Unleaded gas, is lead required Options

[Gcotton92203]

Simple question. 1973 914 2.0 Runs great!. I'm not the original owner, but he says he's always used unleaded and owned the car for over 25 years. I have no idea if the heads have been off & reworked but it seems in 1973 they would have used leaded fuel in this car. And I hear unleaded is hard on valves unless they've been replaced with hardened valves & seats. What's the skinny? Do I need to use an additive or is unleaded premium ok to use?

[Tom_T]

The 73 2L & all the 914/4s were made to run on unleaded regular gas, the 91 RON on the passenger wheelhouse is the Euro rating for regular & unleaded. It was part of the CA & USA smog stuff coming on then.

I ran mine on regular 12/75-5/75, as did the OO before me - premium & mid don't really add power & can cause other problems. It sat in my garage since 85 due to it getting whacking in a parking structure after a full body & mechanical rolling resto, so it sat on blocks awaiting the resto I've starting recently.

A bigger issue with the current fuel is the ethanol content - especially if the gas sits too long in the tank due to limited use.

So if you can find someplace in CA or across the AZ line to buy old school pure gas, that would be a great option & good excuse for a drive! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif)