hey guys....

For the first time I re-filled the tank yesterday @ texaco (91) and i dont like the way my car is giving gas mileage.... the gauge is going down soo fast... and driving is normal... no hard acceleration....

any suggestions on which gas is the best for TL?

 

I'm not sure but I've only filled my gas tank once and I agree that the gas guage seems to be dropping quickly. It could also be my AC usage.

According to the manual, gas with MMG or something is not recommended. It the long run, it will damage the engine. Now, how do I know which gas has MMG or not?

A gallon of 92 octane Chevron gas here is about $2.16. When I filled my gas from Costco with 92 octane, it was $1.96. Still high but what can you do.

Can't be of much help. I'll probably call Acura here and ask what they recommend.

 

i'm gonna ask my salesman which gas they had in my TL.... they gave me full tank and they're gas was good!

 

I'm not sure but I've only filled my gas tank once and I agree that the gas guage seems to be dropping quickly. It could also be my AC usage.

According to the manual, gas with MMG or something is not recommended. It the long run, it will damage the engine. Now, how do I know which gas has MMG or not?

A gallon of 92 octane Chevron gas here is about $2.16. When I filled my gas from Costco with 92 octane, it was $1.96. Still high but what can you do.

Can't be of much help. I'll probably call Acura here and ask what they recommend.

 

Try DIESEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dude, just kidding... but I hate to break it to you, gas IS NOT going to make that much of a difference in mileage so as you to notice the gauge dropping faster! Even the AC won't make that big of a difference. The tank was probably overfilled from the dealer, compared to you stopping the fill whenever the pump first stopped.

 

I only can find 87, 89, 93, and 94 here for cars, and I use either 93 or 94.

The first couple of tanks usually will run out faster 'cause of the new car. You will get better MPH then.

Don't worry about it too much. As long as your gasoline is qualified the standard stated by the owner manual, your car will be fine...


Happy Holidays.

 

Amaco High Test 93 oct. 1.55 a Gallon in GA!

 

Has anyone tried using 89 (or even 87?) There was that article a few months ago in some leading car magazine that claimed the perecentage savings in money is about equivalent to the loss of performance. So if you save 10% on the cheaper gas, you lose about 10% performance but it does not damage the engine in any way.

 

Lore - DON'T use 87 in these cars. It's not recommended and CAN damage your car. In some cars, the ECU's can recognize the octane rating but I don't think that's something in the Acura cars. It can void your warranty. Where did you see that misleading article?

 

They tested it on 4 or 5 high performance vehicles, including the M3 and some other sporty cars like a Ferrari I think.

It was either Motorweek or something like that. I'll Google around and let you know.

I have read in many places that engines used in the past few years can detect the octane and adjust the way it fires to accomodate a lower octane. I highly doubt Acura's engine does NOT have this technology. Isn't that the purpose of the knock sensor?

 

it is "safe" to use a lower octane gas, but you would be a cheap bastard doing so and undeserving of an acura :p

 

http://www.caranddriver.com/article....rticle_id=3604

There's the article!

 

Well.. I don't know how prices are in Virginia, but I really am not looking to spending $35 a tank here in the Bay Area (from my current $23 a tank)!

I think I'll probably be experimenting the first few months after break-in to see if I really see a tangible difference.

 

I think the paragraph I remember the most from that article is:

"Our tests confirm that for most cars there is no compelling reason to buy more expensive fuel than the factory recommends, as any performance gain realized will surely be far less than the percentage hike in price. Cheapskates burning regular in cars designed to run on premium fuel can expect to trim performance by about the same percent they save at the pump. If the car is sufficiently new and sophisticated, it may not suffer any ill effects, but all such skinflints should be ready to switch back to premium at the first sign of knock or other drivability woes. "

 

I've run 2 tanks of premium and now on my 3rd of mid grade with no noticable difference in performance, as far as milage goes no change at all at 1700k

(ESSO)
87 regular
89 mid grade
91 premo

 

regardless, it's 10 cents between each grade, right?

 

Well, right now in San Jose, 87 is probably about $1.60 on avg, 89 about $1.75 avg, and 91 about $1.95. In San Francisco, add 5-10 cents per grade.

 

ALL WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!
Read the TL brochure... It clearly states that the car will NOT be damaged from the use of lower octane ratings; the performance will slightly suffer though. I would say that just about any new car can make up for the lack of octane... All it needs to do is retard the ignition timing, and voila'! Amazing.

 

Let me get this straight; Are you guys are talking about putting regular into a high-compression, high performance state of
the art engine (11.0 to 1 is very high compression) so that
you can save a few cents?

You can't be serious. You've just paid some serious money (serious for some) for a car that performs. If you're concerned
about using cheap fuel maybe you should have purchased a true economy car like a civic hybid.

Now for what happens when you use regular on some cars (probably the Acura as well): Inside the engine is a tiny microphone that literally listens for a "knock" and sends this information to the ECU. The ECU in effort to not have the engine destroy itself (that is what engine knock will do if not controlled), will retard the engine timing which degrades engine performance and economy

 

how do I know which gas has MMG or not?

 

That may be the answer why Canadian TLs don't have the "engine vibration" problem many are experiencing in the US. Canadian gas is lower octane (premiun is only 91). Perhaps the Canadian TLs are running around with slightly retarded timing, permitting the engines to lug without shaking???

 

91 (or higher) octane gas is recommended. So you should that grade of gas.

For a car where 87 octane gas is recommended, using higher octane gas will not improve performance. (Just hurt your wallet).

If I were you, I'll try to save money by looking for gas stations that sell 91 octane gas at a lower price, such as Costco, rather than using lower octane gas.