Regular or Premium
 

Alright this seems to be a girly question but for some odd reason some guys are unable to give me a proper response without the bull****.
Gas.....Regular or Premium?
My manual says unleaded gas but nothing about regular or premium or 89 or 92 etc. etc. It just says unleaded. I notice all the older Hondas that have some type of performance on them usually have premium unleaded but for my V6 it just says unleaded. Since I am too lazy to look online for the answer I decide to place this task on all those Honda accord enthusiast on this site the challenge:D

RE: Regular or Premium
 

When Hondas or Acuras require premium they say premium unleaded. Since the manual on your accord says unleaded it means regular unleaded. So basically if you put premium it would just be a waste of money.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

If you knew the compression of your engine that would ultimately decide regular or premium, if you have a higher compression engine you would want a higher grade gas in your car because high compression engines need higher octane gas to prevent premature detination

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Well wouldnt the compression be higher since it a V6. I havent check the spec on my car completely but thats seems to be the reason why all the former Hondas used premium gas since its a performace car. I wouldnt see why the former cars would use premium gas and mine would only use unleaded unless they did change something to the engine.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

honestly dont know, i think your accord only has 200hp..... that tells me that it probably has lower then a 10:1 compression, like h22 engines, those stock have a 10.3:1 compression in most cases, so its usually best to run higher then the 85 octane in it but compression is based on how the piston and head is designed more then the number of cylinders

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Kay i went to look it up and my car has 244 hp with a 10.0:1 compression ratio

RE: Regular or Premium
 

*blinks* really? 244hp? what year and model? and it will most likely run a little smoother when you use 92octane vs 85..... my brother is totally obivous on why his car runs smoother with a higher octane...

RE: Regular or Premium
 

2006 honda accord V6 manual :D

RE: Regular or Premium
 

oooooooooh......... thats cheating! ^_^ but that also explains why its 244hp lol very sexy car ^_^ but yeah, 89 or 92 octane is what you want to run, yeah it may cost more, but it will be in its "happy zone" because of it

RE: Regular or Premium
 

hahaha I never knew that was cheating. lol. Yeah so thats why I was wondering the whole regular or premium deal. Although I have been putting 92 into the tank, I was just curious why it just say unleaded in the owners manual although premium would be good for it. :)

RE: Regular or Premium
 

its all unleaded, basically its saying dont put desiel in it

RE: Regular or Premium
 

LOL i figured that much.....[:-]

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Basically 87 and up.

EPA Mileage Estimates*/Capacities
6-Speed Manual (City/Highway): 21/30
Crankcase (qt.): 5.3
Coolant System (qt., MT/AT): 8.9 / NA
Fuel (gal.): 17.1
Required Fuel: Regular Unleaded

**Based on 2006 EPA mileage estimates. Use for comparison purposes only. Actual mileage may vary.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Thanks. I was just a little concerned about the choice of gas that I used. But come to find out that the gas i used is A-Ok USA. (yeah corny fob saying. Couldnt resist.):)

RE: Regular or Premium
 

To be specific 87 octane! How's that?

RE: Regular or Premium
 

AMEN!

RE: Regular or Premium
 

dont forget that 10% ethanol ^_-

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Well I guess 92 is good enough for this girl.... I dont think its such a good idea to switch. (so i have heard) Thats what i fed the baby and thats what she is going to continue to get. :)

RE: Regular or Premium
 

hell yea sexy your absolutely right....244 hp....your car rips. you car is designed to run on all fuels 87 octane and up. you have a detonation sensor in your car....also called the knock sensor. if the sensor detects a low grade of fuel (which is usually hand in hand with detonation) the computer will retard the timing......making it easier for the engine to fire the air fuel mixture......and reducing horsepower. when the sensor detects a high grade/high octane fuel, it checks itself.....advancing the timing, which will increase hp...so basically if i had your car it wouldnt get anything BUT top tier premium fuel, and in az our top tier stations are chevron, shell, and QT.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

You need to be aware that 92 octane burns slower than 87. This can cause carbon deposits in the cylinders and on the pistons & rings in the long term.......not desirable.
The extra 20 cents a gallon you are paying yields no benefit (except for your "feelgood" factor) and can actually cause problems down the road. You asked for advice and choose to ignore it which is your prerogative. It's your car and your pocketbook, which I respect, but why spend more for no gain and possible harm when you are concerned about the longevity of your car?

The engine horsepower was rated with 87 octane fuel, why try to second guess Honda engineers that developed the powerplant?

RE: Regular or Premium
 

i have been told time and time again by honda mechanics that the only honda recommended to rum premium is the s2000, and try to use shell, chevron, or 76 gas - they have said exactly what RTexasF is tellin ya... anyhow - i like the view from behind! i have the 06 auto v6 - the standard AEM CAI gave it a nice little boost in power and a very polite growl... easy install and got mine super cheap on ebay... ;)


I don't know why my reply wound up all by its lonesome instead of the in the string... who cares? this was in reply to sexybeast's post as the subject line indicates - guess i'll just hang out in here by myself for a while... ok... this is boring - peace! i'm out.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

My friend had a '04 v6 accord (manual) and he always filled it up with 91 octane. He told me it is fine to use 87 octane on those cars but after a while you'll get engine knocking, so the dealership suggested that he use 91 octane to avoid engine knoking.
My suggestion it is probably true, since your car is a v6 and is brand new. Check with your dealer and see what they recomend. I would advise that you talked to one of the mechanics there or a person who's in charge of the maintanance department, because they'd be able to tell you what's better and what's worse without b.s. or guessing.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

um no.. texas i disagree with you, you say slow burning like its a bad thing. it doesnt mean that it yields a smaller explosion....its actually more volitile. But the only thing that will ignite it is a spark from a spark plug, not a hot ember or anything hanging off the chamber. higher octane fuel actually burns cleaner and more complete, resulting in less combustion deposits left inside the motor. i wish i wouldnt have used regular fuel in my car for so long because now that it has 250k on it, i get plenty of pings when i use 87. people that want to rip hard in their hondas regularly and keep them in top running condition use the best lubricants and fuels.


lightshow

RE: Regular or Premium
 

very polite growl... thats cute. hehehe. Well I seen your pic on your album and i feel for the car with the branch on it. Such a sad sight to see when you wake up in the morning to jump into your car. And i'm glad that you like the view from the back:D

RE: Regular or Premium
 

This is an in general for everyone, other then the fact that it burns cleaner, will low compression pistons you should never hear a knocking even on 85 octane, when you have a higher compression that knocking is 9 times out of 10 premature combustion, in higher compression engines you need higher octane because with lower octane the compression stroke will ignite before the spark even goes off...... sparkless ignition is why we have diesel engines ^_-

RE: Regular or Premium
 

i don't know how much it's true, i'm just saying what i heard (refering to my above post).

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Check with your dealer and see what they recomend. I would advise that you talked to one of the mechanics there or a person who's in charge of the maintanance department, because they'd be able to tell you what's better and what's worse without b.s. or guessing.


No guessing involved, owner's manual says 87 octane, the dealer will confirm this.

Read this http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...emiumgas_x.htm

RE: Regular or Premium
 

I searched in my owner’s manual for the amount. The only thing that my manual says is unleaded gas and that’s it. But you are right about guessing and the b.s. I will be calling the dealership and ask them about the type of gas that I should be using.

The article that you have linked to the post contradicts the difference gasoline grade it talks about in the article and what is advised to drivers to use in their owners manual or bluntly placed on their gas cap etc. etc. It would make no sense that a car company who is engineering the car would recommended (or state) using 91 octane because of the performance of the car when this article here states that all gas grade is okay to use in the car. I would feel that car companies would place down the lower grade of gasoline as choice if that was the case because it would appeal to the car buyer that they are getting a really great car in performance with the lowest grade of gas. More bang for your buck. So why tell consumers use this grade and that grade when article says it okay to use lower grade for a high performance car? Not stepping on toes but it does state that there is a difference in gas grades even though slightly. I thought that little difference in numbers in terms of car displacement, bore stroke, compression etc etc is a big thing in the long run. So why go for the lower grade when it decreases power? In my opinion I would rather listen to what the car manufactures tell me in terms of gasoline usage for the car instead of being convinced by this article.

I would go the extra just to make sure that I get optimum performance of my car.

p.s.
Not to fond of that article.[:'(]

RE: Regular or Premium
 

ok... i give up - use what ever the hell octane you want, just don't go to arco or bp or that one on the way to vegas (the 'flying j') - at the very least you should be getting gas from a reputable rapist - i mean, company... it was recommended to me by the dealer to run some Techron through my little friend every now and again, too - ;) gotta go - i guess i'm supposed to actually do something while I'm here at work. good luck any way you choose to go.


by the way, thanx for the sympathy regarding just the last thing to happen to my car... there's a nice long list of problems (ALL were dealer f*** ups) and i'm just waiting for a submarine to fall from the sky and land on it... i swear, its cursed.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

I agree, portions of the article are absurd. I wanted to see who would actually read it and comment. In my owners manual if you open the back cover the fuel requirements are on the last page........"unleaded 86 or higher"

A little research on google will back up using 87 octane if your car calls for it. That's all, buy what you like[sm=smiley31.gif]

RE: Regular or Premium
 

BP/Amaco refines about half of the fuel in the US. They operate the largest single refinery. So you really don't know who produced your fuel originally. I just use on brand and stick with it if I can. On the compression issue: wrong It has to do with the tuning. My girlfriend 89 Prelude runs a stock 9:1 compression and knocked horribly when she didn't put in 91(Honda recommended) octane or higher. It has to do with how the car is tuned. The higher strung cars such as the S2000 and Prelude were tuned from the factory more for performance so they need the higher octane gas to avoid knocking. Cars such as the Accord and Civic are set up for a balance of fuel economy and power. This allows for use of a lower octane gas. Honda recommends 87 or higher octane for the Accords. The higher octane will not hurt the car but you are spending extra money that you don't need to. Both me(03 4cyl) and my friend(04 V6) run 87 and have had no problems with performance or mileage.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

was your g/f's car the sohc or dohc? just curious

RE: Regular or Premium
 

I actually noticed a big difference going from using 87 to 89. so from now on i use 89 in all my cars. not only does it help clean the engine better and reduce the amount of gas particles left behind, it gives you a little kick of performance as well. i especially felt it on acceleration.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

It is dohc. Last year our master tech was at Honda school and they went over the octane debate. Per Honda info that they were given only about a 1mpg difference was found when 91 was used instead of 87. They found both no extra deposits nor extra cleaning ability from using a higher octane.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

*nods* i understand that, I just never really knew the cutoff point for compression on each octane level. Found out earlier today that that most effective octane for a 10:1 compression engine is 87, and i cant remember who said it, but higher octanes do not burn slower. I just assumed 89 was a better choice cause most every place you go 87 has ethanol.

Is the ethanol myth true to where it can in some cases harm engines?

RE: Regular or Premium
 

I'm not trying to be a wise ass here, just backing up my statements:


In most of the U.S., regular gas has an octane rating of 87, midgrade gas is 89, and premium is 91 or 92. (Octane ratings are lower in the mountain west due to the effects of thin air on internal combustion.) Contrary to widespread belief, the octane rating doesn't indicate how much power the fuel delivers; all grades of gasoline contain roughly the same amount of heat energy. Rather, a higher octane rating means the fuel is less likely to cause your engine to knock or ping. Knock, also known as detonation, occurs when part of the fuel-air mixture in one or more of your car's cylinders ignites spontaneously due to compression, independent of the combustion initiated by the spark plug. (The ideal gas law tells us that a gas heats up when compressed.) Instead of a controlled burn, you get what amounts to an explosion--not a good thing for your engine. To avoid this, high-octane gas is formulated to burn slower than regular, making it less likely to ignite without benefit of spark.
First off- Octane. Race cars and high performance vehicles have higher compression engines and more advanced ignition timing. This higher compression can cause premature detonation (relax guys, it happens to everyone once). To remedy the premature detonation a slower burning fuel is used.[ Higher octane numbers mean that the fuel burns slower. The slower burning fuel can be compressed at a higher ratio without as much fear of deadly premature detonation, commonly called "pinging." Pinging will definitely ruin your engine. In modern engines with aluminum pistons this is an absolute engine killer. With modern replacement engines starting at $2000 + installation for cheap cars and up to $20,000 for some higher end cars, it's not something to ignore.


Ethanol, depending on the concentration, can indeed cause major problems when used in a car not designed for it. For instance, running E85 in a 7th gen Accord is a big no no. Ten percent is the max the car can stand according to the owners manual.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Yo Tex ...seems as you got this post handled...as you usually do..

WheelBrokerAng[sm=americanasmiley.gif]

RE: Regular or Premium
 

Thanks. Just trying to post factual answers to honest questions.

RE: Regular or Premium
 

hey yea the gas itself doesnt give more power...your engine does. the computer will notice the higher grade fuel your using (because of the adsence of any detonation) and effectively advance the timing, unquestionably yielding more power at all rpm levels. just to clear it up though. every honda out there can easily run on regular 87 octane gas. the computer will retard the timing to a point that the engine runs safely, reducing power. even on my 3.2 tl which has premium unleaded only written on the dash, the gas cap, the owners manual, and probably other places. when i called the dealership they told me i can easily use 87 and not have any problems. so should i do it?.....sure....just as soon as i stop over at my local jiffy lube for some bulk penzoil. :)

RE: Regular or Premium
 

You are absolutely wrong. Higher octane than required in a computerized car that calls for 87 octane WILL NOT advance the timing. The exception is in a car like yours that calls for premium fuel and has run a tank of 87 octane. Once filled up with the correct fuel it will return (slowly) to the previous timing.

I'm with you on sticking with premium when the car calls for it. To go with less octane in a car that requires premium is foolish. The only way you'ld catch me at a Jiffy lube place is if I had a flat tire right in front of it! I am pro synthetic oil and bought up all of the Mobil 1 0W20 that I could find when I found out they were going to discontinue it.

We are waaayyyy off topic here and we've hijacked the thread. Guilty, I apologize.