Ok my story: First owned a beeeautiful 1989 Legend back in the early 90s, I think it just came off lease. 5-spd, V6, I could take out beemers with ease in that car. Had a beautiful cloth hardtop roof and moonroof. Slid into a curb and wrote off the frame. There ended my love affair with Acura, drove Honda Civics ever since due to financial reasons.

Fast forward to today, we have a 02 Odyssey and a 96 Civic. My wife needs a car to drive in to work, and the Odyssey in traffic and downtown is just too much. I'd would have given her the Civic, but she can't drive stick. SO, after 17 years of loyal Honda 5-spd driving, I sold my Civic last week and have been in the market for an auto of either Honda or Acura quality since.

Enter the Acura relevancy: I just saw a sweeeet ass deal on a 2.5 TL, 1996 with only 91K miles on it. From what I'm reading on this forum, this is the ride for me. Only stumbling block is the Premium Fuel requirement.

Now, there are two schools of opinion who think that anything over 89 Octane is just a marketing ploy, and then I also would believe that there are some vehicles that just plain don't run well on 87 or 89. I always stick to Sunoco, Esso, those types of gas stations.

MY QUESTION: What does the manual say? Can you quote it fully for me? Do i HAVE to use Premium fuel or is it like the Toyota Avalon where as long as you use decent 87 or 89 you are ok. Is it SUGGESTED or "IF YOU DONT YOU COMPLETLEY F*** UP YOUR CAR"

Finally, let's say it is a requirement. The different in cost per gallon/litre is pretty significant. Do you think I would still be able to make a case to my wife that it's still cheaper to drive the Acura to work on premium than the Odyssey on regular?

Cmon Acura lovers, help me out! I reallllly want to get back into an Acura, I miss my Legend so bad.

 

If you dont use premium, your check engine light will come on...

you wont get as much power from the car.

The mpg drops.

you will cause damage to it in the long run. (i know from experience)

 

For what its worth, i'm getting 20-26 mpg depending on highway/city miles and my lead foot.

To really tell if it'd be cheaper to drive to work than the oddy, calculate the mpg you would get for both cars and divide by the average cost of gas required for each car. That'd give you the mile(s) per doller cost of fuel that would tell you which would actually be cheaper to drive.

I also believe the manual says that its recommended to put in 91 octane or better, but you can use 87/89 at reduced performance (read: less mileage and less horsepower).

I wouldn't recommend it long-term, but a tank here or there shouldn't hurt.

For what its worth, there have been members here that acutally tried both octanes of gas to see its effect and its been confirmed multiple times that you'd get less mileage using 87/89 gas than 91/93. The math just didn't work in favor of the cheaper gas.

 

If you think about it, the difference between regular and premium is only about 3 dollars more when you fill up an entire tank. It's $3, go ahead and splurge and drive a great car that'll last you a lifetime.

 

well since I live in Canada it's more like a $7-8 difference per tank...

but I'm thinking I would be filling the tank less often still in the TL than the Ody so even without the calculations (thanks for them tho, youre right) by rough estimate I guess it would still be cheaper...

plus, the Ody is still not fully owned and under warranty, so makes sense to drive it less, especially commuting for work...

hmmmm

 

You wont save any money by using regular. While I do have a 3.2 TL, it also applies to the 2.5 TL. Simply, you get poorer gas mileage using regular and are in fact, going to spend more money in the long run on possible repairs, especially carbon buildup

 

The manual says that the car prefers premium gas BUT if you are using a lower octane fuel the engine will make up for it. The trade off is power and acceleration.

 

Rubbish. CEL does not monitor octane. Possible damage from using 87 (which I find hard to believe if the engine has a knock sensor) might cause the CEL, but 87 octane will not.

 

Ken has already tested this issue, you will make up the difference that you save on not putting premium on it with the more times you have to fill it up...

 

I have been running 89 octane in my 97 2.5 TL for 50k miles and have had no issues with mileage nor performance, averaging 22 mpg around town.

The car runs great.

 

89 octane is alright, but definitely dont go down to 87 or 86 octane.. (or the dreaded 85)