I know there are a million threads about premium fuel but here's my story...

I dropped my car off at the dealership yesterday and they gave me a loaner to drive for a few days. The loaner is a '06 PWP TSX non-navi 5AT (very nice color btw). Anyway when I first got in, started it up and drove it around I noticed immediately how hard the car shifted which I attributed to the fact it might have been sitting for while. I was driving mostly at speeds around 35-40 mph around Roanoke so I didn't notice how much power the car lacked either.

Then, a few hours later I got on interstate to make the 90 mile journey back home and noticed how horribly bad the car was accelerating and vibrating. It almost sounded like it was sputtering when I went between half-throttle to wide-open, so I took it easy on the car from then on. By the time I got home the gas tank was below 1/4 (it was a little under halfway when I left the dealership) so I decided to fill it up with some BP/Amoco Ultimate.

It's unbelievable how much of a difference I felt after driving around with the 93 octane in the tank. The car shifted smooth again, as it should, and it ran like a new car with 10k miles should run. While I would never put regular fuel in my own TSX unless I absolutely had to, I am glad that I know the effects of doing such a thing to the TSX. It never seemed worth the lower price to me anyway, but now I am downright scared of using anything below 91 octane.

I do have one question though... When this car goes up for sale will it be sold as a demo or sold as a used car, and will it be certified?

-Shaun

 

It'll be mentioned that it was once used as a loaner, unless they decide to keep that from you.

 

other factors than just the fuel. it's not that pronounced. maybe the car sat for a while?

 

i cant imagine the car really sat for that long being a 06 loaner with 10k on the odometer. and even if it did it shouldent make that much of a difference.

 

I purchased a loaner with 9200 miles from a dealer in SoCal. They were upfront about the car's history from the start and they had me signed a form during the paper work part of the transaction stating such.

 

It just seems like it's very coincedental that the BP Ultimate 93 octane made such a big difference in the car. I drove it over 100 miles on whatever was in the tank before I filled it up and have driven it another 30 or so since I put the 93 in and it really has made a significant difference.

This car has obviously been abused though! The backseat is horribly dirty, there are scrapes on each corner of the front bumper near the bottom (visible from looking straight at it), there are two small scrapes right underneath the headlight, one of which is down to the plastic/primer, also a quarter sized hole in the rear bumper and a wide dent in the crease under the tailight, a 3" long vertical crease above the driver's side door handle, and a rusty chip in the paint (about the size of a pencil eraser) on the edge of the fender near the headlight. Poor car.

 

My car pings pretty loud sometimes on 93 octane, so I can't imagine what 87 octane would do. The few times I've had service loaners, I know they've been filled with the cheap stuff. An MDX I drove one time sounded like a diesel climbing a hill

 

but there is no reason for octane to make that huge of a difference without other factors in play.

 

and no reason to ping on 93. it's another problem if it does.

 

Perhaps it wasn't the octane factor alone, it could have been a really crappy brand of gas as well. Also, it might have been filled up when the tanker truck was filling up the station and got a little water in the car's tank. I dont know though, I'm no expert.

 

i'm not knocking you, i';m no expert either, but from the reading i've done, and from talking to my chemical engineer friends, there's no reasonable explanation for octane being a cause of a difference in MPG.

i must admit, i was very surprised when they told me this. as i always thought it did.