i hope you were referring to yourself and not me caball...

as for my statement...i should have been more specific. i have occasionally used 87 in these vehicles with no adverse effects.

 

What about higher octane fuels? I can't seem to find a single gas station that supplies 91 octane here in south florida.

Usually 87, 89, 93 or something along those lines. I fill up with 93 all the time am I hurting the engine at all?

 

Nope. Get 91 if available but 93 should be fine.

 

First, I change my car every four years or less. do I care what happens after warrenty expires?

Second, My car isn't burning oil like that after 3000 miles on it.

 

as long as u stay above 91, your fine. but u are wasting money cause your not really getting any benefits from it, its all marketing

 

no dude wasn't refering to you unless it's true...hehehe. i paid for my car myself like everything most things in life. but some members here are teenagers and most likely they did not pay for the car and hence might not be able to afford the fuel.

 

i am 19 and i am going to be buying the car myself and i am paying it in FULL.

actuary..u are right about it retarding timings. it retards the timing to prevent detonation.

do whatever u guys want with ur cars..

 

I ran 87 here in Arizona just to try it out and save some cash at the pump. With our heat and the ac on all the time I noticed some pinging at acceleration.
The next tank I tried 91 and no pinging
I have 89 in there now and I haven't heard any pinging yet.
I have not noticed a performance difference between the three but I obviuosly don't want pinging. I drive almost 30k/yr so using 87 would save me approx $180 a year but it's not worth the risk for me.

 

I felt like 87 was losing significant amount of power last time I had it.

89 is a little better and have no problem running engine. However when I filled up with 92 shell V-power, I felt much more power on highway.

For now, I'm going back and forth between 89 and 91.

 

I thought the integra was the 'offical' college car.

 

civic/corolla would work better.

 

Gas price is 99.9c/Litre as of this evening. Holy crap. Premium is now buck + 10 cents

 

dont be a tool....run the proper gas!

 

Actuary, I understand how even pennies matter in college, I was there once myself many moons ago. I just wanted to relate a recent real-life experience regarding fuel grade. I traveled to Colorado and at one gas stop, they had only 85/87/89. Because I was running on fumes at the time, I had no choice but to get the 89. at 80+ mph, using 93, I'd been running 28-29 mpg. As soon as I switched to the 89, the mileage went to 25 mpg. I noticed slightly reduced power on full acceleration. I could achieve the full RPM range on full acceleration. Once this tank is gone, I plan to go to 91, which is the premium grade out here (WTF? what happened to 93 in the West?).

Hope this gives you more data. I'd stick with the high-test if possible--if you fill up more often, it negates the effects of saving money on cheaper gas.

 

I can't believe this thread is still going on.

Here's the answer you are looking for, and the only one you'll accept, obviously


Use whatever gas you want. If you don't notice any damage to the engine, then it MUST be fine!

sheesh, really kid....30k for a car and you wanna cheeze out on the damn gas.

 

Have you considered the fact that by not completely filling the tank, you must fill up more often? This means you will be making more trips to the gas station...and using more gas.

<Derogatory comment here>

 

I'm not going to lecture you on buying a 30k, and being captain Cheep-O on the gas. Everyone else did already...

I don't know if it is just me, but my car seems to last longer on a full tank of gas as opposed to filling it to a half tank two times. My driving is practically clock work, so it was very easy for me to notice. I even notice the difference when I put in different brands of gas.


Not for nothing, I know it is difficult to be a full time college student and save money....but it is possible. If you are that hard up for money, why don't you give up one of your nights partying on the weekends and go wait some tables?? When I was waitressing, I brought in some great money - give it a thought.

 

A couple of thoughts:

Hate to be a cynic, but how do you know that the fuel coming out of the PREMIUM hose is any different from that coming out of the other two hoses? Not that any oil company or gas station would be dishonest, of course. For example, they always are merciful with their prices and never gouge us or anything.

The car our TL replaced was a 1991 Mercedes 300E. The 300E was also labeled PREMIUM FUEL ONLY. We've put over 200,000 miles on that car. We've run it on REGULAR 87 almost all the time. We've always bought fuel at the cheapest place. It actually gets a bit better mileage with regular. It's never gotten less than 20MPG. It has never required anything more than normal maintenance. It still runs perfectly at 200,000 miles and I can't bring myself to sell it yet. We've saved about $2000 over the years assuming a 20-cent savings per gallon.

So, in essence, those fuel savings paid for the NAVI system in our new TL.

 

I've tasted the difference...


btw, I don't think you're being a cycnic - I think you're being paranoid


THat's like saying, how do you know the water in your bottled water is actually filtered and not from a tap? Well, if it's Dasani in the UK, it's from a tap, but excluding that

 

LOL, I've often thought exactly the same thing! One hears about unscupulous gas station owners trying to pull this crap in the new occasionally.

 

The big companies would not cheat you, however there is nothing to stop them from putting premium in all three, since it is a minimum octane rating. They could all be 93, or 91 or whatever.

That wouldn't be cheating, but it would be cheaper to get it all from one truck.

Could also explain why some people have no problem running stuff from the "87" side.

If this happens, I'd imagine it would be at the smaller, name brand stations. I have no idea if it really does.

 

[threadjack]neuron bob - how are you liking those Falken tires and A-spec suspension these days? Im thinking of some of those types of upgrades and was wondering if you had any more feedback than your review from last year[/threadjack]


*actually I just noticed you were running the Ziex512's, not the Azenis ST115 like I was looking into

 

On a side note, does anyone know on average how many gallons of gas are left on the TL after the fuel warning light comes on ??

Never had a Honda/Acura product before, but on Toyota's there was usually a 3 gallone cushion built into the numbers.

 

i don't know if this helps, but mine comes on when i have 34 miles left

 

This info is excerpted from a very long thread I started about fuel tank capacities, etc. and is based on actual and precise testing

a. When the low fuel warning light comes on, if you are getting 25 mpg you can go 94 miles, but if you are only getting 20 mpg, you can only go 74 miles. Of course, other miles per gallon figures will result in different results. This means you have approximately 3.7 gallons remaining.

b. When “miles to empty” (2004TL) or “range” (2005TL) reads zero, that is time to fill up, but you can still go 57 miles at 25mpg, but only 45 miles at 20mpg. This means you have approximately 2.3 gallons remaining.

c. When filling the tank, if you stop at the first shutoff, you will have about 17 gallons in the tank.

d. The tank will actually hold about 19 gallons, but it is not recommended to fill the tank to capacity, so stop at the first shutoff.

If you want to read the whole thread, go here http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...threadid=71425

 

I find it awfully odd that acura quotes 17 gallons as the capacity. I have also seen 17.2. Why would there be room for another 2 gallons. That is unless the gas pump is really pumping less gas per measured gallon. So does that mean the G which holds 20 would probably hold 22. does not make any sense.

 

lower octane=retarded timings=less power

 

don't tell me that's you in your avatar...

or was it just a typo?

 

So, this provides a dilemmna in my mind ............

If a TL actually holds 19 gallons and you only are suppose to stop during fill-up at the first auto. stop do you .............

(1) Only have 17 gallons in your tank, or
(2) Have 19 gallons in your tank, or
(3) Assuming you utilized your -2- extra gallons should you expect to put in 19 gallons before the first shut-off during your fill-up -or- if the tank senses 17 gallons in the tank are you then really 2 gallons short of being full with no cushion ??

I ask for the benefit of knowing when I am commuting (44 miles each way) if when the light comes on, how much further can I safely expect to go without running out of gas. Some of us are quite anal, and if I can get -4- full trips on a tank of gas then I want to know or expect it.

 

Running your fuel too low runs the risk of having heat damage to the fuel pump, since the gas acts to lube and cool it - over time, this can lead to premature failure.

Not sure why peeps worry about the reserve so much - the mfrs dial-in a ton of buffer anyway, and what benefit is there to continue to run the fuel lower and lower? Am I missing something?

 

My quest is not to run it to the last drop, but rather to find out how much I have left. If I have -2- gallons left when the light goes off then I know I have about a gallon to work with before I panic.

My commute is different then most of yours. It is across a wide-open 4 lane highway in the country with only one place to stop across about 40 miles.

It seems like everyone has an opinion, but no real specific answer supplied by Acura, etc. ...........

 

I thought the answer provided by Ron A is pretty clear. If you try, you may get the simliar numbers. IMO, I don't expect Acura would tell us seriously about this matter.

 

Forget the 19 gallon part of this discussion and base your computations and results on 17 gallons.

1. Your tank will hold 19 gallons if you fill it to the very top, which I foolhardedly proved as part of my first test, and will never try again, and hope noboy else ever tries this either. It is, as stated, a 17 (actually 17.09 per the owner's manual) fuel tank, and all conclusions should be based on this amount.

2. So you will have 17 gallons in your tank if you let the nozzle shut off by itself, barring a faulty nozzle or an errant air bubble.

3. The tank is not 2 gallons short, because it was designed to hold 17 gallons, with a 2 gallon cushion.

When you fill the tank, the tank is designed so that the first shut off of the nozzle will leave you with approximately 17 gallons in the tank, barring situations described above.

This method is very constant in its results, and takes the guesswork out of how much fuel you have left when variuous reminders pop up.

If you know your approximate mpg in different circumstances, you can easily compute how much fuel and miles you have left using the results I posted in my thread. This should take the guesswork out of how far you can go when you miss the last gas station for the next hundred miles and how far you will have to walk to find another gas station.

 

now, the regular gas price is 110+

and I'm planning to buy the bus pass.

 

answer his question or STFU. he doesnt need 20 tight asses calling him cheap. he can buy the car if he wants, he can put whatever gas in he wants. he didnt ask for your approval.

 

You're right about cooling the fuel pump, but another reason to avoid running too low is that you really don't want to pick up the sediment that inevitably ends up in your fuel tank over time.

I try to not let the fuel tanks in my cars go lower than 1/4 to 1/3 for those reasons. Besides, with the price of fuel climbing the way it is, I save money by filling up NOW because the price will be higher TOMORROW!

 

Sediment always sits on the bottom of the gas tank, and guess what, the
fuel pump always pulls gas from the bottom of the gas tank.

Running low would allow stuff that floats on top on the gas to get to the intake screen, and I cant think of anything that floats on gasoline....

Running low allows shots of air into the pump.
The pumps are cooled and lubricated by the fuel, the fuel actualy flows through
the electric motor, brushes and all, and cools and lubes things.

It SEEMS crazy that gasoline flows through the electric motor, brushes
and all, but ALL in tank fuel pumps are made that way.

Shots or air accelerate the wear, but worse is the loss of mixture control by the ecu, since the fuel injectors get air instead of fuel, the mixture goes lean,
and the catalytic converters can melt down from the lean mixture.
The mixture goes to lean to ignite in the cylinder, and unburnt gas
gets dumped into the exhaust.
That is why all the owners manuals warn against running real low or out of gas,
the pump wear and the cats melting.

Brett

 

I'll have to check my FSM when I get home, but unless things have changed drastically from other cars I've dealt with, the float in the tank serves to provide the signal for the fuel gauge AND serves as the source of the fuel. Fuel is drawn from the TOP of the tank.

 

No, fuel is always drawn from the bottom of the gas tank.
I have had many apart, the only thing floating in the fuel tank is the fuel
level sender float, the pumps mount in the gas tank on modern cars, and have
an inlet screen at the very lowest level of the gas tank.

On older cars with external pumps, they still had an assembly inside the gas tank
for a pickup. It also sat on the bottom of the gas tank and typicly had the return
feed to it also to provide a swirl effect.

All modern cars have the inlet screen mounted directly to the pump suction
port, and new pumps come with a new inlet screen.

Brett

 

i think 87 is ok for a N/A engine, turbo engine requires higher gas.