adamb113

My 97' 3.2 TL requires premium fuel. What happens if I put in regular fuel? Just lower Hp or are there other issues? knocking? damage?

meazz1

Everytime I put regular or mod grade no-lead fuel, my check engine light comes on.
So, I stopped messing with that and only put premium.

KrayzieDxC

you coulda do a search but its ight but we talk about this,your engine light will just come on, and your emission will just fail on the tests when your engine light pops up..just stick with the premium that, what the manual book asks for.

TLBaller

i lowered myself and used the middle grade (89) for about 2-3 months and no engine light for me. Now I went back to premium so my engine will out last live me.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

our engines need the high octane since we have such a high compression ratio (if i am not mistaken).... kind of like when you run a turbo on a car, you need higher octane gas...

i have put regular and plus gas in my car and not had a CEL go off... maybe because i still had premium in the tank and it prob mixed together... i try to fill up whenever i get to 1/4 tank and not let the car run towards the bottom of the tank...

as long as you maintain the engine (tune up - fuel filter, oil filter, plugs, tire pressure), your gas savings will balance the difference you pay between regular and premium gas...

binky

With my Saber, it knocks and loses substantial power.

Meek32v6

iTrader: (7)

Just use premium. Most semi and luxury cars require it( unless diesel)
Their emission systems are really defined and fine tuned not to mention you will lose power
Injector will start getting clogged along with fuel filter minimizing performance and your car to run lean...personally I dont think it worth the risk. And if you thought about no, getting a lower grade of gas and adding an octane booster will not help. You actually end up spending more money

UnsanePyro

A fwe members here have had lower milage with lower octane gas also, to the point where it is cheaper per mile to fill up with 91/92/93 (whatever is available to you), and it's just a better driving experiance with the right gas.

Ken1997TL

That would be me

Tried regular for shits and giggles.. it cost MORE per mile to use regular than premium.

Why bother potentially harming your engine just to save a few bucks per tank?

Ken1997TL

Lower HP, knocking and possibly something worse. NOT worth it

c29842984

You are right about the high compression being the reason for high octane. The higher the octane the slower the fuel burns and with higher compression a lower octane fuel will want to burn too fast. I'm not sure what exactly you were implying with the turbo part but turbo motors generally have lower compression but still require higher octane fuel because the air is compressed so much more before being compressed by the piston.

binky

You can always pour in some Clear Springs or Moonshine....Something with over 120 proof alcohol....I use it on my race scooter, my buddy in his jet ski ( as an additive ofcourse).

kamal

I used the lowest grade Gas for the life of the car (that I've owned her). I got roughly 303 - 307 miles to the tank before the Gas Light came on.

Starting Jan of this year, I switched over to Premium. Mileage shot past 340 on each tank and the light doesn't come on until I hit 341 - 342.

I am very surprised by the mileage gain. I reckon the additional price I'm paying per tank is getting offset by the additional miles the car covers.

NEVER switching back to any other grade other than the highest.

98_2.5_TL

340? That's frickin' insane! i'm lucky to get 300 on my 2.5 TL 98.

do you have a 3.2, or just drive like a grandma? let me know.

Nedd

our cars can be good on gas. I'm averaging about 29mpg driving at approx. 76mph on my 96 2.5TL. I'm sure I can even do better if i drive a little bit slower. for town driving the mpg ranges between 22 and 24.
last week i drove 396miles, the light didn't even come on and when i stopped for a refill, I only had to put in less than 15gallons and if i'm right our cars have a 17.2 gallon tank.

Offcourse I use premium gas, and I think that's what honda engineers recommend

kamal

Well I've just turned 30, still got the speed bug live and well in me. I have a 97 model 3.2 TL

98_2.5_TL

that's really good mileage. must be VTEC, i dunno.

I ran Ethanol once just to see what would happen, and on the highway, my car had to rev higher than usual to go the same speed. on most 2.5 TLs, at 60 MPH the engine revs at 2500, but when i ran ethanol (89 10% corn-based fuel) it ran about 3000 rpms, making my highway mileage about 23, which is horrible. also, i don't know if this was just in my head, but at stop lights at idle, on 89 my car shook a little bit, you know, like torsional vibration? it was weird. just use premium.

Ken1997TL

No VTEC on 1st gen TL's

98_2.5_TL

Correction;

Your mother has VTEC on her first Generation TL...


what now??????

98_2.5_TL

another thing, When i used ethanol that one time, i lost substantial power.

my friends' 1998 Dodge stratus 2.4L 4-cylinder almost passed me when we "raced" once.

I should've added 5 computer chips to my engine, they add 10 horsepower each!

and a Universal bolt-on exhaust muffler, those add 20 lb/ft of torque, always. duh!

i should've also put on 20-inch rims on my 10-year old luxury car that comes with stock 15's. I mean, the rims would ONLY be about 3/4 the value of my car, and ride really well, because our cars were OBVIOUSLY designed for such rims. and they don't look RETARDED at all! wow.

and body kits make our cars SO MUCH MORE aerodynamic. wow, too bad our cars can only go about 130, making the aerodynamics mostly ineffective.

wackjum

Ken1997TL

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

?

UnsanePyro

Wtf?

HBaJ

I dont usually come over to the 1st Gen section a lot, but u have some peculiar people over here...ive never seen a comment turn into a random rant like that before..Congratulations 1st Gen TL'ers, u have a nut-job amongst u (kidding by the way lol)

Tino D'Voe

okay...

wackjum

Most people don't realize this but the 1st Gen TL has a very hollow door construction. It's the car of choice for smuggling. On a good night, I can cram at least 5 bricks per door. Its only natural some of us might start hitting our own stashes.















j/k

kamal

somehow I doubt it

chilismaug

I use regular in my 96 2.5 TL, 125k miles, gets 21 to 22 mpg, no problems. Your engine's computer ignition system should compensate for knocking regardless. The premium thing is a ploy by the carmakers to squeeze out higher numbers in performance and CAFE fleet standards. Many articles in consumer reports and the auto advice columns substantiate this.

Since several have mentioned their total cost per mile was lower with premium, I might give it another try but I used premium when I first got it at about 100k, and I don't recall any major loss in mileage from regular. If premium can get me 25 mpg, I'm sold but I bet it only goes up to 22. Always use major brands for petrol. I think the winter additives reduce mileage.

Another major boost is to take the free Acura emissions warranty recall service for pre 99 TL's with under 150k, They give you new wires, plugs and distributor parts, plus a free oil change for your trouble. It's a free tune up! I think I gained about 1 mpg after they did that.

Nedd

You must be kidding. I've gotten 30.7mpg on the free way before. as for city driving 24-25 is always something i get from my 96u 2.5TL. if u think you can only get 22 all the best but i can bet other people in this forum get more than 22, even those with 3.2 engines

Ken1997TL

I've gotten as high as 29 mpg in my 3.2 under some very ideal conditions.

There is no premium "myth" for the G25 or C32 motors, its needed. The J32 ( 2nd gen TL non-Type S) and gets by just fine with regular.

jcampi

I have a 2005 TL and it also calls for premium fuel. I read the manual carefully and it does state you can use regular fuel at 87 octane, but the performance will be reduced. With today's engines I'd expect the engine management system would recognize the lower octane fuel and retard the timing. I don't believe the lower octane fuel has any negative impact on the engine other than some possible carbon build up over time. I try to use premium about every 4 or 5 fill ups.



I'm expecting to change the oil in my '05 TL soon. Does anyone know what size the oil plug is? Thanks.

copy252

ive never had a prob putting in 87 and having anything go wrong per say... i will say 91-93 gets me like 20 mpg around town and like 25 on the highway. 87 i get shit mileage. something like 12 around town. its like dirty water. 91 or higher is the way to go. i dont care if its 10 a gallon!

Altitude

Make sure when you add those computer chips that you wire them in parallel and not in series coz you'll only get 10 HP per 15% of redline therefore youll get 10 hp every 650 RPM and lose the one before it. When its in parallel you get all the HP at once right thru the entire RPM .
Now as for aerodynamics I got the removable front spoiler/airdam. If I know Ill be driving fast i take it off and if I want to look cool and turn heads I leave the aero kit.
with regards to wheel size. I usually take off the stock rims and tires and swap them for my 16" winter steel rims and snowtires. the taller tire gives me all that more top end and also less wind drag.

PS Ive got 20 chips in my backseat. Some are plain but I have 4 that are BBQ flavoured.

98_2.5_TL

I fabricated an intercooler look-alike for my removable Airdam, so when i pull up to the stop light, 40% less people want to race me, because they're scared of getting killed by my monster turbo, that packs 25 PSI into my stock intake/MAF.

it's tight.

binky

Use ethanol or others not made for car use....I mean straight from the liquor shop kind. In Japan, we used to have like alcohol-gasoline and my car ran fine....cheap too. But it was banned cause the alcohol ate through hoses and caused engines to catch fire....sux.

binky

Shit, Japan has too much of the stop and go's so I really cant calculate the MPG....only how long a full tank lasts in a week.

kamal

Wow do I have a story.

Some of you may recall my earlier post in this thread stating I got 303 - 307 mpg using the lowest grade. I upgraded to premium fuel and mpg jumped up to about 342 - 343.

Get this, this past weekend I was visiting family (a 7 hour drive from where I live) and gave my car to a Midas. I had them do a Fuel System clean up and use High Mileage Oil (forget what kind it was) including some other miscellaneous stuff.

As we were going to start our drive back, I tanked it up with premium again and was hoping to see an increase in mileage. Boy was I NOT disappointed. Car cruised happily along for 392 miles until the Low Fuel light came on and I tanked up the car with premium again when I finished 410 Miles on a single tank (wish I had taken pictures).

Give it a go, get the Fuel System cleaned out with Midas (cost me about $70). Might be a little beneficial to some of you.

Ken1997TL

Kamal:

Sounds like you have similar MPG numbers to mine..

This past month I've been getting anywhere from 26 to 28 mpg. Low fuel light comes on anywhere from 350 miles to 400.

kamal

Awesome to hear Ken, love all over again with my TL....

was going to trade it in for the 06 TL but I think I'm gonna keep her and get the new one in any event