"Absolutely" must run high octane???
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Joined: Jan 2001
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From: Bayside, NY
No, but on the TL-S which has a pretty high compression ratio, lower octane gas will cause knock, which will cause the car's ECU to pull timing and reduce power so you don't cause any damage to the motor. I'd stick to the recomended gas, otherwise you should have just gotten a regular TL which has less power in the first place. :rocketwho
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From: Appleton WI
Originally Posted by Turboara
No, but on the TL-S which has a pretty high compression ratio, lower octane gas will cause knock, which will cause the car's ECU to pull timing and reduce power so you don't cause any damage to the motor. I'd stick to the recomended gas, otherwise you should have just gotten a regular TL which has less power in the first place. :rocketwho
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From: NYC
I would say the loss of power between regular and premium is very minimal. I use regular gas now because the prices are so high and because the car is leased. I don't notice that big a difference when switching. Funny thing is I seem to be getting more miles per tank with regular than premium.
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From: Appleton WI
Originally Posted by punkoz
I would say the loss of power between regular and premium is very minimal. I use regular gas now because the prices are so high and because the car is leased. I don't notice that big a difference when switching. Funny thing is I seem to be getting more miles per tank with regular than premium.
yes the car will run on it, is it recomended. no. you are just making the computer work really hard to keep from pinging (which can and will ruin a engine), create more polution, and does negativly effect your mileage and performance(no its not goung to be like driving a geo metro, but it does effect the performance..which is where you can really run into pinging)
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From: Long Island
Honestly, you bought/leased a luxary car, and I think you should treat it like one and put in the recommended fuel. Its like woud you pose this question if you drove a Lexus or BMW... its only with Acura people want to be cut corners and be cheap IMO. It'll cost you an extra maybe 2-3 bux at a time at the pump... think about how many times you spend that money uselessly. Woudln't you pay it to keep your car healthy?
And yes, preformance does go down, maybe its not noticeable to some, but its a fact. The only one time I had regular in my car is when stupid me, pumped gas from the wrong nozzle, and dumped regular in their. I felt the difference in acceleration immediately!! Just put the recommended fuel that ur suppose to.
Just my 2 cents.
And yes, preformance does go down, maybe its not noticeable to some, but its a fact. The only one time I had regular in my car is when stupid me, pumped gas from the wrong nozzle, and dumped regular in their. I felt the difference in acceleration immediately!! Just put the recommended fuel that ur suppose to.
Just my 2 cents.
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Joined: Feb 2004
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From: Charlotte, NC (Florida Tags)
Yeah, with the recent hike in gas prices I slipped the other day. I normally only use Chevron 93 octane, and I put in some 89 cheap stuff. I felt so bad after I did it. :yack: I got caught up in thinking that I could really save money. Luckily my tank wasn't empty when I did it. The price could jump to $3 for 93 and I'll pay it all day long. It's the price to pay for owning a luxery car.
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From: gboro, NC
i use 87 on my tl-p....i don't notice ne difference, and i also get more miles to the gallon with 87.... 
. of course i probably don't notice performance issues do to the fact my tranny is still screwed up.
. of course i probably don't notice performance issues do to the fact my tranny is still screwed up.
TL-S driver
Joined: Apr 2003
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From: Springfield, NJ
If you wanted to put regular in your car, you should have gotten an Accord. You got the TL for performance and luxury, treat it that way and put premium gas into it. Otherwise, should have saved a few G's and got an Accord. Just my opinion.
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From: Long Island
Its amazing to me what extent people go to, just saving a few bux at the pump, and woudlnt mind ruining their car over it. What they dont realize is if you own the car, Im sure after a long time of feeding it regular fuel when not suppose to, will have some adverse effects on your car in which they will shell out all or more than the money they saved at the pump. It still amazes me. Wow.
Feed yourself pig food. Then you will know how your car feels. Sure, you can eat it, but your stomach is going to hurt, and you won't feel good about it.
There's a reason why 91 or higher is recommended. Stick to it. Otherwise, don't get a luxury car next time. Your ECU will be working overtime, and all that undue stress on the engine when it's pulling timing and compensating for the lower octane to prevent knocking is definitely not good for it.
I even go as far as sticking with only Mobil gas. Even though every gas station around here sells 93 octane, there's a slight difference in the manufacturing process and it'll be different gas from company to company. It's not horrible to mix gas, but it's not good either. My car has been fed nothing but Mobil 93 since day one, and nothing but Mobil 1 synthetic. (except the one time my dealership offered me a free oil change and they put in semi-synthetic without telling me.. jackasses. So I changed it in like 1,500 miles)
There's a reason why 91 or higher is recommended. Stick to it. Otherwise, don't get a luxury car next time. Your ECU will be working overtime, and all that undue stress on the engine when it's pulling timing and compensating for the lower octane to prevent knocking is definitely not good for it.
I even go as far as sticking with only Mobil gas. Even though every gas station around here sells 93 octane, there's a slight difference in the manufacturing process and it'll be different gas from company to company. It's not horrible to mix gas, but it's not good either. My car has been fed nothing but Mobil 93 since day one, and nothing but Mobil 1 synthetic. (except the one time my dealership offered me a free oil change and they put in semi-synthetic without telling me.. jackasses. So I changed it in like 1,500 miles)
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2003
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From: Fairfax, VA
I notice a difference in performance simply by going to different gas stations and filling up with 93. Sheetz gas here is usually a few cents cheaper than the usual names, but I've noticed there's a noticeable difference in how the car feels during normal acceleration when I use their gas versus Shell's gas. I noticed it right away after I picked up the car from the dealer and filled it for the first time - the car felt sluggish. It then occurred to me it was the gas, so I ran it down to near empty, filled it with Shell 93, and the power was back. Since then, it's only been Shell (and the occasional BP) plus I've run a can of BG44K through the system. Car runs beautifully. 
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From: NYC
Originally Posted by NYDesi80
think about how many times you spend that money uselessly.
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From: Long Island
Originally Posted by punkoz
That's why I use regular gas now that I have no plans of buying back the lease. Why would one want to spend the most money on something that won't be yours in the end.......
If you are absolutely positive that the car is going back, then go for it. But what happened in my last lease was that, when the car was due back my financial situation wasn't good and couldnt afford to step inot a new car, and it was wiser for me to just buy the car, so I did. But then when things got better I got rid of it and got the TLS, so I just make sure I treat it right, in the event something like that might happen again.
And this is also the reason I dont buy used cars, because of the lack of care, by lease owners in simple things like this. I mean they might say they took care of all services and changed everythign when needed, but there aer simple things like this that they might've done, that you wont know.
im just about ready to turn 145k already
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using 87 won't save you as much as you think ...
I have the TL-P and I have very carefully compared mileage (multiple times for accuracy) running 87 vs 93. There is about a 15 cent difference in price between the 2 octanes where I live so it's about $2.25 difference on the fillup (based on 15 gallons per fillup).
I've calculated my mileage with both fuels by filling up, resetting the odometer, and running it until the fuel light comes on - and then noting the mileage. Then I do it all over again with the other octane rating. I have done this many times to average it out since sometimes I may run harder or use a little more or less based on the accuracy of the fuel light, etc. I also drive the same routes consistenly when measuring so as not to get highway mileage mixed with city mileage, etc.
Anyway, I seem to get only 20 mpg on 87 and around 22 mpg on 93. In other words, I can go about 300 miles on 87 octane before the fuel light comes on - or about 330 miles on 93 octane before the light comes on.
2 more miles per gallon equates to another 30 miles per tankful. 30 miles is 1.5 gallons of fuel based on 20 mpg. So if fuel runs 2 bucks per gallon - the mileage difference equates to 3 bucks! Compare that to the $2.25 you saved by using regular and you can see that it comes out very close to the same in the end.
Getting more miles out of 93 octane makes sense because you get more energy out of higher octane fuel - so it makes sense that you could go further on the same amount of fuel if the octane were higher.
Maybe I've screwed up the math here or did some faulty reasoning - but it sure seems to me that running 87 isn't worth it. In areas where premium runs a lot more than regular - I suppose that the above argument falls apart quickly as the gap in price widens ...
I've calculated my mileage with both fuels by filling up, resetting the odometer, and running it until the fuel light comes on - and then noting the mileage. Then I do it all over again with the other octane rating. I have done this many times to average it out since sometimes I may run harder or use a little more or less based on the accuracy of the fuel light, etc. I also drive the same routes consistenly when measuring so as not to get highway mileage mixed with city mileage, etc.
Anyway, I seem to get only 20 mpg on 87 and around 22 mpg on 93. In other words, I can go about 300 miles on 87 octane before the fuel light comes on - or about 330 miles on 93 octane before the light comes on.
2 more miles per gallon equates to another 30 miles per tankful. 30 miles is 1.5 gallons of fuel based on 20 mpg. So if fuel runs 2 bucks per gallon - the mileage difference equates to 3 bucks! Compare that to the $2.25 you saved by using regular and you can see that it comes out very close to the same in the end.
Getting more miles out of 93 octane makes sense because you get more energy out of higher octane fuel - so it makes sense that you could go further on the same amount of fuel if the octane were higher.
Maybe I've screwed up the math here or did some faulty reasoning - but it sure seems to me that running 87 isn't worth it. In areas where premium runs a lot more than regular - I suppose that the above argument falls apart quickly as the gap in price widens ...
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Joined: Dec 2003
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From: Leesburg, Virginia
Originally Posted by jdigeorgio
I have the TL-P and I have very carefully compared mileage (multiple times for accuracy) running 87 vs 93. There is about a 15 cent difference in price between the 2 octanes where I live so it's about $2.25 difference on the fillup (based on 15 gallons per fillup).
I've calculated my mileage with both fuels by filling up, resetting the odometer, and running it until the fuel light comes on - and then noting the mileage. Then I do it all over again with the other octane rating. I have done this many times to average it out since sometimes I may run harder or use a little more or less based on the accuracy of the fuel light, etc. I also drive the same routes consistenly when measuring so as not to get highway mileage mixed with city mileage, etc.
Anyway, I seem to get only 20 mpg on 87 and around 22 mpg on 93. In other words, I can go about 300 miles on 87 octane before the fuel light comes on - or about 330 miles on 93 octane before the light comes on.
2 more miles per gallon equates to another 30 miles per tankful. 30 miles is 1.5 gallons of fuel based on 20 mpg. So if fuel runs 2 bucks per gallon - the mileage difference equates to 3 bucks! Compare that to the $2.25 you saved by using regular and you can see that it comes out very close to the same in the end.
Getting more miles out of 93 octane makes sense because you get more energy out of higher octane fuel - so it makes sense that you could go further on the same amount of fuel if the octane were higher.
Maybe I've screwed up the math here or did some faulty reasoning - but it sure seems to me that running 87 isn't worth it. In areas where premium runs a lot more than regular - I suppose that the above argument falls apart quickly as the gap in price widens ...
I've calculated my mileage with both fuels by filling up, resetting the odometer, and running it until the fuel light comes on - and then noting the mileage. Then I do it all over again with the other octane rating. I have done this many times to average it out since sometimes I may run harder or use a little more or less based on the accuracy of the fuel light, etc. I also drive the same routes consistenly when measuring so as not to get highway mileage mixed with city mileage, etc.
Anyway, I seem to get only 20 mpg on 87 and around 22 mpg on 93. In other words, I can go about 300 miles on 87 octane before the fuel light comes on - or about 330 miles on 93 octane before the light comes on.
2 more miles per gallon equates to another 30 miles per tankful. 30 miles is 1.5 gallons of fuel based on 20 mpg. So if fuel runs 2 bucks per gallon - the mileage difference equates to 3 bucks! Compare that to the $2.25 you saved by using regular and you can see that it comes out very close to the same in the end.
Getting more miles out of 93 octane makes sense because you get more energy out of higher octane fuel - so it makes sense that you could go further on the same amount of fuel if the octane were higher.
Maybe I've screwed up the math here or did some faulty reasoning - but it sure seems to me that running 87 isn't worth it. In areas where premium runs a lot more than regular - I suppose that the above argument falls apart quickly as the gap in price widens ...
How's the price of gas down there? I'm now in Northern Virginia and we're hovering around :tflamer: $2.08/gallon 93-octane!
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2002
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All I know is my baby ain't drinkin nothin but Mobile 1 93 octane! It basically comes down to the internals that will be more healthy/cleaner for the duration of your car's life, along with added performance. Prices are dicey as of late but if my kid brother who's a part time workin college student can learn the value of putting 93 octane into his '99 Dodge Avenger, I think we all can too. Anyway, I'd highly recommend Mobile, Shell, BP, or Exxon for your gas. For engine oil, Mobile 1 synthetic all the way baby! (you can get the big bottle at Walmart for less than $20) And if you're in Northern VA area, stop by the getto Mobile on 236 near the 495 junction, they've been selling 93 octane for $1.95 while everyone's gone over $2!!! I've just given away 2 major secrets!
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Prices in Jax (FL) are about $1.93 to $1.99 premium. I noticed that as the prices have gone up, the price gap between regular and premium has gotten smaller. Maybe because they are trying to stay under the $2 level on the premium because of the "stigma" of 2 buck a gallon gas. Right now, most stations are about 15 cents different between regular and premium. Back when prices were lower - the difference was more like 20 cents...
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