What did you use three or two star petrol (gas) for?

r/

I was told that three star was a mix of 2 and 4.
I also think the older Porsches ran on 2 star. When did these stars get lost or am I wide of the mark?

Comments

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  2. catdude142 Avatar

    We don’t do “stars” in the U.S. We do have three different octane ratings of gas though. Higher compression engines sometimes require higher octane gasoline to reduce predetonation.

  3. Lalakea Avatar

    I think the OP is referring to an outdated system of gasoline types from the UK. Sort of like the USA’s octane/”unleaded” ratings.

  4. allbsallthetime Avatar

    I think the old people question in the US would be…

    Leaded or Unleaded?

    I know octane rating is a thing but when I was a kid I was still burning leaded gas.

  5. theantnest Avatar

    Do you mean 2 stroke VS 4 stroke?

    2 stroke is just gasoline with oil in it.

  6. moverene1914 Avatar

    I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m plenty old

  7. Kobbett Avatar

    Stars were used for leaded petrol, I believe unleaded always gave the octane rating. I think the last petrol that used stars was LRP in about 2000, which was 4 star. 3 star was the regular grade equivalent to today’s E10, but what you ideally needed depended on the compression and timing settings of the engine.

    Although when leaded was banned I was driving an old Citroen which didn’t care what it ran on so I never needed to know too much about all that at the time.

  8. SuperbPerception8392 Avatar

    My Dad pumped Ethel 

  9. Plus-King5266 Avatar

    What? If you are talking about stars and gasoline, this is how old I am:

    “You can trust your car
    to the man who wears the star;
    the big, red, Texaco starrrrrrr!”

  10. SetNo8186 Avatar

    Don’t remember the star system but do remember my dad filling up the 1960 VW bus with white gas at an indecently cheap price. Worked ok, too. VW’s were anything but high compression.

    That is the real value of the system, the gas itself doesn’t have a lot more BTU’s, its simply more compression resistant and that is what creates more power. If the anti knock additive wasn’t there it would cause compression ignition like a diesel and self destruct. Octane allows power to be made, the gas isn’t supercharged with more in it.

  11. Adorable_Dust3799 Avatar

    Most places have all 3 grades. Also most places blend them at the dispenser so you only have 2 tanks in the ground. Diesel would obviously be a 3rd tank

  12. GadreelsSword Avatar

    Never heard of star fuel

  13. DiligentCockroach700 Avatar

    Two star petrol was for lawnmowers and Japanese motorcycles.
    There was 5 star as well 101 octane. My Rover P6 used that.

  14. ShooPonies Avatar

    I remember 5 star. My dad used to use it AND a squirt of RedX in his Jag Mk2. It was a sad day when they phased it out and he had to retard the ignition so it would run on 4 star.

  15. tunaman808 Avatar

    This must be a UKEurope thing, ‘cos I’ve never heard of “starred” gasoline. It’s always been regular, mid and premium in my 54 years.