Help, my car ONLY drinks premium gas (lol)...

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proton45

Senior Airman
666
5
Jan 30, 2007
Massachusetts
But seriously...I just got an Acura TL and the owners manual says to use premium grade gas. How important is it to only use 91 (and above) octane gas? Will I do damage to my car if I use a cheaper gas?

Anyone have any insights?
 
How old or new is an Acura TL?
If it's new enough to have engine management, the knock sensor should retard the timing if you use a lower octane fuel.

91 RON doesn't sound like high octane fuel to me by the way.

If you're in any doubt, take it to a garage and ask him if you have a knock sensor (or whatever a knock sensor's called in the US). If you haven't, you don't want to use fuel with a lower than recommended RON number. Mild knock sounds like ball bearings pinging off a metal surface (hence the name it gets given I guess - pinging or pinking), heavy knock on the other hand will cause severe engine damage.
 
I think the worse that will happen is it will ping under acceleration. Depending on the quality of the fuel, some brands may make it more or less noticeable. I don't think the lower octane will result in any engine damage, maybe if you were talking about 10 points or more difference, but 2-3 points should be okay.
 
I agree with messing over here we call it pnking run your tank down put some regular in and drive it for a day or so if it does pink just top up with the right grade as long as its not a high performace lump it wont do harm for gallon or so of juice as high octane is more about more efficient combustion. lower octane will just loose a bit of grunt and soot up quicker
 
Ya, its an older car (97)... I got it from a family member when I had to give up the "newer" truck...

Thanks, good advice from all!!!

p.s. I just wanted to be careful because the person I got the car from has ALL the up-keep/repair records on the car, and if something went wrong it could be a little embarrassing to explain (in a family context_lol). "well you gave me the car, I can run it the way I want...", bla-bla-bla...
 
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I've got a 2004 Grand Prix that pings under acceleration no matter the grade I put in it. Talked to a few mechanics that tell me as long as no light comes on, not a lot to do about it. I had some success with pouring a can of isoprophyl in the tank every other tankful. Thinking there may be some moisture in the tank.
 
Your fuel mileage will drop, the motor will want to spark knock more causing it to lose horse power. Oh,and the spark knock, sometimes referred to as detonation will over time destroy the engine. And the catyllitic converter will become stopped up. Other than that It won't cause to many problems. I found this out the hard way.
 

Wow, thanks


I wonder if anyone is good at math?

How many gallons of 89 octane gas how many gallons of 93 octane gas would I need to put in (of each) to equal 91 octane? I have a 17 gallon gas tank...
 
Don't worry about one tank. You can add a can of octane boost to it if your worried about it but just use the 91% from now on. I know it's a pain in the but paying more for the fuel but it is worth it in the long run.
 
Believe it or not, I had the same problem with my Piaggio motor scooter. The owners manual calls for 95 octane gas.
I can't find any 95 octane. The first tank I used regular gas and it ran like crap.... wouldn't go over 20 MPH. After
I siphoned out the regular and put Shell Hi-Test [93 octane] in it, it ran good for a week, then the carburetor went
south. It took my dealer three weeks to get me another carb...... under warranty, of course.

I would go with the manufacturer's recommendations. You'll be better off in the long run, believe me.

Charles
 
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