I own a 96 3.2 TL with 162k miles that I commute to work 86 miles round trip per day. I have been getting 28 mpg since I bought it 2 years ago with 119k miles. I live at an altitude of 6500 feet and my daily comute takes me between 5200 feet and 7200 feet.

Since I bought it I have been putting in 88 octane fuel, which is middle grade in our area - regular is 86 octane and premium is 91 octane. The engine starts well and is reasonably responsive for its age and mileage. Since it says I'm supposed to be using premium fuel right on the gas gauge, am I hurting the engine by not using premium?

 

It won't hurt the engine, however the engine control unit retards the timing to prevent pinging which hurts fuel mileage (engine efficiency is lowered). Most have concluded that the tradeoff favors using premium gas. I've run both regular and premium in my 2.5TL, and am currently running premium to see if benefit is perceptible.

There are claims of all sorts of problems w/ running regular, but I've never been able to detect any problem w/ regular other than possible loss of fuel mileage.

In your case, you have a history of 28mpg w/ 88 octane, I doubt you will do better w/ premium, but it never hurts to try.

good luck

 

I go with Premium as I've tested all the grades and noticed that per dollar, my car goes further using the highest grade.

 

I'm going to try premium for while and see what happens - now that gas is over $3/gal, an extra 10 cents for 3 more octane percentage-wise costs less than when gas used to be $2/gal.

In our area (northern New Mexico) the 2 higher grades are always 10 and 20 cents higher than regular, no matter what the base price - interesting how these oil companies work - but that's another story.

 

I'd be interestd in your observations. I'm doing same w/ my 2.5TL currently. I'll need a few tanks of premium to be sure, but so far I can't see any bonus around town, about 22-23 mpg for mixed freeway and street driving.

regards

 

Ken is right - higher octane = higher mpg.

I got 29.0 on the first tank with 91 octane and 30.3 on the second tank. I was getting closer to 28 on the 88 octane. I always go to the same Shell station, same pump so the auto shut off is the same on each fill up, so these are accurate numbers.

I figured the cost difference over a year (about 21k miles) of running on the higher octane and even though it costs more ($3.27 vs $3.19 for me) it will be about $100 less. Even if it was the same costs I would stll run on the higher octane as the engine runs smoother and peppier.

Bottom line: I never realized the higher octane gives you better mpg - this has been a pleasant surprise.

I'm going to check 3 more fills and report back - just to be sure these numbers aren't anomalies.

 

for me I tried the regular when gas prices went up. the car ran like crap I had no get up n go, the car shook a lil & ever since then I do nothing but premium. I was getting about 250 miles per tank & then I got an oil & tranmission fluid change & new filters & now Im getting close to 400! its crazy

 

So far my experiment w/ premium (91) gas is no detectable change. I'm getting about 22-23 mpg on a mixed commuting drive of 60 min/day total (~ 40 miles). Car runs beautifully, but it also ran well on regular. This is my 2nd tank of premium. I will burn another tank of premium before trying regular again.

I also plan to hook up my OBD2 monitor and track timing advance during steady highway speeds to see if there is an observable difference in cruise timing w/ the two fuels. A timing difference is only way that fuel consumption could be significantly impacted by premium fuel. If there's no increased timing advance w/ premium, then no fuel efficiency increase will occur.

regards

 

I run race gas.

~Cheers~

 

Here's a pic:



and my mileage as of yesterday @ 2130 (by 2230 I had alot more):



~Cheers~

P.S. Sorry for the blurry pics, my hands shake due to a car accident a few years back, and I forgot to turn on image stabiliser on my phone.

 

so I guess, you are getting around 270 miles in half tank of gas?
That's awsome....

 

go90go - I noticed in another post by you that you're car is smoking a bit. Mine does the same, but I have reduced it considerably by using Pennzoil HM 10w40. Mine is due to worn valve stem seals, so the smoking is always after idling at lights, never going down the road. I burn a quart every 1500 miles with 162,000 miles on a 3.2 - how much are you burning?

 

No, I forgot to reset it, hehe. I get about 200, maybe 220 to a full tank...

I don't burn any... Seriously, I don't. THe smoke was from water vapour and a backed up cat. I run GReddy GR-2 Turbo oil and I've got no problems right now... It only smoked after a hard run in cold weather, when I would stop for coffee. After a few minutes of chatting, I'd leave and that's when the smoking would start. It'd go on for about 3 minutes whether idling or rolling.

~Cheers~

 

200-220 miles per full tank?

holy crap. Sucks to be you i suppose.

 

I have proof:



The hills and traffic are killing me...

~Cheers~

 

where are you located and what do u get with premimum?

 

I'm in San Francisco, and I get about the same mileage with premium. The above photo reflects 17.33MPG. On a good tank I see 19MPG. Highest ever was 23MPG when I drove to Napa and back, then I drove to Pittsburg and back, all at 100MPH.

~Cheers~

P.S. Grannying it actually nets me worse gas mileage. Don't ask me why as it goes contrary to just about everyone else's experience.

 

Hello Everybody,
I am knew to this community...i have been using Acura 2.5 tl 1996 from last 1.5yrs or so...I commute to work about 10miles a day city traffic...i am getting around
220-230max on a full tank of Regular..
i tried once premium but no change ...so i contineoued with regular....

Any suggestions to improve mileage????

FYR...i have like 99k milegage on the car till date...

 

Ne sa~, you need to try 2 tanks at the very least to get best results. Unless you drained your tank completely, there is still old gas mixed in with the new. Now, considering you are driving city, there really isn't much else other than basic maintenance and cleaning. Make sure your TB's not gunked up, run some Seafoam through your PCV, and see if your EGR valve piping is clogged. Maybe a tune-up is in order, as well. Check out your plugs to see if they are fouled, and replace your wires with some NGK ones.

~Cheers~

P.S. That's just a start, as improper alignment can affect mileage, amongst other things.

 

I have a 97 2.5TL and am on my 4th tank of premium. So far no perceptible increase in gas mileage for daily commuting drive of ~ 18 miles each way. It's been constant at 21-23 mpg. Differences reflect occasional drive to airport w/ longer stretches of highway speed. Before returning to regular, I plan to check timing advance w/ premium and see if there is any difference between timing advance for premium and regular. If not, then regular will work as well as premium .

regards

 

hey Go90go,I live in SF also............which service station do you go to,to get that Racing Fuel..........I have never seen that at any 76 I go to. TIA

 

It's a station outside of SF, and it's the closest one that has it. They carry Sunoco Racing Fuel, and surprisingly, I was browsing MySpace just a few minutes ago and saw a picture of someone standing at that very station, next to the pump I was using! Here's the info:

King's 76
975 Woodside Road
Redwood City, CA 94061

The other 76's that had race gas were in SJ somewhere along Almaden.

~Cheers~

P.S. For daily, I'm loving Irving Chevron's $3.229 Premium! Ortega's @ $3.479!! The race gas will run you $4.899/gal, the same price it's been for the last 3 years. Says quite a bit for "rising" gas prices, eh?

 

mannn, i wish we had racing fuel where i stay at, what gas statiopn do they sell that at and is it street legal?

 

wait, premimum nets you the same mileage as race fuel? if so, why are you wasting money on race fuel?

 

here in houston we have supreme,plus, and regular, now which one of these is the premium...i thought it was plus

 

thanks for the info.....I thought only the highway patrol had this stuff

 

No, I get worse mileage on race gas...

Supreme = Premium.

~Cheers~

 

NP, m8. But remember, if you aren't boosting high, you don't really need the added octane!

~Cheers~

 

What I REALLY wanted to say was that I waste it because I have it... Hehe, not really though. It's a once-in-awhile thing, and I do it much less than eating out, and it costs me alot less than eating out.

~Cheers~

 

haha.......thats why I have to decide if I should SuperCharge my 03 or get an 07 type S... decisions ,decisions

 

Not sure about the 96 model year, but for a 97, Acura will perform a free tuneup up to 150K miles on vehicle, as they did for mine at about 95K miles. Something to do w/ an agreement w/ EPA to resolve a dispute on the design and performance of their emission systems. It really helped my performance.

Diy things are air filter, spark plugs, wires, rotor, distributor cap. The OEM plugs are NGK iridium plugs that seem to work very well, about $25-50 for a set depending on discount. I found them for about $6-7 apiece w/o difficulty.

Make sure your tires are inflated to upper end of pressure range, perhaps 32 psi and brakes are not dragging. Turn wheels by hand and wheel should turn easily w/ just a little pad drag. Some residual spin should be possible w/ modest effort. If wheel stops as soon as you stop pushing, that's too much drag and something is wrong w/ pads or brake caliper. Alignment can also make a difference in mileage if toe-in is incorrectly set.

Personal driving habits make a difference. If you drive 55-60 mph rather than 75-80, you should get perhaps 30% improvement in gas mileage, say 26 mpg vs. 20. Drag load roughly doubles for only a 34% speed increase. Note, this is at steady highway speed. Short trip improvement would be substantially less. Other benefit is you'll be more likely to arrive at your destination due to reduced risk of collision.

I got about 22 mpg around town w/ premium based on 5-tank average performance. I'm currently trying 87 regular on my 18 mile, 1-way commute. Early days but looks like premium may yield 1-2 mpg improvement over regular. No perceptible difference in performance.

regards

 

^^^

The 1996 model years are covered too in the EPA emissions warranty.

 

I got my 3.2 TL about a month and a half ago. I was only getting about 220-230 miles per tank. After reading this i drove down until the gas light turned on and added fuel injector cleaner, I then drove around for a few miles and then put in premium gas (quarter tank). Let that get to the light and filled up with premium. On my first tank I got 322 miles before the light turned on. Wow what a difference I cant belive it, I got an extra 100 miles out of my tank to average 22.5 miles per gallon. I am going to change out my air filter and pcv valve and test that out in the next few weeks.

 

Add some high mileage tires and you can get 25 mpg or more

 

And inflate your tyres to the recommended 29PSI or up to 32PSI. I'm really glad that you are able to get such great mileage!!

~Cheers~

 

Thanks I always forget to check them.

 

Remember, 29 is recommended by the factory, 32 is one of my favourites when I'm trying to save some gas. Any higher than that and you risk your tyre blowing out if you hit a pothole.

~Cheers~

 

hey i got a 98 2.5tl and got about 82k..now if i go to acura will they perform a free tune up on mine...if they do, how should i go about that as far as asking them?

 

1998 models are not covered

 

How can I get more info on that free tune up?