versions which rarely get driven faster than 55-80 mp/h often 
come with downsized cooling systems, brake systems and other things 
which save the manufacturer money and have no influence on safety or 
reliability in countries with general speed limits.

Benjamin