88AccordDX

iTrader: (1)

For those who dont know, I drive a 1988 Honda Accord DX. It's engine is an A20A type and is Carbed. When I first got it I thought it was only safe to put 83 Octane (regular) gas in my car. Now I need to clean out the fuel system and put some octane booster in the gas as well to feel the power but I'm not sure if it's safe for the engine to do that since it's carbed.

Those old muscle cars take 93 Octane and they're the oldest of carbed engines and they ran fine. Now I just need to know if it's ok to go for it on my car and make it last a little longer.

targetpractice

iTrader: (3)

Well puting the higher octane gas in your car will make it work harder. The higher the octane the harder it is to burn it completely off. I would stick with the cheap stuff, I know around here 87 is the lowest you can get.

JX6

iTrader: (1)

get a newer car....j/k
I put 87 in mine.

zen_master

iTrader: (6)

yeah i think 87 should do good...

88AccordDX

iTrader: (1)

I thought the higher the octane, the more combustable, therefore, better for the engine.

I'll go with 87 this time.

civic01vtec

iTrader: (20)

try 87....if you hear pinging, then use 89

sw388integra

iTrader: (20)

i've never used anything but 93 since the car was new....you get what you pay for

zen_master

iTrader: (6)

there's lot of thread which discussed about this...i suggest search..

anyway,
the higher the octane, the harder it is for the engine to burn em completely..

higher octane fuel was designed for higher compression engine...for example, the '00 Civic SI...the minimum for that car is 89...

i suggest for us to stick with 87...

however, u might want to try the 89 or 93 to fulfill your curiosity....like i did...once..

DJPark

You only need to get the high octane if you have a better engine like zen said.

My Jetta with the VR6 said it should be at least 91. While other Jetta's like the Turbo and regular say I think 89. You should put what the book says. It is said for a reason.

88AccordDX

iTrader: (1)

I dont think there's much of a book that says the fuel it should use. I just need to get a tank of gas that cleans out the system better.

OsOBooSTeD

iTrader: (5)

look in the owners manual it will say 87.

if ur just tryin to run it to clean the system out ... dont bother. take it to a shop and have them run cleaner threw ur system is all.

blouisgod

iTrader: (14)

Ugh, where did you hear that? Why would 93 octane cost more if your statement was true? The higher octane, the better the vaporization. Thus, the higher octane, the more complete the burn results in improved efficency. If you wanna prevent misfires on a carb, go high octane. Good luck with the carb.

82801BA

Look at the numbers:

Prelude VTEC, 10.0:1, 93
RSX Type-S, 11:1, 93
RSX, 10.6:1, 87
99-00 Civic Si, 10.6:1, 89?
01+ Civic EX, 9.9:1, 87

Looking at the numbers, it just doesn't make any sense.

82801BA

93 is supposed to give a more "complete" burn out of a car, especially old cars that detonations occur.....And it vaporizes better(if you put 87 and 93 in a open pan, 93 will drain a lot faster.) For performance purposes, higher octane helps supports high compression points, and that increase horsepower and efficiency of the high compression engine.
I have no idea on the term "high compression", but if we compare with the older model Honda, a lot of them were 8.6, 8.8 and something like that, the Civic's 9.9 is already at "High" compression(Prelude was at 10.0 and uses Pre. Unleaded Only).
My experience is that, with 89(I never used 87), just a normal car feeling. With 93, a little performance gain, and with some octane booster+93, i really feel the VTEC pulls starting at 2500rpm.....

82801BA

Comparing to Asian gasoline octane, our U.S. octance is low....They have 98, and some up to 105.....

thomusvoo

what does it say in the manual for prefered gas?

82801BA

F22A, 8.8:1, 87
H22A, 10.0:1, 91+
K20A3, 10.6:1, 87
K20A2, 11.0:1, 91+
D17A2, 9.9:1, 87

In Asia(except some countries like China) no car will use 87 octane, nor 89 and 93. The lowest grade in Hong Kong I think was 96, and Shell makes 98, 10 years ago when I was still there.

The reason of octane, by the definition of my very experienced mechanic from Hong Kong(he worked on modified cars for 20+ years), is due to the lack of lead. Octane is to replace lead for combustion and compression. Leaded gasoline has the highest performance anyway. Diesel actually boosts HP on a gasoline engine(very small amount only). I know the octane booster I use contains diesel, even the box doesn't say it(diesel has a very distinct smell).

82801BA

By the way, I have my car's timing advanced so that the octane booster may help.

opto_isolator

iTrader: (8)

Yes, go out and buy some race fuel from Sunoco - than to increase the octane dump a few bottles of 104+ octane boost in it.....it will work WONDERS!

Zzyzx

Ok, Im going to post this one last time


Hers the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) wright up of Octane


Parts of note:


Are you tempted to buy a high octane gasoline for your car because you want to improve its performance? If so, take note: the recommended gasoline for most cars is regular octane. In fact, in most cases, using a higher octane gasoline than your owner's manual recommends offers absolutely no benefit. It won't make your car perform better, go faster, get better mileage or run cleaner. Your best bet: listen to your owner's manual.

The only time you might need to switch to a higher octane level is if your car engine knocks when you use the recommended fuel. This happens to a small percentage of cars.

Unless your engine is knocking, buying higher octane gasoline is a waste of money, too. Premium gas costs 15 to 20 cents per gallon more than regular. That can add up to $100 or more a year in extra costs. Studies indicate that altogether, drivers may be spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year for higher octane gas than they need.



So.... The only reason to use High octane gass is if you engine needs it to not Knock( wich is based on The compression of the engine).

Zzyzx

Each Level of gas from each MFG (Shell, Exon ect...) have the same Detergents, So 89 Has the same detergents as 91.

opto_isolator

iTrader: (8)

If you couldn't tell - the sarcasim tags were enabled there....

hustlelikem0fo

iTrader: (10)

All of you are wrong. Out of the thousands of gas threads we had here I always say the samething.

87, 89 and 93 octane will mess up your engine. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use that type of gas.

Use diesel. Honda designs our engines specifically for diesel fuel. Believe me, I know.

But if you want to keep using 87,89 or 93 octane fuel remember this.

-87 does not add horse power.
-89 adds 2 horse power
-93 adds 6 horse power

So if you want to be ignorant and not use diesel then remember the math ^^^

pnoyster2k1cvic

iTrader: (29)

how would you hear pinging? or they say detonation? is it the same sound as the backfires?

i'm running 91octane and when I let off the gas on 3rd or 2nd I hear this little detonation not really loud but like I said little backfires... is that the detonation? thanks!

vtecman04

dude: All of you are wrong. Out of the thousands of gas threads we had here I always say the samething.

87, 89 and 93 octane will mess up your engine. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT use that type of gas.

Use diesel. Honda designs our engines specifically for diesel fuel. Believe me, I know.

But if you want to keep using 87,89 or 93 octane fuel remember this.

-87 does not add horse power.
-89 adds 2 horse power
-93 adds 6 horse power

So if you want to be ignorant and not use diesel then remember the math ^^^


U ARE ONE STUPID MOTHER ****ER!!!!!...dont believe nethin that this fool is talking about 88 accorddx....the high octane FUEL THAT THE GAS STATION HAS IS MEANT FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE CARS LIKE THE FERRARI AND SUPPER MODDED CARS AND PRELUDES ALSO...THE HIGHER THE # THE LONGER IT TAKES FOR THE GAS MIXTURE TO EXPLODE IN THE CYLINDER.....THOSE OF U WHO THINK IF U PUT HIGH OCTANE GAS IN UR CARS AND GET MORE HP ARE WRONG...U WILL ACTUALLY DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD TO IT...STICK WITH REGULAR AND BUY THINKING HELMETS WITH THE MONEY U SAVE.

dragoon

iTrader: (2)

whoa, back from the dead.

vtecman04 LOL I hope someone doesnt believe that

vtecman04

lol, wut u talkin about suhh!!!! i dont think i've ever met u b-fore....and by wut u said...i hope u agree with my firm statement!!

SpacemanBob

A higher octane will NOT increase performance... that's all in your mind.
Here's the deal:
I'm going to assume that you know how a combustion engine works.
Another piece if information that you'll need is that when volume stays constant, pressure is directly proportional to temperature.
SO (in one cylinder), your engine squirts in some gas, takes in some air, and seals itself off, making volume constant. Then, it compresses this air-gas mix before igniting it with the spark plug.
This is where octane comes in. One way to think about octane is that it refers (indirectly) to the temperature at which the gas will spontaneously ignite, as we know all things do at SOME temperature. So if you have enough compression in a cylinder, it will compress the gas so much that it will explode BEFORE the spark plug even goes off (when the piston is still trying to compress the gas). The noise created by this is refered to as a pinging or a knocking. Therefore, you'd need a higher octane gas to be able to handle this compression so that it would not explode before the spark plug fired.
However, putting higher octane in a car that does NOT have a high compression ration is simply a waste of money.

pnoyster2k1cvic

iTrader: (29)

^^^I'm using high octane coz i'm squeezing n2o


--this is kinda off topic!
but i was askin about pinging? and knocking? how do you hear em? or how can I tell if it's pinging? knocking? detonating?

vtecman04

yeah, thats one of the acceptions to using nitrous but about the pinging and knocking, i've heard that u can feel it sometimes but detonation is different, if ur engine is detonating, then u would know...it'll be that abnormal sound and ur car wont start, and when u goto a shop, they will say that u need a new engine...or most of a new one.