this morning, my dad filled my 04 tl's tank with regular fuel. We drive near D.C. on 66 I have to take the car back home since he picked up his f150, So I agree to take 66 with him, I dont like taking highways on northern virginia other than VA south, but I did it, and boy the accerlation is so SLOW!! its like another car on the freeway, even the steering wheel suffers and doesnt respond like it does on Premium fuel. This isnt the first time I drove on regular, so it isnt a one time thing, It is a fact, the car is made for premium and nothing more. In real world tests, I can honestly say that regular fuel in our cars is like putting a Corolla engine instead of our 3.2 Vtec engine. Boy it was so shockingly horrid on the freeway. Sucked my day up, now I am hear ranting ....

 

I used a tank of 89 and the car ran fine. Fuel type would have zero correlation with your steering. It's mostly in your head. These cars can run on 87 and up. Granted, you may lose a few HP and some torque, but it's negligible. We're talking about an Acura here, not a Lamborghini.

 

You actually end up spending more gas with regular fuel than premium.

 

When lower octane is used, the car retards the timing, making the car feel sluggish. As ^ mentioned, it should have no affect on your steering feel.

 

i definitely agree. we have a gas shortage in GA and so i had to use reg. i definitely felt the difference driving it.

 

Lamborghini or Acura, doesn't matter, we're still talking an 11:1 motor with a lot of timing. It needs premium to run correctly.

 

And that is why the computer will retard the timing to compensate for a lower octane. For somebody who owns a FI GN, I'm surprised you would debate otherwise. Engineers dummied this car so your average layman, who doesn't care about performance, can screw up and run 87 without blowing the motor. Will a lower octane affect performance? Sure. Will you automatically grenade your motor? No.

 

LOL and I have proof with 6 blown headgaskets hanging on the wall that there's only so much the computer can do. The Acura isn't at the same extreme and it's not going to blow up but the knock sensor is reactive. The engine has to knock before it can retard timing and even then the computer puts timing back in within a second of pulling it out. At 50K to 100K with very minor pinging you may not see the effects. If you plan on keeping the car for a lot of miles, premium is a must.

Basically the computer tries to protect the engine from the occasional tank of 87 which it does. But it's not designed to live it's life on 87.

 

You loose power because regular gasoline burns faster than premium. If you run regular fuel in the TL's engine, the gasoline burns to quick on the power stroke and therefor you do not get enough combustion for the depth of our pistons. Premium fuel burns slower and burns all the way through the power stroke, causing more downward force on the piston, which equals more power.

 

Some of the responses in this thread reinforce my opinion on why I don't like to buy used cars. You have no idea what people do to their cars....

 

Sad, but true. While my opinion is clearly going against the grain, I still stand by it. Also, we're not discussing driving style and maintenance here, and both are big factors when you consider your octane needs. FWIW, I either run 89 or 93 because I generally do not have 91 readily available. My point was that should you run 87 in your car occasionally it is not the end of the world. I was a long time lurker prior to joining and I have browsed through enough threads where people act like the sky is falling if they have to run 1 tank of 87 through their car. OP complained about steering problems due to using 87 octane. Come on now!

A lot of people buy cars and drive them into the ground. No maintenance, no attention paid to octane grades, etc. Engineers account for that level of negligence. That's all I'm saying.

 

when forced to run 87 simply use lighter throttle foot and keep out of vtec for sure
It will run ok- the computer adjust for the emergency, and adjust back when 91 comes back to your state

If really concerned- when 91 is back add some seafoam to the gas or redline or bg44, something to help clean out carbon residue from inefficient combustion, then you are good to go redline throttle again

 

I think we more or less agree. Nothing wrong if you have the occasional "accidental" 87 fillup. Though I wouldn't run the car for it's entire life on 87.

 

It's not about how fast or slow it burns. It's about the fuel either pre-igniting (pre-ignition) before the spark plug fires sometimes causing two flame fronts or detonation, when you have more of an explosion rather than burning. It is damaging to the engine. How damaging is specific to your particular conditions. I've had it instanly break a forged piston and sometimes there's no noticable effects.

The loss of power you talk about is the computer retarding the timing to try and protect the engine from detonation, nothing to do with the speed in which the gas burns.

 

lol these threads are immortal. Admins always lock them but they always come back

 

contrary to what you think, there is a reason acura puts "Pemium Fuel Only" on the inside of the filler door..........

sure it will run on 87 but in the end you get lower mpg, emissions non compliance, and lower economy versus $$ spent

 

And another gas thread rides off into the sunset....