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Old Dec 6, 2005
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High Octane in civic

My friend put 94 octane in his 2000 civic lx by mistake, how bad is this for his engine?
Old Dec 6, 2005
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Originally Posted by MrXclusivE
My friend put 94 octane in his 2000 civic lx by mistake, how bad is this for his engine?
how bad?.. since when is higher octane gas bad for a motor?
Old Dec 6, 2005
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Its not going to do any thing... you may put out a little more emisions but thats about it.

Octane ratings only tell you how much pressure can be exerted on that particular gas before it spontaneously combusts... that’s it. It doesnt burn hotter, it doesnt burn cleaner, it doesn't do any thing more then resist pressure better (allowing you to run a higher compression, giving you better power)
Old Dec 6, 2005
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oh so its good? I've neard its bad
Old Dec 6, 2005
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higher octane in an engine not designed for it can have some negative effects, but putting 94 octane in a civic once will do nothing but make it feel a little more responsive till its out of the car.
no harm done, just dont do it all the time. the ECU is designed for 89 octane or 87, so thats what you should be feeding it to keep it running at its designed efficiency
Old Dec 6, 2005
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oh k thanks
Old Dec 6, 2005
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Originally Posted by MrXclusivE
oh so its good? I've neard its bad

its more of an indifference..... as the engine in his car doesn't have a High enough compression ratio to properly take advantage of the gasolines propertys...
Old Dec 6, 2005
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sure, just let him know on an untuned civic (stock ECU) all it does is waste money. no significant power increase, if any at stock tuning, and increased emissions. not exactly worth it.
Old Dec 6, 2005
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funny thing is, he had to do the emission test the day after (today) and he passed.
Old Dec 6, 2005
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yeah its not a big difference at all. and since we have Ultra Low Emissions Vehicles its very very hard to fail with a stock catalytic converter intact
Old Dec 6, 2005
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Most people seem to claim that lower octane will provide the most power out of wimpy engines. You may not make as much power on higher octane fuel, but even racing gas isn't going to hurt anything. You could waste $88.00 on a tank of 118 if you wanted... the car would run fine, but would probably make slightly less power than it would on 87. Heck.. I've seen guys using 118 in push lawn mowers (left over stuff they don't wanna chance putting back into the drag car) and they run fine.
Old Dec 6, 2005
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Originally Posted by A03
Most people seem to claim that lower octane will provide the most power out of wimpy engines. You may not make as much power on higher octane fuel, but even racing gas isn't going to hurt anything. You could waste $88.00 on a tank of 118 if you wanted... the car would run fine, but would probably make slightly less power than it would on 87. Heck.. I've seen guys using 118 in push lawn mowers (left over stuff they don't wanna chance putting back into the drag car) and they run fine.
yeah dont put any racing fuel in any stock civic. ok?
Old Dec 6, 2005
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where do you find 94 octane anyways?
Old Dec 6, 2005
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Old Dec 9, 2005
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Originally Posted by redem2
where do you find 94 octane anyways?
In finland u cant find lower than 95 octane fuel...i run 98!
Old Dec 9, 2005
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I dont know about all of you guys...but when a run my car clean through with 91 (super) octane and then run it clean through with 87 (regular)...i can definitely feel a difference...not a tremendous difference but definitely a difference...plus it keeps the fuel system clean and less often needing the occasional fuel system cleaner...IMO
Old Dec 9, 2005
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Originally Posted by whitedawg
In finland u cant find lower than 95 octane fuel...i run 98!

There are actually three ways to measure Octane in a fuel.. RON, MON and PON and each will give a different Octane #... so it may be that Finland uses one that gives a Higher# then the states.


Originally Posted by Hawaiian_Built
I dont know about all of you guys...but when a run my car clean through with 91 (super) octane and then run it clean through with 87 (regular)...i can definitely feel a difference...not a tremendous difference but definitely a difference...plus it keeps the fuel system clean and less often needing the occasional fuel system cleaner...IMO

But Dynos are hardly the best indicator of an increase or decrease of power.


And Sadly, There are no "special" additives or propertys in high octane gas that "keeps the fuel system clean" any more then the low octane gasolines. Infact both High and Low octane fuels are required to have the same additives.
Old Dec 20, 2005
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Originally Posted by Zzyzx
There are actually three ways to measure Octane in a fuel.. RON, MON and PON and each will give a different Octane #... so it may be that Finland uses one that gives a Higher# then the states.
what rating is used in the states?
Old Dec 21, 2005
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(Keep in mind when I say 93 I mean Shell V-Power)
I always run 93 from Shell. If at any time I run 87 I most definitely feel and hear a difference in my motor: it revs up high and idles a lot smoother with 93. It also seemingly burns slower. I seriously get an average of 40+ more miles per tank with 93 over 87. This went with my 99 Bravada, 95 Civic DX Economy, and my 02 EX

My girlfriend can also attest to 93 making her 92 Integra LS run alot better. She always used to run Citgo 87 and now I got her into 93 (from anywhere) and her car gets better gas milleage AND her idle issue from since she got the car is gone (choppy idle).

I also had to replace all of the injectors on my first car (93 Bravada) which was run with regular gas all it's life at 94k miles. When I took it apart every injector was so disgustingly mucked up with black **** that before I changed them you could floor it and you'd start off as slow as you could ever imagine. (But of course that was a 1993 GM 4.3L V6 so it was a POS anyway).

Not to say that THIS is actual evidence that 93 is better, just my experiences Zzyzx.

Last edited by JesterMasque; Dec 21, 2005 at 02:41 AM.
Old Dec 21, 2005
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i run all types 87 89 91 and 93 and dont notice any kinds of differences..

ive heard the shell v power burns to clean and has burned up piston rings tho..i think its due to its temp require for it to combust...
Old Dec 21, 2005
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Been using the V-Power for about 2 years and never had any problems with any of my cars.
Old Dec 21, 2005
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So putting in 89 octane is better than putting in 93 octane in a 7th gen designed to be a daily driver? ... My car would feel little or no difference... but better cuz it makes my pocket less lean... am I correct?
Old Dec 21, 2005
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Originally Posted by JesterMasque
(Keep in mind when I say 93 I mean Shell V-Power)
I always run 93 from Shell. If at any time I run 87 I most definitely feel and hear a difference in my motor: it revs up high and idles a lot smoother with 93. It also seemingly burns slower. I seriously get an average of 40+ more miles per tank with 93 over 87. This went with my 99 Bravada, 95 Civic DX Economy, and my 02 EX

My girlfriend can also attest to 93 making her 92 Integra LS run alot better. She always used to run Citgo 87 and now I got her into 93 (from anywhere) and her car gets better gas milleage AND her idle issue from since she got the car is gone (choppy idle).

I also had to replace all of the injectors on my first car (93 Bravada) which was run with regular gas all it's life at 94k miles. When I took it apart every injector was so disgustingly mucked up with black **** that before I changed them you could floor it and you'd start off as slow as you could ever imagine. (But of course that was a 1993 GM 4.3L V6 so it was a POS anyway).

Not to say that THIS is actual evidence that 93 is better, just my experiences Zzyzx.

You know, this topic has been beaten into the ground and half way to china. And yet I have the same experience. My car idles smoother and runs better on high octane. Tried it again and again. It shakes slightly on regular, and gets less mileage. So I really don't give a crap. I'll use super and enjoy the way my car runs.
Old Dec 21, 2005
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my car runs worse on high octane. not really worse, but it actually runs noticeably more sluggish. i get worse gas mileage. and yes, there is nothing in different octanes that makes it "cleaner". maybe you should switch gas stations if you have excessive build up. i only use shell's and texaco's as their standard for "clean" gas is higher. there's others but i cant remember so i dont go anywhere else.

my dad's hemi truck pings on anything less than premium, however.
Old Dec 21, 2005
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http://www.toptiergas.com/index.html

this was in an article posted on the forums sometime earlier this year.

and from what i've read, gas quality varies from state to state. same octane ratings, but different amounts of additives. so when i bought my 7thgen in Toledo, OH, they told me to not buy gas at Amoco/BP due to decreased performance (which I can tell by my buttometer when compared to say, Shell gas), but 7thgen drivers from different areas say that they never heard that before.

so, yes, 7thgens are designed to run on 87 octane,
gas differs in the amount of additives from state to state,
and additives do make a difference.

(dunno about the actual topic of this thread, but i don't think running a higher octane fuel will do anything detrimental except waste money)

Last edited by 20civic01; Dec 21, 2005 at 10:56 PM.
Old Dec 23, 2005
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Originally Posted by modoman
my car runs worse on high octane. not really worse, but it actually runs noticeably more sluggish. i get worse gas mileage. and yes, there is nothing in different octanes that makes it "cleaner". maybe you should switch gas stations if you have excessive build up. i only use shell's and texaco's as their standard for "clean" gas is higher. there's others but i cant remember so i dont go anywhere else.

my dad's hemi truck pings on anything less than premium, however.
Cars are almost individuals. My last Honda ran like crap on super, and great on regular. Go figure. My truck likes 89. My civic, for WHATEVER reason, likes super. Yes, it runs on regular, but it shakes at idle and has a flat feeling. It does not want to go. It friggin zips on super. So WHY??? Does anyone really think I ENJOY spending more at the pump???

Explain this to me, please.
Old Dec 24, 2005
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in uk 95 is the cheap stuff

in japan i think their standard is 100
Old Dec 24, 2005
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Well octane is really depend on the compression ratio of your engine. Should follow the instruction, cause some car requires high octane to properly idle, and drive because of high compression. So I'd say depend on the car, and your engine setup.
Old Dec 26, 2005
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I'm still waiting for a good explanation why MY EX coupe runs quite noticably better on high octane....... It's bone stock....
Old Dec 26, 2005
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well i tried 93 vpower in mine once and the car felt like it was gonna die. the gas mileage was so bad I used up the whole tank in a couple days of hard driving. switched back to mobil regular and its fine. I used to use 89 with my modded motor but now that its stock I just use 87. I think as long as the car is in proper tune, 87 will work fine. maybe your car is running too rich like most factory hondas? btw i do have exhaust and ported tb which may lean it out enough to cancel the stock richness. i would love to see an a/f curve on the dyno if you get a chance. it might answer some questions. maybe even a compression test. believe it or not, i've seen stock d17s have different compression, sometimes +/- 35psi stock!



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