birdonamission

I see that Premium gas is recommended for the RDX, implying you can use Regular if you want to.

Just curious what individuals here do. Since gas is so cheap, it's sort of a thing where using Premium, especially since it's recommended by the manufacturer, won't break the bank to make a habit of it.

Thanks for any comments on this, pros and cons, about using only Premium (no harm not foul or you should definitely only use Premium). It would be my first car that "recommends" Premium gas.

5 Acuras

iTrader: (1)

Welcome! This is a topic that many people have many differing opinions about, it's been discussed here many times. I would suggest doing a search of the forums for more information. Enjoy your RDX! Here's a link to 1 thread: https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rdx-...remium-859183/

birdonamission

Thanks! It must've been my searching skills when I tried finding other posts about this.

5 Acuras

iTrader: (1)

Glad to help, good luck!

Comfy

If you don't want to think too much, just use the mid grade and you'll be fine. Just remember that it doesn't make a huge difference anyway and you'll save a few dollars. If you are anal about your car and / or going for a long trip with few gas stations in between then go for premium.

birdonamission

Thanks - I appreciate it.

chickdr

Consider this. The Honda Pilot uses the same motor with more output and higher compression than the RDX. It requires regular. This should tell you what the RDX needs....

Pilot 3.5l 280hp and 262 ft/lbs 11.5:1 comp ratio
RDX 3.5l 279hp and 252 ft/lbs 10.5:1 comp ratio

colt427

It would be a great selling point if the RDX recommnded regular over Premium.No doubt the premium recommendation does cost the RDX some sales.
Honda engineers have their reasons premium is recommended in the RDX.

ceb

Unless you get some knocking, running regular will net you a couple of HP less and perhaps a fraction of a mile less in MPG.

Back when premium (super, ethyl - depending on your generation) was 25 cents more than regular, you could make a case that it made some sort of sense. Today, with super 75 cents plus per gallon more than regular, it makes no sense to run super as long as you get no pinging (and you won't). Regular gas has the identical additives as premium and mid-range brings zero advantages.

However - since everybody's commute is different, you should try it yourself. Fill up on regular a few tanks and check your mpgs and "feel". Then fill up with premium and drive the same stretches, in the same traffic, at the same time of day and see if you can tell a difference - I'd bet not.

FWIW, Acura is a premium car just like Lexus - the LandCruiser is rated for regular gas because it is a Toyota. The LX570 has the identical engine and recommends premium fuel. The Lexus is rated a two more HP.

colt427

I lease and don't care so I throw any kind of gas in her.Regular and no name gas.Once in awhile BP 93 and I do feel a bit of a difference and the cost is about a .40 difference.
However,like I posted,a regular recommendation would help with sales.People get turned off with a premium recommendation.The recommendation is premium and it's not for a couple more HP..I would think Honda engineers know more than we do but it's up to the owner to use whatever..

dirleton

"I lease and don't care"

This is why I never buy used.

snorf

Yeppers! Another name for CPO (certified pre-owned) is USED! Much like "doc fee" is nothing more than what used to be called "additional dealer profit". And there are those who are going to mention all the wonderful things that are checked on the CPO vehicle..... that's nice. It's still a used car and you have no idea how it was treated by the previous owner and no idea what really was checked to make it "certified" other than someone looking at a few things and selling you a bill of goods.

thoiboi

https://www.google.com/search?q=site...hrome&ie=UTF-8





Some dolts will always feel like they want to go against the grain and put in Regular regardless..

birdonamission

I thought the Pilot is more the MDX's "counterpart" in the Honda - Acura lineups, if you want to do a comparison like this. In my personal example, vehicle size is important so I would consider neither the Pilot nor the MDX, "Premium fuel recommended," or not.

chickdr

Not really getting you here. The RDX and CRV are "counterparts", but the CRV doesn't have the V6. The RDX, Pilot and MDX use the same 3.5 V6(with slightly different outputs and compression ratios), There is absolutely no evidence for the need of premium in the RDX other than it saying so in the manual. If there was premium would also be recommended in the Pilot. Ours has run just fine (the engine anyway) on regular in the 13k miles we have driven so far. The RDX will put less stress on the engine being in the smaller/lighter RDX frame and it has a lower compression ratio so how would there be an argument for it needing premium while the Pilot does not?.

RDX10

Actually I don't think they do use the same motor. The Pilot uses a direct injected version of the 3.5 V6 and the RDX uses the old Accord 3.5l port injected V6. This may account for why the pilot makes more power on regular and with higher compression.

In my honest opinion, the RDX needing premium is complete bullshit. It is done so that someone buying or driving the car feels like they are driving something "premium" or "expensive".

The old J37 needing premium made sense to me, back then 300hp from a naturally aspirated port injected V6 was really good. But premium in a modern 3.5 to make 279hp is absurd when MANY other makes including honda itself has equal sized or smaller engines that make the same power or more on regular. It is a marketing play and nothing else.

Lexus used to specify premium for the RX with the 3.5 V6 up to 2010 and it made like 5 more HP than the same exact engine in the highlander and rav4 with regular. They then changed that out in 2011 to ask for regular fuel. Do you really think you will feel 2-5hp difference? The computer won't even notice and pull back timing. It isn't exactly a high compression, high strained engine to begin with in the RDX. If it was making like 300+ HP I would say premium all the way.

chickdr

If this is the case(and it makes sense as the Accord's V6 is 278hp and 252 ft/lbs) then even more reason to ask why there is a need for premium. The Accord V-6 only requires regular fuel.

RDX10

Both the Accord and RDX use the J35Z1 engine. Both rated for the same power. One calls for premium and the other regular yet they both make the same power?

It is easy to argue that maybe they changed the power map, but with identical power numbers and compression I find this hard to beleive. So I stand by my original theory that Acura simply wants premium fuel to give the impression of a luxury vehicle. Keep in mind they say "recommended" not "required", this alone proves to me that there is nothing different. If it really needed it, it would say required.

chickdr

Acura would probably say we need premium to get the extra 1hp of the stated RDX specs(279hp vs 278 in the Accord)...

RDX10

Lmao at 1HP bump. In a car that NEEDS premium, putting anything less results in a fairly large power decrease, pinging in the engine, hesitation, vibration...etc. I can't ever imagine putting regular in my 1G RDX or my 2G MDX. But paying 25+ cents per litre for a 1hp bump? No thanks.

ceb

Good watch. A bit long but worth watching

thoiboi

This damn argument comes up once a month on Acurazine and has been beaten to death about a million and one times. Just pump whatever the hell you want .

RDX10

I'll be honest that I did watch but skip through the video, but in all due respects because it was something I already knew.

This is a video that should be posted to ALL threads on all forums discussing regular vs premium. People seem to be under the false preconceived notion that premium fuels are cleaner or last longer...etc. Which is pure bullshit.

Unless otherwise stated, the ONLY difference between premium and regular a.k.a 91 and 87 is that premium gasoline has a lower combustion or compression ratio and will not ignite as easily therefore created to power cars with higher compression engines. Some gasoline providers will state that they put more detergents in premium, I don't know if this is true or not, but just being 91 octane does not mean it is cleaner than 87.

Also, if your car is not designed to run on premium you are not going to get any benefit. Period!

On the other hand, if your car requires premium. You better put premium in. I remember on the other gasoline thread here in the 2G RDX section someone mentioned their dumbass boss putting regular in his AMG mercedes. That is just asking for trouble.

RDX10

birdonamission

Problem is I don't know what I don't know and the responses have been very helpful. I definitely wouldn't want to put whatever the heck I want in the gas tank.

If the point is that this topic has been resurrected several times and the same arguments are being argued all over again, fair enough and sorry - but as I said earlier, my searching skills for older posts was a little lacking...lol.

Besides, sometimes older posts are just that...old. Maybe there are other thoughts or ideas about this (maybe not?). Nevertheless, if anyone is bored with this subject they can just skip this thread. Meanwhile, it seems interesting and "controversial" and not settled enough that people still want to talk about it. And that's OK, IMHO.

birdonamission

Watched the video. My takeaway is that although interesting and informative, I'm not really talking about a car (a Chevy Cruze) that was never designed nor "recommended" by the manufacturer to run on premium fuel. The whole beef in the video seems to be about the fuel industry allegedly misleading the public into believing they should use premium fuel when they really don't have to. Well, part of that is the consumer, like with anything else out there in the marketplace, needs to learn how not to be taken for a sucker.

Now, let them hook up an RDX to all those contraptions and let's see results for a car that's actually "recommended" by the manufacturer to use premium in a regular vs. premium test like they did with Cruze...now we're talking.

chickdr

In any event- I think you have your answer. Don't worry about premium for the RDX. If regular is good enough for the Accord V6, it's good enough for the RDX with the identical engine..

thoiboi

https://acurazine.com/forums/acura-i...please-870434/
https://acurazine.com/forums/acura-i...ed-ilx-907171/
https://acurazine.com/forums/fifth-g...4l-tlx-920496/
https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rdx-...remium-859183/
https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...egular-934406/
https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...m-fuel-942196/
https://acurazine.com/forums/fourth-...um-gas-836958/
https://acurazine.com/forums/fifth-g...linder-945924/
https://acurazine.com/forums/first-g...06-tsx-662502/
https://acurazine.com/forums/second-...estion-496184/


and that's just page 1 of google search..

The rest are here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=site...hrome&ie=UTF-8

RDX10

I do understand where you are coming from, but I think both sides have a valid point.

On one hand, someone new to the forum or to the vehicle may ask a question without knowing how many times it has been discussed before. Sometimes views do change or a new angle comes out..etc. In my personal opinion, post whatever the hell you want and don't worry about who does or does not like it.

On the other hand, certain topics do get beat to all hell and it is frustrating in a sense to people who frequent the forum because they see the same topic over and over and over when it is very easy to do a simple google search and find the answer. Something funny I find is that when you post a question on a heavily discussed topic, you get flamed for posting the same topic, but if you resurrect an old thread you get flamed for resurrecting an old thread. So my advice again is post whatever the hell you want.

So while I did agree with thoiboi on this particular topic because it truly has been discussed to all hell. I again still think you should feel free to post whatever you want.

chickdr

^^^Agreed- especially when it is such a divisive topic...

thoiboi

views shouldn't change on what's written in the manual. Whether or not you want to abide by it is up to you though. Just like stop signs, you don't necessarily need to stop, No cop no stop right?


I had a caramel macchiato and spinach feta wrap for breakfast this morning

RDX10

that breakfast sounds fricken amazing! Is that from starbucks or what?

chickdr

Just because it's written in a manual doesn't make it the gospel. Do you really think Acura will check the octane of your fuel if you have an engine failure? It is just "recommended" anyway. Again, I ask for the logic in requiring premium on the RDX when the Accord V6 has the identical engine and requires regular. There is none...

chickdr

Another point and then I am done:

I have yet to read any reasons in the threads about gas grades stating anything other than "if you buy a premium car don't be cheap and use regular gas", or "it is recommended in the owners manual". I have no issue using premium if there is a logical reason for it. For example, the new Mazda CX-9 has a turbo 2.5L four. The listed output of 250hp is with premium gas. You can use regular, but the output drops to 227hp. That is a good reason to use premium. I have seen no such info for the RDX. If the Accord V6 puts out 278hp with regular - it stands to reason the RDX does the same with regular.

thoiboi

yes

yes.


if that means denying you a warranty claim then 1000 times yes.