03 TL with 254k - only used 93 octane since car was bought new way back in 2003.

Don't have 91 in these parts (Long Island, NY) - 87,89,93

 

the car was designed to run on 94 so you lucky few get the full power and ability of the car
it makes do with 91
87 it will run- but don't floor it or take on big hills etc

on 87 if engine rattles immediately lift off the throttle.
wont kill the car on 1 tank of 87, just get good gas from Tier1 quality station asap

 

^ where did you read that the engine is designed for 94 octane? I doubt it was designed to run on 94- I believe 91 is more like it.
Here is an article on the recommended octane- I believe most if not all Acuras are designed for 91.
AboutAcura: Can I Use Regular Unleaded In My Acura?
I personally always run premium as well. 87 will yield less performance as well as lower mpg so it becomes a wash anyways. Also, my neighbor had a 2000 RL that he always ran 87 in. He had the car for 200k miles but during those miles, he had the car into Acura at least 3 times that I can recall for clogged EGR and intake. As well as O2 sensors once or twice. These cars are prone to EGR/intake clogging as we know, but his seemed more excessive than it may have been if he had been running higher octane

 

From 03 TL Owners manual:
http://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/p...u/TL0303OM.pdf

Gasoline
Your Acura is designed to operate on
premium unleaded gasoline with a
pump octane number of 91 or higher.
Use of a lower octane gasoline can
cause occasional, metallic knocking
noises in the engine and will result in
decreased engine performance.
We recommend gasolines containing
detergent additives that help prevent
fuel system and engine deposits.
Using gasoline containing lead will
damage your car’s emissions
controls. This contributes to air
pollution.
In Canada, some gasolines contain
an octane-enhancing additive called
MMT. If you use such gasolines,
your emissions control system
performance may deteriorate and
the Malfunction Indicator Lamp on
your instrument panel may turn on.
If this happens, contact your
authorized Acura dealer for service.

 

`operate on premium unleaded gasoline with a pump octane number of 91 or higher.

see- that means 91 or HIGHER = 94 (the few places you can find it)
If it was designed for 91 it would say USE 91

and on the gas cap door- USE 91 MINIMUM

fsttyms1 or Mr helpful diagram will be along eventually with the exact `where the info came from details on designed for 94 octane` but got that info on here-
not making it up for my own sinister purposes

 

yes lower octane than spec will lead to other problems you cant see = except as cash leaving your wallet

 

For optimum operating performance and efficiency, the better quality higher octane fuel will definitely yield
the best overall results. Even though Honda engineered our fine TL motors with tight tolerances, they are
also somewhat forgiving......thanks to the advanced technology to compensate for us humans.

There are some sacrifices that some people are willing to take as the cars age and lost that new car thrill.
Then ya have the government jumping in with it's ethanol blends, so........just keep the Seafoam handy and
try to do the best that ya can in the meantime. 91 + is ok in my book.

 

I cant get 94 here,,but they do sell 100 octane race gas- from a pump! at nearby 76

NOTE I don't really use that in the TL
Normally aspirated cars = meaning no turbo or supercharger, will NOT get anything from higher octane than spec, for the TL = no 100 110 145 (special airplane race gas)

octane is an imaginary number related to the fuel blends abilty to resist pre-ignition from increasing compression forces as piston rise to spark plug firing point
You dont want the fuel to ignite itself - and before its due!

 

U can run 87 for a couple of days but once u hear engine knocking time to switch to premuim.

 

Then ya have the government jumping in with it's ethanol blends, so

Anybody try Lucas Ethanol Fuel Conditioner long term to see improved performance using gas with ethanol added?

People on Amazon rave about it..but then that's people on Amazon.....

 

we know that Tier 1 quality gas works better- as its nearly double the govt minimum amount of cleaners added to the fuel= help keep our normally ultra low emission vehicle clean
BUT the switch to ethanol has added a lot of left behind unburnt/partially burnt crud to the equation

Whats the cost per gallon of onging use of that, versus occasional use of seafoam?

Will you be our guinne,,,I mean test pilot for this product?
hard to go wrong with anything lucas, just added some motorcycle oil conditioner to the old Honda 1100 last night and immediate improvement,,hoping for even more as it does its magic~

 

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Top Tier Gasoline

 

Thanks, so it looks like the more common "Top Tier" fuel distributors include:

ARCO
BP
CHEVRON
COSTCO
EXXON
MOBIL
PHILLIPS66
SHELL
TEXACO

Wonder if anybody knows these company's ethanol percentage in their fuel products ?
It would be great to know the ones who either don't use ethanol or minimize it.

 

Shell V- power if u want the best quality fuel.

Shell>Mobil>Chevron...

 

I don't think there's any cut and dry ethanol number by pure brand.

There are QT and BP stations near me with both E0 and E15, there is a local grocery chain gas that has E0 91. But majority of the gas stations and pumps are E10-E15 these days.

You can check out this webstie: pure-gas.org (note this is not always updated/correct).

Best thing is to call up and ask the station attendant.

Also if your local town/city has a car forum sometimes they will know as well. I'm lukcy that a local BP right by my house has E0 93 octane, so I'll be using that pretty soon here once I need a fill up for the first time I bought the car 3 weeks ago.

 

here in Ca its a standard 10% ethanol
and the difference between plain gas and Tier 1 brands is plain gas has the minimum amount of cleaners required by the govt

tier 1 has UP TO double the amount of cleaners over minimum required
Cleaners help combat the crud left behind by ethanol add gas

 

I have a 2003 TL (not TL-S). Have run regular unleaded (87) since I got it about a year ago. Tons of power. Consistently get 27 MPG. No problems at all.
Now if you have a TL-S, I would recommend high octane since that engine has a higher compression.

 

Ya should follow the factory recommendations of at least 91 octane fuel for your TL.

 

I got on average 60+ more miles to a tank with Premium in my non TL-S motor. It made Premium cheaper to run, and kept the engine cleaner.

 

If your not an Honda engineer,then don't compromise like you are one.I'm sure an extra 30 cents is worth doing the right thing.If you wanted to go cheap,you should have bought a crv or a sentra.Quite worrying how low your car can go,and cosmeticly preparing your car to be on the cover of Honda tuning.They won't put your car on there if you can't pass smog.97% of all HONDA PRODUCT owners all compromise for looks.........buy the right fuel...Nissan tech out..don't start talking nasty please..

 

Yeah, didn't ya know that the internet provides the opportunity to be an online engineering guru ?

 

I got 370 miles on my last tank, and the VTEC pulls much. That was a lot of highway though, I usually get 340 commuting. I always use 91 octane.