gearbox

iTrader: (95)

yup as a general rule 87 octane is fine for compression lower than 10:1

Al Gore FTW

iTrader: (19)

Honda Motor Company, Inc.*

Jrfish007

iTrader: (3)

True, but in the case of the B16, the compression ratio is not the reason for high octane, the higher RPM's are. Remember the ONLY reason for higher octane is to prevent pre-ignition. There are many way to cause preignition, one is high compression another is high RPM.

JohnH

American Honda Motor Co., Inc.

Sick Cycle

okay.

that's what has always baffled me about the 91 octane b16 and the 87 octane d17 arguments (mainly in my head).

shroomster

curse you for saying higher priced gas is better....I'ma go broke lol.....I'ma stick to the fp60+87 though....

jknudsen

From what I understand, and that's not much, is....higher octane gas(93) does not mean cleaner, all it means is that it has more hydrocarbons, which is designed for a higher compression engine to ignite the fuel. I'm assuming that any byproduct of burning this fuel would be the same as 87 octane since the octane rating has nothing to do with the purity of the fuel. So by a reasonable assumption i would dare to say that you could actually damage your d17 by putting fuel in it that "burns colder" than the fuel the engine was originally designed for. Don't take it from me, go visit http://howstuffworks.com and see for yourself. Ignorance sucks, so once you become educated on the subject you will realize how much money you can actually save just by understanding the physics of this stuff. Also it makes you look smarter when you talk to other people .

Jrfish007

iTrader: (3)

No, I'm saying that unless you NEED the higher octane, don't use it. Use what your manual says....

Blackpearl

For stock engine 87. For high compressin turbo use higer or you will see the result.

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

87+fp60 = happy civic

shroomster

that's two hehe

Jrfish007

iTrader: (3)

Me too...Actually I say FP60 + 87 = happy F150 and '06 civic

aoar

i wouldnt use 89 just because not many people use the middle grade.. stale gas is a no no...

Sick Cycle

heh. gas has to be sitting around for QUITE a while for it to turn stale, iirc.

you think 89 is stale? ... how about the pump 100 octane that I use. not too many people need/use that.

Jrfish007

iTrader: (3)

I used to use 104 octane in my camaro... I had to hand pump it out of a 55 gallon drum at a Sunco station down the road.

Sick Cycle

^ and I bet it was cheaper than $7/gallon

Jrfish007

iTrader: (3)

yeah, that was about 4-5 years ago, I paid something like $5 a gallon. But normal gas was like $1.25, so it wasn't that much

Blackpearl

Airplane fuel?

Jrfish007

iTrader: (3)

Simliar.... normal Aviation fuel is 100 octane leaded. This was 104 octane leaded, probably came from the same refinery over in England. Now they have 105 octane unleaded, because it's hard to sell leaded fuel. But aviation fuel is actually pretty cheap, for 100 octane leaded it's about $2.50-$2.75 right now. I have been thinking of getting I know a few pilots and a guy that runs an airport

Blackpearl

oh yes.
BTW I googled about airplane fuel consumption -> 80 passenger miles per US gallon
Hmm. We also can set up something like that for civics

I AM EM2 TOO

I noticed that my car definately accelerates smoother at higher rpm's (5000-7000rpm) using 91 octane fuel. No doubt.

SOHC_VTEC_pwr

Octane rating has NOTHING to do with fuel mileage... Mileage all depends on the condition of the fuel system and over all vehicle condition. And mainly it depends on throttle position and city or hwy driving.

SOHC_VTEC_pwr

Leaded fuel will fukk up a regular car. It willl fukk up valves, pistons, and mess up the cat....

yamahaSHO

iTrader: (2)

Leaded fuel will not mess up your valves and pistons. It will destroy your catalytic converter and O2 sensors, basically coating them in lead. Octane can have a slight effect on mileage. You'll get your best power and mileage with the lowest octane you can run without getting pre-ignition or detonation.

Up in this high altitude (Denver, CO), I run 85 in my Civic. I get less oxygen up here (approx. 22 - 24% less compared to sea level), so I do not need as high octane as car in lower alititude.

Not only is octane rated in how much it can be compressed before igniting, but it is more of what the flash point is. Compression causes heat (expansion cools) which will cause the air:fuel mixture to ignite. Not only do you need higher octane on higher compression engines, but boosted and hotter running engines (which is also affected by load) need it too. As for a NA Civic, buy low grade and be happy. I ran 85 octane on my stock SHO all the time and it ran great at nearly the same compression as the Civic and it was run MUCH harder.

2k1_sedan

good to know yamahaSHO. I was getting confused since the Honda Manual says my 01 civic should use 86 octane, but the local stations here only sell 85 and 87. I had a feeling the higher altitude had something to do with it, but wasn't sure.

sl33pyriceboi

iTrader: (3)

hhha....people who thing the higher the number the better.......hahaha dumb ppl....

Zzyzx

actually its not that suprising that people think higher octane = better gas. Considering the names marketing has given to their grades of gas...

"Regular", "Plus" and "Premium"....

Based on that what would be implied to be the "best" gas? and which one does the gas company want you to buy?

cg95660

iTrader: (3)

I use 91. It runs a bit better and it still does not cost too much. But I do live in cali very low alti and our gas sucks. I use shell v-power and felt it is the best. I know it is prolly overkill but I do not care. One of my other cars is 91 or better so I am used to it.

lxcivic2k1

I use the lowest here, 87, always have and always will unless I get boosted. Other than that there's no point to spend the extra money, other than waisting money since Honda tuned our cars to run best off of it.

cwo715

iTrader: (13)

idk if this was listed but the higher the octane the harder it is to burn the fuel.. aka 93 octane takes a lot more compression to burn molecules as compared to 89 or 87. Hence the reason for Diesel which is running at a crisp avg of 18:1 or 23:1 compression. So the point in putting in 89 is just going to waste your money . and you can actually do damage sometimes if you run too high of an octane that is not needed for your engine.

I was thinking about goin with 89 for the winter because the gas is more oxygenated so im gonna lose MPG and small amounts of power that i wont notice.