A recent article in the newpaper discussed the fact that more people are using Regular gas in their cars instead of Premium (high gas prices), even though they drive cars that recommend using Premium (like the Acura). Has anyone stopped using Premium and started using regular? I understand the computers will adjust to the octane, but what are the long-term consequences?

 

nope i use premium always, truly its not that expensive in my area the difference is about .30 cents between 89 and 93, so at 10 gallons thats $3 in my book thats is not worth have my car have more deposits build up, worse gas milage( if you want me to explain how that works i can), less horsepower, and more emissions. also i want my car to live long so a good gas is just as important as is a good oil.

 

civicking,

I still use Premium. I just wondered if anyone had stopped using it in favor of Regular. That's a good point you make about the deposits. Would Regular make deposits, even though it's non-leaded? I thought it would simply be a matter of octane and issues with pre-ignition (knocking).

 

I tried using regular for one fill up and my mileage was absolutely horrible. Back to premuim now.

 

honestly. really not that big of a difference IMO. You can't put a price on peace of mind.

 

well when i said deposts i meant extra carbon in the engine, because as gas gets older, the ecu nees to inject more fuel into the combustion chamber to get the burn it wants thats how you get the deposits, also thats how you get worse gas milage, next the regular gas is never as refined as premium, they also have different additives and usually tends to be the oldest, what gas stations do is that when the premium gas they have in the tanks gets a certain age they start pumping it as regular, even though it might still be 90 octain, it still meets the minum octain reading, so the regular gas is the oldest gas in the station and least refined. premium gas is the freshest and the most refined with the best additives. lead does not matter anymore you can't even find gas with lead anymore, as you might know lead was used to cushing the valve seats, because the metal in the cylidner heads was soft the lead helped that, cars today have hardened valve seats its not needed anymore. usually if you have a really old car that needs leaded gas you have to go an buy a lead susbtitue to add to your gas.

 

^ You can still find leaded gasoline at many stations that offer high octane (think 100+). CAM2 for instance or VP Motorsport both offer leaded gasoline.

 

Nope... don't think I'm going to switch either. With a 10.xx to 1 compression ratio I knew I'd have to put premium in. If I want to use regular, I'd have bought a Scion

 

I started using premium about 2 weeks ago and then i was low on money so i put regular in my last tank. I noticed alot more lagging and loss of power. I did not even remember that i put regular in it until i tried to pass someone. I feel that it is worth it to put premuim because it is only a few more dollars and why wouldnt i want to get the most out of my car by spending an extra few dollars

 

Scion tC

Might be a CL-S replacement next year

Waiting for the turbo kits to come out first

 

you gotta be kidding. i put premium in my big crappy dodge 4x4. it's worth the extra money. plus i have the ecu set on 93 octane setting.

 

When I test drove my Acura they put 87 octane in it and I never recall VTEC kicking in. When I bought it and put 93 in it, it made a world of difference. Does anybody know if a lower grade gasoline makes the ECU not to let the VTEC kick in?? It sure as heck didn't feel and sound like it engaged!! Anybody??

 

If your car is NOT made for premium...do not use it. Premium burns hotter and hurt the engine. When i picked up my CL-S the dealer (friend of the family) said "the car takes premium...but you can use regular." I still fill up premium though...

 

lol, that's a big difference betwee the first and second gen CL's. The first gens' lose power when using premium instead of medium, whereas the second gen's lose power when using anything less than premium... weird.

 

actually premium does not burn hotter , what the difference is that the higher the octain the harder it is to start the burn thats way if you engine is running hotter then normal as in boost, high compression, lots of high rpm driving the high octain gasoline will not self ignite.

 

yeah higher octane burns slower and more complete. the longer it burns the more power it makes.

 

If the car states use premium do it. If the car doesn't state it, use regular. It's also a waste of $$ to put in premium in cars that run on regular. Premium should only be used in cars that have a high compression ratio.

 

When I was using regular for a bit, my car started doing that thing where I came to a stop and it would drop the rpm's to about 150-200 and it felt like it was going to die. The car would shudder a little bit, then go back to normal. Ever since I switched back to premium I haven't had a problem. Plus, better gas mileage is worth it, so I'm sticking with premium.

 

I hope you are kidding. I worked at the Carmax Toyota and Scion in Laurel for 8 months and those TCs are straight shit. They fall apart waaaaaaay to easily. These cars sit on the lot and and have shit come off of them.

Oh yeah, I only use Premium: Shell v-power or Exxon Premium.

 

It really shouldn't make a difference. Especially on our cars. On some of the luxury cars like the RL they recommend 91 octane but in the 98 CL manual it says that 87 should be fine for our engine and buying anything higher is really a waste.

 

the first gen and second gen cl are not the same when it comes to fuel needs, different motors and such, also it says premium fuel right on the gas door on all cl's 01 and up

 

Premium:
$2.50/gal = 15gal fillup = $37.50
MPG = 27, MPT = 405


Regular:
$2.30/gal = 15gal fillup = $34.50
MPG = 20, MPT = 300

Assuming these figures, 105 miles more on Premium.
105 Miles at 27 MPG = 3.89 gallons
3.89 gallons (@$2.50) = $9.73

THE TANK OF PREMIUM ONLY COSTS $3 more, therfore, savings of $6.73/tank by using Premium.

Fill up twice a week (104/year) = $699.92 per year by using premium

feel free to plug in as you wish, but regular does not make sesne in the CL-S anyway you work it

 

Premium just hit $2.90 per gallon yesterday at the rip off Shells and Chevrons here in North San Diego. I also wish my CLS would accept a diet of regular but the engine management computer is set for premium octain (spark curve, etc) and the compression ratio is
just a tad high for using regular. On my V8 beast the computer will adjust for the OCASSIONAL tank of regular just as it will adjust for 105 racing gas. I doubt if using regular on a regular basis will lend to any carbon build up unless you are talking 30 to 40,000 miles or more. Ever notice how many folks dump premium into cars that you know just require regular....now that is a total waste of money unless the computers in those cars can adjust and make use of the higher octain, and you know they don't! Better off to run regular in them and run a can of cleaner (not dry gas) thru them once every 10k miles or so.

 

Geezus... if you can't afford a few cents extra to put the RIGHT gas in the car... you shouldn't be driving a CL....

 

91 octane chevron = 150,000 mi.+ easy
cheap gas is for rentals

 

I can see that some folks have fallen for the HYPE! You guys can go spend what you will for the gas pitched by the marketing guys but you need to know that it is all just a marketing ploy to get you to buy their gas. Oh yes, they may have an extra additive or two, but you can get the same stuff for your car in a can of good fuel additive, such as Chevron or Redline. No need to dump 30 cents more per gallon at every fill up. Lets see now, I have owned cars for some 48 years. I have never blown an engine because I used the wrong fuel vs the hyped variety in all that time. We have a Jeep in the family with 160,000 miles that has been run on Arco (supposedly bad gas don't you know) for the last 10 years and it runs just fine. But you know what, you guys go on believing all that hype crap, just like the Porsche boys have been for years. I do not run non-premium in some of my cars because I cannot afford premium. That is not the case at all! I am just smarter than the oil companies and know they are full of bs and I will not fall for their hype and advertising crap. However, some of you guys believe them, and that is fine and dandy for you. Follow a few Shell or Chevron trucks back to where they load the tankers and note what other brands are pumped from that very same location. Surprise, surprise! With age comes wisdom lads. Keep your eyes and ears open and when you get to my age perhaps you will also see the light.

 

believe what you want i have taken more engines apart then you have seen an do know what bad gas does untill you can see that you can believe what you want i know what i know with my own two eyes.

 

i once thought the same way you do, but i've noticed a difference between Kroger gas and shell or exxon gas. i'd get a lot of engine knocking when i used the cheaper grocery store gas, but when i stopped and started using shell or exxon (only 3 cents higher) the knocking went away. anyway, i don't think people were talking about which brand of gas is better than the other, they were debating on whether or not to use premium on the CL. so i don't know why you made the "follow the shell or chevron trucks" comment...

 

So I guess that 100 octane pump gas that I pick up at 76 is the same as the 87 that comes out the same neck...

 

Only premium here. One of the attendents put in regular once and I had the worse gas milage of any car I have owned.

Also, since most of us agree that we all use premium, I need not mention that for the most part we spent $20K or more on our car and mods, and an extra couple bucks at the pump should not kill us.

 

djf,
1. no
2.reduced performance, reduced gas mileage.

 

I have some questions: How do you know what kind of gas you're supposed to use for your car? Where do you get the info such as compression ratio?
If you want to switch from premium to regular and vice versa, can you just fill the new type of gas on top of the old one or do you need to flush out all the residue of the old type?

My car is a 3.0 CL, what should i use?

 

thread resurrection !

your car has 9.4:1 compression ratio.
no premium needed.

from low 10s :1 and more should put premium

no need to flush or empty, just mix them

 

Start by looking in the owners manual or sometimes there is a sticker inside the gas filler door telling you the minimum octane you need.

 

Actually what civic king said about the gas stations is not true,they will never use the old premium as regular. I spent a year working for a company that built gas stations like shell and mobil and what the gas stations do is they will have two underground tanks, one for regular and one for super, so they are two separate tanks and one can not be used as the other because thay are two sparate lines, usually the regular tank is always fresh gas because it gets used and drained more quickly so it get refilled more quickly, one other thing is that you should never go with the midgrade because all it is is a mixture of the two and is usually dispensed through the same lines as the regular gas so you could be getting the persons before you regular that is still in the pipes, so best to stick with the highest test and only use gast stations that are brand new because that means thet it is new pipes and tanks because if they are old than there is a lot of contamination

 

KMX is rite i work for a tanker company i, i deliver for chevron ,mobil ,arco,shell & mom and pops stores it all comes from the same 3 tanks reg,mid.prem ,the only diffrence is the additives ,in reality 87 is 88 & 91 is 92 state regulation that it must be rite on or higher ,its easyer for the refinery to over shoot then to get it right on point, some time there are not so good baches off gas to much isooctane or motoralkylit .