mpax

I have heard of several TL (TSX) owners only using premium 91 octane gas every other fill up as opposed to every time. Does anyone else do this and is it harmful?

ubnpast

the computer has to relearn or adjust to the higher and lower octanes. You should just stick to one.

JERU

Without getting involved in the Premium versus Regular Wars that seem to rage on this forum, it takes the car less than a second to figure out you have reduced octane fuel. The car uses feedback from the knock sensor and it is immediate. The Maxima (circa 96) adjusted in less than a second. Software is a great thing....

Repecat

I sometimes mix 89 and 93 octane fuel to approximate 91, but do not allow the fuel in my tank to go below 91 octane. Just being prudent.

kosh2258

The engine management system will sense the reduced octane because of increased knock (actually, lower octane is more volatile) and dial back the engine advance, and power, to avoid knock (pre-detonation) as mentioned above.

It's not harmful in the sense that the computer will adjust for it and the
engine will run accordingly. But past posts have indicated the power reduction is noticable, especially when the engine is pushed.

EternaLlx

and regular gas cost you more in the long run cause we lose MPG as someone has tested here.

Element2001

There's a sticker on my 06 TL that says to only use premium unleaded so that's why I've been doing, but damn it's expensive than a mug right now lol

paradigm

i don't bother trying to use other than what is recommended...the price difference is so small it's not worth any negative side effects that might happen w/ prolonged use.

lights

iTrader: (1)

Yep it's true.

vtec 6300

I still don't understand why people would even consider putting regular gas in a TL. If you can't afford regular gas, you shouldn't have purchased a TL to begin with.

EternaLlx

Premium you mean XD

Aggie2000

Dumb, when some people purchased their vehicle gas was less than $2. Now its more than doubled.

gurneyeagle

No not dumb!

At an average of 20K miles driven annually at 25 mpg, at a price differential of $0.30 per gallon, the additional cost is $240 annually.

Someone worried about $250/yr, shouldn't be spending $35K on a car.

What are you guys seeing as the price differential between regular and premium. Here in the great cesspool known as New Orleans, it used to be $0.20, but has run up to $0.32 on average. Definitely supply/demand pricing going on here.

Aggie2000

Some people have families. Some people have other cars. Some people have bills to pay. Some people are looking for ways to save money. And some people want to know if there's any risk to using a lower grade of gasoline. Lately I've started using 89 octane and have noticed zero effect on milage. Of course there is some drop off in performance.

GunnerX

There's no risk of Knocking with regular gas?

snax

All we need now here in NOLA is armored plated TL's.

gurneyeagle

Aggie:

I have no problem with someone asking the question. I have no problem with someone trying to save money.

I have a family, I have bills to pay, I have another car. Like everyone else, I'm always looking to save money (actually just re-direct it to another use ).

My point is that you really aren't looking at a lot of money, relative to the purchase of the car. If it is that material to them, they probably should not have bought the car in the first place.

You were the one that flamed the original response.

Aggie2000

I didn't flame. It ignorant to say "You should not have bought the car if you want can't afford premium."

Aggie2000

Again, gas have more than doubled since the 3 gens came out. Its no secret that the increase in gas prices have lead to a decrease in SUV sales. So why doesn't that logic apply here?

Element2001

"You should not have bought the car if you want can't afford premium."

Even though I would typically agree with this, in my situation the fact that the TL requires Premium gas wasn't presented to me anytime before I bought the car by the salesperson. It would have been nice if at least they would have told me just in case that would have swayed my buying opinion. I know it's pretty drastic but maybe buyers care about those things these days since gas prices and other things continue to increase in price.

lembowski

iTrader: (1)

Upon researching the car it was stated over and over again it required premium gas. So unless you didn't research your purchase you have no excuse, even if the salesperson said nothing you should have done your own research.

Gas has only went up 20cents since I purchased. I don't drive too much, when I take road trips friends throw down on the gas, so I don't feel the prices too much.

Element2001

I researched the TL and I never once saw anything about the car requiring premium gas, not on Acura.com, not on Edmunds.com, etc. etc. I'm definately no cheapskate, I nearly spent $3000 in alchol alone this weekend at the club lol, but I can see where 20 cents a gallon and filling up once a week over a period of a even a year can add up to be an amount of money that people would rather have in their bank account then thrown down the drain.

djesuna

... or wasted on alcohol...

Anyways, if premium vs. unleaded was so important to you, why didn't you ask the salesperson? This is also considered research.

cristphoto

Read the sales brochure. It's in there. People complaining about gas mileage, type of fuel, insurance after the purchase shows they didn't do their research. This is tantamount to purchasing a new home miles from town to save on the purchase price and then complain that their commute has increased.

BruceLandry

But was it primium Alcohol or cheap regular Alcohol

BruceLandry

I noticed the use of premium when researching cars and the only two other cars we were considering were the honda accord and toyota camry. It was listed in almost every publication and website I looked at.

gurneyeagle

Aggie, I'm not going to get into a pissing contest over this. Using terms such as "ignorant" aren't conducive to the discussion.

Again, if you run the numbers, you are not talking about that much money relative to the price of the car. Someone who is really sweating the price difference of premium over regular, probably didn't make a wise choice in purchasing a $35K car - period!

As far as the impact on SUV sales - of course the rising cost of gas is a factor to their sales, but it is a totally different argument. If your choice is a Ford Expedition that gets 12 mpg vs. a Honda Odyssey that gets 20 mpg (my real world decision) it's a no brainer.

You have to look at the incremental difference in cost. Even the Expedition/Odyssey analogy only results in a difference of $2,000/ year for 20K miles driven annually. Quality issues were also a major deciding factor for me.

Even so, $2,000 on a $28K vehicle vs. $250 on a $35K vehicle is a big difference.

fsttyms1

Also need to factor in tank size too. my expe is 30 gallon.

These stupid debates regular vs premium are dumb. You arent spending that much of a difference. Just put in what the manufacture recomends.

How many of you waste money listening to oil comercials and changing your oil every 3000 miles instead of what the car manufacturer recomends?

Element2001

eheh Don Perignon and Cristal all night :-)

P.S. When I was using the analogy I was speaking about other people who are money conscious in the world; obviously I blow my money but that's just me. There's a lot of people who watch every penny they spend for various reasons.

AzNGR81

...i agree with most everyone here, its not much of a difference, just put in what the manufactures recommend, when i bought my TL about a year ago, gas was already high, i knew what to expect, the salesman also advised on which gas to use

...so far i have only put in 93 octane and nothing else, i would always want the best for my car especially at the price of a TL

...one time at a gas station, the attendant said "I'd be stupid if i asked if you wanted regular" lol

vtec 6300

This thread is pretty pointless because this topic has been beaten to death. The user who created this thread should have used the search button. If I was the moderator, I would close this thread.

Aznpersuasion

I been using 93 Octane gas at Farm Crest all summer, but when it starts to snow here I start to use 91 Octane, I have used the lowest Octane at the pumps and it made my car squeak, so I took it to the dealership and they fixed it, and told me not to use anything lower again. lol..
~Jason

mpax

What a hornets nest this question created.

For all the smart-ass, ignorant responses....

As a new user to this site, I hadn't found a link to this topic so I thought I would ask the question

Secondly, I was simply asking as a basis for an argument I am having with a TSK driver who uses premium every second fill up...

billiam21

I have a '99 TL with 223,000 miles, and I find that using premium gas makes a performance difference around town, and does hurt gas milage. But I do a lot of highway driving, and I usually fill up with mid grade 89 octane. On the highway I find it performs well, and I notice little or no milage penalty at highway speeds. And at 223,000 miles, I have had NO engine issues, it doesn't use any oil, and still runs almost like new!

BrandonClaps

link to that thread?

leedogg

You should do what I do! Travel 15 miles out of your way to get the cheaper gas! It's 5 cents cheaper goddamnit!!


(i kid, but you'd be surprised how many do this )

mamboking

IMO, regular oil changes affect more the engine perfomance/longetivity than the debate of 89 vs. 91 octane....

MR1

For the most part I agree 100% with what you have posted regarding the difference. Just want to point out that my 02 MDX and my 05 TL get almost exactly the same gas mileage in my normal city driving. The kind of work that I do requires my to take high traffic streets frequently and spend lots of time sitting with the engine running and the air conditioner blasting. This yeilds 14.5-16.5 MPG day in, day out. Anyway, I generally go with the gas recommended, just shop sometimes for the least expensive station w/o E85 type additives. If you need to spend only a certain amount on gas, get a more fuel efficient car, premium was part of the deal. Not having someone tell you about all requirements falls in the individual responsibility category imho. There are a few cars out there that have to get the engine partially removed to change spark plugs, think the dealer told them that?

gonein60sec

For those who said that they researched the car and were never told by the salesman that the TL uses premium gas, it clearly states on the Acura website under General Specifications that the recommended fuel for the TL is Premium unleaded 91 octane.

My salesman told me that you can use 89 but you won't get the benefit of the ULEV-2 rating and that gas mileage might suffer somewhat using anything less than the recommended 91 octane.

leedogg

What about 93 vs 91? Anybody know if our cars will fully utilize 93?