deejayceas

Hello my fellow TL Peeps. Quick question. Does it make a difference if i put 89 octane on my TL-S? I see that on the gas door it says Premium fuel only, but shit gas can get kinda expensive. I need to get an opinion from someone who runs their TL-S on regular unleaded and someone who runs their TL-S on premium just stock though. Without all the engine mods. Thanks.

optomos

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hlight=regular

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hlight=regular

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...hlight=regular

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthr...=129452&page=2

honda_inspire99

Just use what the car recommends man, use premium only. Lower grade gas can cause hesitation, knocking, or even run rich or lean so u might as well use the premium. Most hondas with vtec and high compression engines only use premium.

ProvidenceLeaf

I'm not an engine expert, but I have tried to put cheaper gas in other cars when I was younger and had a tighter budget. My opinion...Don't do it! Whenever I tried to use lower octane the car ran crappy! Not just slightly...it was very noticeable. I'm not sure if it would actually damage your engine. (some of the experts in here could help you with that)

I used to drive 600-800 miles a week to and from work. The savings of cheaper gas was not worth it even with all the miles I used to drive. Think about it...how much money would you be saving a week?...a month?

Not to get too rediculous with this, but if you filled up twice a week...about 30 gallons X the difference between 89 oct and 93 oct (about .15 cents around MA and RI) = $4.50 a week which comes out to about $18 a month. Is it worth saving just $18 a month to have your nice luxury car drive like crap?

PenguinQX

iTrader: (1)

I drive a TL-P, and have tried a few times running on mid-grade fuel. The car drove fine for that tank of gas, but it was NOTICEABLY slower. There is a SIGNIFICANT performance loss. I assume you purchased the TypeS for its performance, no? Well be prepared to sacrifice it if you're gonna go with the cheaper fuel.

Also, like everyone else has said here... the price difference is NOT significant, and this is coming from a poor college student. The easiest way to save $ on gas is to change your driving habits and how often you drive your car.. that's what I've done since gas prices have shot up.

deejayceas

Thanks guys, I think Im going to go ahead and go back to premium, cause you guys are right I have noticed a bit of a sluggish pick up on my TL-S. I didnt purchase my car to make engine mods or anything like that, but I still would like to have the performance the car is suppose to have. Thanks Guys.

VoLLy

iTrader: (8)

I have a 2002 TL-P, I put 89 grade fuel in it, it runs fine. I used to put 91 in it when I first bought it, but I didnt notice any difference in performance between 89 and 91, so I stuck to 89 ever since.

JBrian

I run 87 octane 99% of the time with no issues. The TL has duel knock sensors, one in each cylinder head and the computer tunes the timing to compensate for lower octane fuel that is easier to ignite than a higher octane fuel. I believe what the Honda Odyssey manual said about an increase of 5Hp with a higher octane fuel, probably similar in the TL-S. I would also say that anyone here that can ‘feel’ 5HP to the wheels can also ‘feel’ a pea under their mattress! It’s just not going to happen in a 3700Lbs car!

Auto manufactures rate their engines for the most HP because most people ‘think’ they will really see and feel that extra 5HP! For another perspective, there is a good editorial about the ‘new’ method of rating HP in Car & Driver. Probably the most important statement in the article is found on the last sentence. Performance testing at the track is the only real indicator of HP, how true!

All baseline fuel comes from the same pipe at the same terminal. Each retailer then adds their own additive package to a truck load of fuel. Recently several auto manufactures challenged the government to create a new standard of fuel with a higher level of additives to combat the buildup of deposits that were hampering stringent Tier 2 emission standards. Another way around this issue is to use a fuel additive like ‘Seafoam’ every 7500 miles or so (I’m guessing here and it’s what I have done in the past).

The standards developed by the four automobile manufacturers (BMW, General Motors, Honda, and Toyota) for TOP TIER Detergent Gasoline are described on the ‘Top Tier’ web site.

http://www.toptiergas.com/

TOP TIER Gasoline Retailers:
QuikTrip
Chevron
Conoco
Phillips
76
Shell
Entec Stations
MFA Oil Company
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star
The Somerset Refinery, Inc.
Chevron-Canada
Aloha Petroleum
Jiffy Mart
Mahalo
Tri-Par Oil Company

blk2001tlon19s

I know i will probably get flammed for saying this but why buy a car that you think filling up the tank will be expensive? Why not get a civic and run 87 oct. I mean, its only like a few cents difference in the prices. I don't know, just a thought I had.

stick

i noticed this too after i purchased my 2003 TLS, they filled me up at their dealer pump.
i think its 87 octane and by half a tank i had 120miles.
NOT GOOD.

then when i got to 1/4 tank i filled up w/ 93 octane and by little under 3/4 tank i had over 120miles. so i believe that these engines are so efficient, to get the most of the fuel, you have to use premium.

my .02 yen worth.

Jimmy The Saint

YOU KNOW WHAT? If you can't afford premium gas don't buy a frigign premium car; go buy a friggin Tercel. God this has been discussed to death.

TLMugen

I run 89 in my TL-P and it runs fine. It may have a little less power but I don't notice it. A TL-S with its high compression needs premium, a TL-P doesn't. When I ran premium on a regular basis in a car that specified regular, it eventually ran poorly because of carbon build-up. By using a fuel which has an octane rating no higher than your car needs, the engine will run cleaner.

My 2¢

JBrian

You're a piece of work Every race your car or can you just 'feel' the difference

Mike_McCready

89 runs fine, the performance is slightly less, but the engine won't knock or anything. I run 89 generally, but sometimes pop for the 93 if I feel like I can afford it.
Also, with the recommended octane the engine gets better mpg, I don't know if it will make up the price difference between the two...

Jimmy The Saint

Huh? No My TL is a Daily Driver. But my previous car was a heavily modded A4 which I did tacke to teh track every now and again. At which time I would put a 1/4 tank of race gas in. But this has nothing to do with my comment. But whatever

fsttyms1

I can tell in my TL between regular and premium. The cr just isnt as quick to respond and the mileage SUCKS.

PenguinQX

iTrader: (1)

True, but it's their car... just like some people here like to put uglyass rims on their cars, some people here want to stick cheap gas in theirs.

Everybody's preferences are different, and not everyone babies their car. bear in mind, not everyone bought their TL brand new (myself included), so they might have only paid $10k for a worn in car with high miles

@cUr@-TL

what you guys dont understand is that you're not saving any freakin money by putting regular gaz is your car. I made several tests and they ALL reported the same thing, putting regular gaz ends up costing more $$. If the difference in price between regular and premium was higher, it would not be the same, but with the actual difference, putting premium gaz in your car is the best thing to do ($$ wise and performance wise).

and if you still dont believe me/us, just keep fueling up on regular... it's your car and your money.

03CoupeV6

I'm afraid that is not true. Most of Honda cars only use regular.

I use 87 in my TL. I notice no gas mileage or power differences, and the compression ratio is only 9.8:1. It was 10.5:1 on the Accord V6 and it only required 87, so I don't think that 9.8:1 figure is so high that not using premium will cause me any problems.

MikePA

Acura just recommends Premium to mess with your head and make you spend more money.

If you'd do a search you'd find out that people have done testing and shown they get better gas mileage with premium.

Lots of people on AZ think they know more than Acura engineers.

Use what ever grade fuel you want.

Deep 3.2TL

You think this is a PREMIUM car? I have a TL-P and granted I love the thing, but it ain't no HIGH end vehicle... When Acura decides to enter the V8 market, they might get a better rep, but of all the luxury cars out there, Acura and Infiniti get the least "respect"....

I have had this question on my mind since I bought my 03 TL in December. I decided to run my own "experiment" since not a single soul gave me a definitive answer here.

I am currently in my third stage of the experiment. Stage 1 - Run Premium for 1 month, Stage 2 - Mid grade, Stage 3 - Low grade.

So far, between stage 1 and 2 there is NO DIFFERENCE in mileage. I have NO NOTICEABLE difference in power and my wallet is a little heavier...

I'm on my first tank of low grade right now. No knocking, or anything like that. Power seems to be fine too - I'll report back once I'm complete with the test.

Deep

Delirium

You do want you want but here some facts:http://www.straightdope.com/columns/041008.html

03CoupeV6

And others have done tests that show there is no difference in mileage between 87 and 93 octane, like myself. My current tank of 87 is at 296.3 miles, and it is 3 lines below 1/2 tank - mostly highway. This is one of the best tanks I've ever had, and I run premium fairly often (at least once every 3 tanks).

I'll get back to this thread after I refill when this tank is empty and I'll report city/highway % and MPG on 87 octane for my TL-P.

MikePA

Mods should automatically lock all threads about fuel. No one cares about the latest "test". They don't prove anything.

Deep 3.2TL

Test's don't prove anything?

You're probably one of those guys who believed that about school too since you didn't do well on them...

And I beg to differ. If no one cared, then there wouldn't be a CRAPLOAD of threads started about it. Probably the single most talked about thing here!

Deep

MikePA

You have no idea how I did on tests, shove your pop psychology. However I do know you think you know more than Acura engineers. That's arrogance. What are your credentials to state what you do? Sleep in a Holiday Inn last night?

What people in threads like this refer to a 'tests' are anything but tests. If you knew what a test was, you'd know that. They aren't controlled, they aren't instrumented and they're based on someone's 'feelings' that that they lost power. The driving conditions between tanks of different grade fuels aren't controlled. That's no more a test than saying I installed 'part x' and 'my car pulls stronger'.

And the reason there are so many threads about this is because (1) People are too lazy to Search and (2) They're looking for someone else to say it's OK to not use premium because they're too cheap to buy the recommended fuel.

MikePA

What people in this thread refer to as tests are not controlled tests. Just because there's an mpg difference between different grades of fuel doesn't mean that the cause was entirely due to the octane rating. Most people don't know that the ECU detunes the engine when lower octane fuel is used. Otherwise they wouldn't point to the absence knocking as proof it's OK to use mid-level or regular fuel. Driving conditions are seldom the same between tanks of different grades of fuel. Then people point to better, worse or the same mpg as justification for why premium is or is not needed.

Save the pop psychology for Dr. Phil. Try staying on topic. Unless you'd like to start comparing post high school educational accomplishments.

You're a real deep thinker. The reason there are a lot of these threads are (1) People are too lazy to do a search and (2) They're looking for someone else to say it's OK not to use premium because they want to say a few cents a gallon. And this isn't just a guess. Almost everyone of them starts out by saying how expensive premium is and the fact that they started a new thread indicates they didn't do a search. Deductive reasoning.