Just wondering if anybody has tried 89 on their TL's? Gas prices suck these days now to be filling up with 91 in the long run...

 

yeah its like feeding your dogs shit instead of purina

 

Even with gas prices rising, I still wont switch below 91, but car has gotten used to 93, injector cleaner and seafoam and won't like if I put anything less.

 

91 or 93 whatever they sell where you live.
If you cant afford the differance of 10-20 cents per gallon for the right gas, thats about 1-2 dollars per tankful - a tank a week average- 100 bucks over the course of a year! then,
Sell the TL now, because 5 bucks a gallon is going to be the~ good ol days~
in the near future

 

89 is fine in the sense that the car won't blow up in flames.
I used 89 for four years when I couldn't find anything better in a remote redneck county where the best gas station they had was a CITGO station with 10% ethanol.
The car won't like it too much but would make adjustments.

Now that I'm back in civilization I've been using Chevron Premium mostly, but given my past experience with 89 I sometimes fill up with Chevron 89 when I don't like the price.

So I don't see any real harm so long as you pick Tier 1 89s, lol.

But preferably you want to stay with 91 or higher.

 

Follow what it says right at the gas cap 91 or higher
With the high compression and tight clearance in the motor- run the right stuff!

 

and it will make your car run like

 

i use 89 and the car runs fine.. the gas prices are up wayy too high... been using 89 for about 4 years also..

 

I bet you also get your toast out of the toaster with a wet fork.

maybe you should smoke a cigarette while pumping your 89 octane........


j/k

 

if you cant afford the premium gas, don't drive the TL. plain and simple.

 

I thought I recalled reading somewhere on this board that the car adjusts for the difference in octane, and that you get better mileage with premium gas. I think the result was you actually come out ahead on a cost per mile basis when running premium.

 

What you save at the pump, you lose in power and mileage. It's cheaper to put in Premium.

 

+1....

try using 89, i just about guarantee that you wont get the same mpg... or performance

 

For those naysayers... My mom drove the TL for 7 years, never once putting anything higher than 87, in the tank, which while scary is the midgrade here. I have been putting 91 in since summer, and get worse mileage, but I also do have a lead foot.

 

We have two TLs, one was using 89 and the other was 91.


The one on 91 drove much smoother, took off much faster, and in fact got better gas mileage.

The 89 lost performance (hell in a straight line, easily 1 car length, if not more), but it was recorded to be getting less mileage per tank then the 91...yet because of the 7 cent price difference in Ontario between the two, using 89 came out to the same price as using 91 over a year.


Since then, both cars have been using 91 and are going well.

The engines will adjust for lower fuel rates, but in doing so you will lose power.


And to the above, get off the lead foot and you'll get better gas mileage than your mom with the 87 octane .

 

tafetta2000- have you seafoamed per the NEW instructions at the TB vac port- that will clean up the crud from 87 useage.

Those who run 87 and proclaim no problems- have you done any direct testing with 91 or just figure: since it runs its fine its ok to keep doing
Running the way it will when it has to, versus running perfect are way different!!

seriously- why do you even care what 87 cost- they only gas price that matters to us is 91, not what the differance over: what if we drove a s..tbox like the guy at the next pump!
Trade the TL if you are tripping over 2 dollars a tank more than a basic car.
You bought a sports luxery car that weighs a bunch!
Get a hybrid

 

If you can't afford the whole 5 dollar difference at the end of a fill up, buy a Cavalier. Honda engineers don't reccomend 91 or better just to do it. Its for a reason. (being high compression)

 

Adjust your driving, not the grade of gas you use. Using lower grade/quality gas in the end will hurt, and cost you more money.

The engine was designed to use premium 91-93 octane, but they made it safe to run on 87/89 in case premium was not available. This doesn't mean it's "ok" to use it permanantly. It specifically says in the owners manual to fill up with premium at next fill up.

Staying out of VTEC, feathering the gas pedal, cruize at 2k or under RPMs and try to keep the revs low will yield Civic like mileage in your TL. Gas is absolutly insane and is about to go up so I have changed my driving habbits significantly. A full tank lasts me over a week and gets me about 350 miles when the light goes on with mixed city/highway driving.

If 91-93 is a problem trade the TL in for a Civic VP manual trans.

 

+2
Its only a 2-3 dollars difference per fill up. Im a broke college student and I can afford premium, why cant you?
Its better than fixing up your engine sooner. its just better k? just use what your told by acura/honda and dont stress over it. just one less thing to think about in the world.

 

Well im glad it generated some conversation, but to clear things up... I DONT USE anything less than 91... im just surprised on how people can react negatively to a such harmless question.

 

Because we love our cars dearly, tend to have modified intake and/or other goodies, and have a firm belief in Acura engineers reasoning of why we need 91 or better.
That lends itself to really enjoying the TL to its fullest

Its like a personal insult to say- oh I run that thing on 87 because its 20 cents cheaper... and its fine
Its not fine~

At least we (mostly) all agreed on something finally!!!

 

pshhhhh lol.... i would fill my tank with 92, but where i work, i get 50$$ a week... im looking for a better job right now... once i get new my new job, 92 goes into the tank

 

50 bux a week LOL! damn.. are you an immigrant worker working under the table? lol.

 

^lol thats funny

 

+1

 

LMAO!!!

 

oh hell no xD lol... only reason why i make that much is cause i work for SAFEWAY/CARRS (SLAVEWAY) and only giving me weekend shifts sat and sunday working a total of 6 to 7hours...

 

What 01tl4tl said, plus this question gets asked at least once a month.

 

I've tried 89 the day i purchased my TL-S and the gas ran thru the car like water literally. I've been using Premium (93) ever since.

 

Because this question has be asked on this site so many times and the reaction is always the same.

 

Because this subject has been discussed MANY MANY MANY MANY MANY times before.

 

I have a guy that works in my office that pays in todays prices $40 in gas/Day.

FWIW
That said He uses 87 octane for 3 weeks and one week of 94. Every other month he puts in a can of injector cleaner says he can't tell a difference in power or mileage either way. His perspective is he gives enough to the oil companies...

 

My TL has being using 91-93 at all the time, not only that, I only use BP or Shell gas only. So, I dont have much experience of driving in 89 octane or less.
For the 1st time since last week, it cost me +50 buck to fill up a tank, yes it hurts, but I wont give up as long as I still own it. I know for sure my next car will be a regular fuel type only. At 106K, my TL engine is still running smooth and has not been Seafoarm yet (will be, still studying DYI). Who know, may be part of the benefit is because of using premium fuel only.

 

It was either Car & Driver or Road & Track that performed actual dyno tests on cars last year and switched them from 93 to 87 octane. For those cars that were designed to use premium fuel, and used regular, caused power losses up to 10%. Power loss = loss of efficiency.

It's like wearing a nice suit...with a ballcap

Using sh__ty gin in a martini

Having a great steak, and putting store brand steak sauce on it

You get the point...I hope

 

With my TL-P motor i saw on average 60 less miles to a tank hwy with 87 over 93. That right there is 6.60$. Thats more than what it costs to put in premium. I also saw a reduction in responsiveness while accelerating. To me its not worth it. I wont even try to put it in with the type-s motor.

And yes the car will run fine but not as efficiently.

 

Yea they also did it with a Honda Odyssey a few years back and ran it in the 1/4 mile. It was a little over 1 sec slower with regular over premium.

 

Well i'm glad to see a few people will be getting out of the TL game. If you're putting cheap gas to save a dollar you're probably putting cheap mods on the car too. Sell it and rice up a civic.

That being said, i filled up mine this week for a grand total of 71.xx$ and that gets me 430kms if i'm lucky. (~267miles)

will i switch gas? nope.

 

Were all lookin' for ways to cut down our gas bills , this isn't the way ta do it . Keep your filters clean and watch the lead foot . S PAW I'll add one of me own here:

Like putin' water in your beer.

 

awww man this comment was jus wrong...

 

hey, I take insult to that. My mom drives a cavalier, and it will almost definetely be my first car.

VW also recommends 91 for its golf and Jettas. No real reason though, as you dont lose any or little power and maybe some mileage.