Re: thinner head gaskets?

["Scott F. Williams" <sfwilliams@worldnet.att.net>]

Mark Stanton wrote:

> I think you're supposed to be using premium all the time.  Doesn't your
> gas door flap say 92 octane minimum?

Audealex@aol.com wrote:

> Are you saying you don't already run premium gasoline? Don't waste your money on a thinner head gasket.  The 16V motors already
> have  a 10:1 compression, and are prone to pinging when the temperatures get high.  The "benefits" of a thin headgasket would
> probably be: more pinging, and no noticeable gain in power.

Yeah, I *do* run premium all that time -in my non-knock sensor equipped Audi 2.0l 8v-powered ProRally Rabbit GTI. The car doubles
as a daily driver, too (can you believe that?) Heh... :^). However, I'm just now building up a 2.0l 16v motor for my project
Scirocco. My goal is a very wide torque curve and I'm looking at increased compression as a possible aid in this regard.

Since I'm planning on running a hot set of cams with more overlap then stock low-end torque will be compromised some. This overlap,
however, should actually reduce the effective compression ratio a little bit -given that some of the cylinder contents will
actually blow right out the exhaust port. (-kinda like why turbo engines dislike the typical radical cams that our regular motors
love.)

Now, I've never owned a 16v motor before; that's why I'm soliciting recommendations from others. Are these motors really right on
the edge as far as pinging is concerned? I mean, the thin gaskets up the ratio only about .5:1 I believe. Can't the stock knock box
and good quality pump gasoline compensate for a slight increase in compression like this? Like I said, the other car doesn't even
have knock protection. Of course, if the computer dials the ignition timing back at all, I won't realize any advantage, but how
about when I throw some Ultra94 in it? Etc. etc...

I absolutely do not want to build a grenade motor but I do wish to take advantage of anything that I can get away with. So, again
-should this *really* be a problem or what?

P.S. I've blind cc'd I number of folks who wouldn't be expecting this email. I'd love your input on this anyway, though. Thanks!
--
Scott F. Williams
NJ Scirocco nut
SCCA ProRally driver
Hotrod Rabbit GTi


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