Regular gas in S60 2.5T?

I recently bought a 2004 S60 2.5T AWD and the owner's manual recommend using
premium 91 octane gas. I read through the engine specs that the compression
ratio is around 9:1 and i suspect that regular 87 octane gas should do the
job just fine.

The manuel also says somewhere that 87 octane gas is the minimum that could
be used.

Anybody out there who is using/has used regular gas with the 2.5T engine??

Thanks,

Jay

 

why? If you can afford that car, you obviously can afford 91 gas.

 

Higher Octane is because turbocharger raises the effective compression
ratio.

Jack

 

The engine "can" ran un the 87 octane, but with reduced power. My father
asked the salesman at our dealership the same question about the V70 2.5T.
Of course we buy premium anyways, but he was curious.

As one poster said, if you can afford the payments on the car, but can't
afford 10 cents more per litre, then you cannot comfortably afford the car.

9:1 compression is about right for a turbocharged engine. The older models
of Volvo turbos are like 8.5:1 I think. Their natural aspirated engines are
around 10-10.5:1 if I remember correctly.

What happens with 87 octane, is the computer knows it is using the inferior
fuel, and it adjusts the timing and whatnot, no real problems, just a little
less kick.

 

Do they still sell gas with 87octane in the US??
The lowest in Belgium is 95.

 

They do (sell 87 ocatane in America), the octane rating is apparantly
calculated differently in North America than in Europe. I have seen 94 and
95 Octane fuel here, but it is very rare, and pricey. 87, 89, and 91 are our
"regular", "plus", and "premium/super" grades, anything higher will be
labeled with whatever the brand calls their special high performance fuel.

Volvo recommends 91 Octane in our 960, and recommended 89 Octane in our old
740 16 Valve, our 8 Valve VW only requires 87 Octane fuel, but seems to run
slightly better (under extra-normal conditions: heavy load, high speed, hard
acceleration) with higher octane.

All these engines have a compression of over 10:1, the old Volvo and VW at
10:1, and the 960 at 10.7:1.

 

Use premium. Don't put regular gas in a Volvo.

Ben (always uses premium in my 90 760 turbo)

 

Do the math: Assume 12,000 miles per year, and 20 MPG. That's 600 gallons of
gas. At $2.20 per gallon (about what it is in So Calif about now, maybe
higher) that would be $1,320. Figure regular gas at $1.90 per gallon, the
cost for 600 gallons would be $1,140. So $1,320-1,140 = $180 annually.
That's $15 per month. Or $3.75 per week. Give up Starbucks one, maybe two
days, and you've got it. Bottom line: it's not worth worrying about. If you
can afford an S60, you can afford 91 octane.

HW