Can I run my 4 on unleaded

[terry]

I have recently purchased a 1989 spanish 4 tl and am in the process of getting it registered in this country. I have found in the car some lead additive and assume that the previous Spanish owner used this. My question is should I continue to use an additive or is it ok to run it in this country on normal unleaded?

 

[petak]

Beleive that 1108 engine can run normal on unlead petrol. Many R4 in Croatia are driving on unleded 95 without problem (at least obvious one).

But i think it is better to put lead aditive.
It is not expencive. 8gbp for 250liters of petrol. I use it regularly

 

[terry]

Thanks for that Petak

 

[malcolm]

From previous discussions on here I think the valve seat material in these engines is pretty good, but it was not designed with unleaded petrol in mind. I don't use an additive in normal driving.

When I have driven 3000 miles on motorways around Europe at full speed I have had valve problems. That might be things getting lean and hot, but it's an old car so isn't perfectly calibrated. I would use additive for long motorway journeys.

 

[terry]

I think that I am going to use the lead additive on a regular basis.

Thanks for the help

Terry

 

[JdeW]

Since 1985 unleaded petrol was mandatory in The Netherlands and with my first R4, a 1983 GTL (1108 cc Cleon), I drove over 280.000 miles on unleaded petrol without ever any problem, even on topspeed (I reached 100 mph more then once ).
For the real early R4 models e.g. the 1960's and 1970's models I would change the valve seats which is fairly cheap.
Nowadays it's the ethanol in petrol that causes poor engine performance and higher fuel consumption no matter if your car is new or old, and thus it's more poluting.

 

[Niels Svane]

I use an additive because it often runs at 80 to 100 km/h, thereby being stressed maximally. But as far as I know ethanol is also used as a "lead substitute", and as petrol is increasingly infused with ethanol, the desired effect might be a byproduct?
https://www2.isye.gatech.edu/~vthomas/ethanol.pdf