valleverde007

guys and gals, need your help/thoughts on these 2 things:

1) our rdx has some plastic protection in the door to prevent stones/etc from nicking the doors/door sills (it's called "door molding" i think).

however, just under this "plastic" protection on the door (eg. door molding), ive noticed quite a few stone nicks on the body - it is in the metal part on the body just under the door sills (not on the doors but on the body of the vehicle just before the undercarriage). is this normal/common? how do we protect this area and fix these stone nicks/chips (given that it's prolly subjected to a lot of these stones on the highway/roads/etc). fyi, the door molding itself has some stone nicks too but doesnt bother me as much since it's made of plastic

i find it odd that the CR-V has a full black plastic/vinyl piece all the way under but the RDX's is sheet metal, and therefore subject to nicks/stone chips. what have you guys done to prevent/correct this?

just to re-clarify, it's not the scuff on the plastic molding on the doors that concern me, but rather, the metal on the body just UNDER those plastic molding that protects the doors...

2) ive noticed that filling up with 94 octane, my turbo meter goes to the full "+" sign vs. with 91 octane where it normally only goes to 3/4's till "+" sign.

where i live, 91 octane contains no ethanol but 94 octane has up to 10% ethanol. (eg. shell 91 has no ethanol but is the highest grade they have here, however, sunoco has 94octane but always has ethanol). does this mean our RDX is really sensitive to these things and would be better to use 94 all the time even with 10% ethanol?

any thoughts/insights/advice?

many thanks

Mr Marco

1. Clean and use some touch up paint.
2. I read somewhere that the prime octane rate is 93. Maybe someone else can clarify this.

wspy

Its a thousand % better to use the 94 octane!

valleverde007

thanks guys. have used the touch up paint to fix it for now. problem is, i guess one has to be vigilant monitoring these (i just found out it's called the rocker panel.?) since they're really bound to be nicked and chipped? esp with lots of hwy driving?

as for octane, yes, been filing up with 94 now as often as i can and i really feel the instantaneous kick/boost vs 91 esp on hwys, from standing stops and esp hwys uphill. i guess this aint imagination/placebo effect. i hope so since im paying extra 3c per liter for it vs 91 LOL. i guess 91, as per OM, is really just a MINIMUM... now i dunno how i can survive without a turbo vehicle (RDX is my first turbo vehicle, fyi)

Mr Marco

Unfortunately no 94oct in my neighborhood. Airport/track race gas only, and that is 30min and 18 miles from my house.