high octane
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high octane
when i bought my sedan this summer, the sales women told me to use the lowest octane gas there is, or else the engine wont work properly, but my friends are telling me that the higher the octane the batter and the more hourse power.
what is true
what is true
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From: Pasadena, California, US
Rep Power: 0 No point in getting a higher octane gas.The only time you use it is when the engine requires you to use 91 octane.Our civics only need 87 octance anymore and you would just be wasting money.
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I may be worng, but i heard on older engines high octane is good to use once in a while because it sorta cleans the engine, and i think high octane is good for trucks and large suvs
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Higher octane is only useful when any of the following apply:
-You have advanced the timing on your car (something we can't do anyways)
-You are running some sort of forced induction (turbo, supercharger, nitrous)
-You have a high compression engine (not a Civic) that has been tuned for the higher octane, like the previous generation Integra GS-R and Type-R
Otherwise, you're just wasting money. Mileage won't change, and there are lot better and cheaper ways to clean out your engine. Use an injector cleaner every oil change, that's really the best way.
-You have advanced the timing on your car (something we can't do anyways)
-You are running some sort of forced induction (turbo, supercharger, nitrous)
-You have a high compression engine (not a Civic) that has been tuned for the higher octane, like the previous generation Integra GS-R and Type-R
Otherwise, you're just wasting money. Mileage won't change, and there are lot better and cheaper ways to clean out your engine. Use an injector cleaner every oil change, that's really the best way.
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From: Germantown, Maryland, US
Rep Power: 0 read your honda manual and it will tell you that low grade gas may cause your civic engine to 'knock' but not cause any real damage... cant say i believe that a knocking engine isnt causing any damage...
92 octane... nothing less for my baby... i can feel the HP gain, so to you all who say it doesn't
92 octane... nothing less for my baby... i can feel the HP gain, so to you all who say it doesn't
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From: Houston, Texas, US
Rep Power: 0 "feel" the HP [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG][IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG]
seriously, you get NO benfits from higher octane when it comes to our cars. If anything, you're hurting it
seriously, you get NO benfits from higher octane when it comes to our cars. If anything, you're hurting it
I use 93 everytime unless I know Im gonna be in afor a drive on the highway.
93 doesnt hurt your engine and you can't go wrong with 87. I only use 93 because I believe it helps the life of your engine. Yea sure it can add deposits, but how much of it cna it add with 6 more points of octane. Thas only 6.5% more octane. My friend has a 94 Civic coupe EX with a few mods and he's building up a turbo for it and peronsally I would trust my car in his hands anyday to install whatever and whenever. He's making his own turbo by himself and almost finished with it. He used 93 since his dad got it new. It has about 140k miles and never had one problem, runs perfect.
Higher octane is for engine's that have a certain gas chamber that need the extra octane for a better response. Our cars do not need it but like I said it does burn richer and cleaner, it also burns faster meaning a few less miles per gallon.
It's your decision. BTW: I've also never had any problems.
93 doesnt hurt your engine and you can't go wrong with 87. I only use 93 because I believe it helps the life of your engine. Yea sure it can add deposits, but how much of it cna it add with 6 more points of octane. Thas only 6.5% more octane. My friend has a 94 Civic coupe EX with a few mods and he's building up a turbo for it and peronsally I would trust my car in his hands anyday to install whatever and whenever. He's making his own turbo by himself and almost finished with it. He used 93 since his dad got it new. It has about 140k miles and never had one problem, runs perfect.
Higher octane is for engine's that have a certain gas chamber that need the extra octane for a better response. Our cars do not need it but like I said it does burn richer and cleaner, it also burns faster meaning a few less miles per gallon.
It's your decision. BTW: I've also never had any problems.
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Rep Power: 0 This entire thread is a pile of misinformation (no offense intended to anyone). Using a higher octane gas than necessary offers NO (ZERO, ZIP, NADA) performance benefits whatsoever. You're just wasting money that could be better spent on other things, like [IMG]i/expressions/beer_yum.gif[/IMG]
The ONLY difference between a vendor's regular, plus, and premium gasolines is the resistance to detonation (e.g. octane rating). Detergent additives, fuel supplements, etc. are all identical for all the various grades of gas for a particular gasoline vendor. Since the D17 (or ANY stock D-series engine for that matter) does not have extremely high compression, 87 octane is good enough to prevent the engine from knocking. Anything more and you're just wasting your $$.
That being said, some extremely old cars require higher-than-normal octane gas, simply because the deposits accumulated in the cylinder compartments make them candidates for detonation.
The ONLY difference between a vendor's regular, plus, and premium gasolines is the resistance to detonation (e.g. octane rating). Detergent additives, fuel supplements, etc. are all identical for all the various grades of gas for a particular gasoline vendor. Since the D17 (or ANY stock D-series engine for that matter) does not have extremely high compression, 87 octane is good enough to prevent the engine from knocking. Anything more and you're just wasting your $$.
That being said, some extremely old cars require higher-than-normal octane gas, simply because the deposits accumulated in the cylinder compartments make them candidates for detonation.
I would have to disagree with htown.
I never said any performance gains over gasoline in my life but I do stand by in when I say it does burn richer, faster cleaner in the chamber, wha can this mean toa puny D17, prolly nutting but it's a hard evidance that shows an engine can live better, possibly longer.
And I can get my auto mech teacher to back me up heh.
We did a lab on it last year[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]
I never said any performance gains over gasoline in my life but I do stand by in when I say it does burn richer, faster cleaner in the chamber, wha can this mean toa puny D17, prolly nutting but it's a hard evidance that shows an engine can live better, possibly longer.
And I can get my auto mech teacher to back me up heh.
We did a lab on it last year[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG]
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From: Bozeman, Montana, US
Rep Power: 0 I use mid-grade gasoline. 85 is too cheap for my baby, and I can't afford 91, so I get the 87 Octane, just so I feel like I'm giving my car a little something extra. Does it do anything? I don't know, nor do I care - all I know is it makes me feel better. And fora few extra pennies a fill-up, that's worth it.
And with almost 21K on the odometer, I haven't had any problems. So it obviously can't be bad, either.
Peace
And with almost 21K on the odometer, I haven't had any problems. So it obviously can't be bad, either.
Peace
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From: Palmdale, California, US
Rep Power: 0 When I use 91 octane over 87, there is no power gains that I can feel whatsoever. The mileage increase is about 1 mpg gain which is not worth the extra 20 cents, and it makes my car idle low sometimes, almost like it's going to stall.
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Quote
[hr]Originally posted by: SLeePeR012
I would have to disagree with htown.
I never said any performance gains over gasoline in my life but I do stand by in when I say it does burn richer, faster cleaner in the chamber, wha can this mean toa puny D17, prolly nutting but it's a hard evidance that shows an engine can live better, possibly longer.
And I can get my auto mech teacher to back me up heh.
We did a lab on it last year[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG][hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: SLeePeR012
I would have to disagree with htown.
I never said any performance gains over gasoline in my life but I do stand by in when I say it does burn richer, faster cleaner in the chamber, wha can this mean toa puny D17, prolly nutting but it's a hard evidance that shows an engine can live better, possibly longer.
And I can get my auto mech teacher to back me up heh.
We did a lab on it last year[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG][hr]
If you use regular or plus gas (not premium) on a car like the RSX Type S, the ECU will compensate for the lower octane by retarding the ignition timing to prevent detonation. I'll say it again - A ULEV economy engine like the D17 cannot benefit from using higher octane gas.
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[hr]Originally posted by: htowncivicEX
Could you please elaborate? In your experiment, did you compare different grades of gas from the same gas station? Did you measure emission levels to determine "cleaner", or the air/fuel mixture to determine "richer"? And did you perform all of these tests on a late-model car that recommends 85/87 octane? Not trying to flame, I'm just curious. Just FYI - burning richer and cleaner are mutually exclusive events (e.g. it's not possible to do both at the same time). If the car is running rich, then NOx emissions are higher than normal.
If you use regular or plus gas (not premium) on a car like the RSX Type S, the ECU will compensate for the lower octane by retarding the ignition timing to prevent detonation. I'll say it again - A ULEV economy engine like the D17 cannot benefit from using higher octane gas.[hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: htowncivicEX
Quote
[hr]Originally posted by: SLeePeR012
I would have to disagree with htown.
I never said any performance gains over gasoline in my life but I do stand by in when I say it does burn richer, faster cleaner in the chamber, wha can this mean toa puny D17, prolly nutting but it's a hard evidance that shows an engine can live better, possibly longer.
And I can get my auto mech teacher to back me up heh.
We did a lab on it last year[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG][hr]
[hr]Originally posted by: SLeePeR012
I would have to disagree with htown.
I never said any performance gains over gasoline in my life but I do stand by in when I say it does burn richer, faster cleaner in the chamber, wha can this mean toa puny D17, prolly nutting but it's a hard evidance that shows an engine can live better, possibly longer.
And I can get my auto mech teacher to back me up heh.
We did a lab on it last year[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/IMG][hr]
If you use regular or plus gas (not premium) on a car like the RSX Type S, the ECU will compensate for the lower octane by retarding the ignition timing to prevent detonation. I'll say it again - A ULEV economy engine like the D17 cannot benefit from using higher octane gas.[hr]
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From: San Diego, California, USA, Northern Hemisphere, Earth, Sol System, Spiral arm of the Milkey Way Galaxy
Rep Power: 0 unless your engine is specifically designed for it (ie high rpm/compression and or FI) you do NOT nheed higher octaine. The point of having higher octaine is to make it LESS prone to ignight, fighting detonation in said engines. Only thing you accomplish by putting higher octaine in an economy engine is A) wasted money and B) more polution. and guess what, it can HURT performance.
No, wha we did was.
He brought in I believe 5 or maybe 6 different kinds of octane gasoline for a lawnmower. Yea I kno a lawnmower does not equal a regular driving automobile. If you think about it it does have a lot of the same concepts plus the point my teacher was trying to make was as is: octane levels. We wouldn't use a lawnmower engine if it defeated the purpose of the class being called "Auto-Mech".
It wasn't like Shell or Amaco gas. It was something he gets somewhere as a teacher with a license and it was jus basically regular gasoline with ultra low octane and ultra high octane and a few in between.
We tested it out and the highest octane level which I think it was 90 for the lawnmower prooved to burn a lil faster and the exhaust fumes was in fact cleaner and as an observant, we felt that it was smoother, but this is not a fact.
And yes you can burn richer and cleaner at the same time with regular gasoline. Take for example the civic Insight. It burns both rich and clean. Who says you can't burn rich while getting 48mpg and run clean too. Rich doesnt mean the fuel micture is ridiculously high that it's burning off everyhting, it means you are gettin 1.00%=+ the gas or the air amount. You on the other hand is getting confused with burning too rich and burning rich. Rich also means it's burning the way it should be with the O2
Too Lean = Dangerously low---Lean = not enuff---Rich = Good amount---Too richer (richer) = Too much
Now what Im wondering is this:
Lawnmowers don't have ECUs, well they do but it's a huge difference between automobile's ecu. It doesn't compensate for irregular mixtures, Im not saying ecu's dont do that, thas a main part of their job. What I am saying is the fuel that is burning at the current conditions, the higher octane does burn clearn and rich. The ECU can do it's job all it wants and send in the fuel and air at it's best knowledge with sensors, but I believe in fact the higher octane combusts very well.
Do I have hard proof engine's last longer with higher octane, NO
Do I have hard proof they give out horses, HELL NO
DO I have proof it it burns possible better, Yes, and with taht I believe the 6.5% extra octane helps the life of a car.
Jus for a fact, Im not saying It does, Im jus saying it in my head makes sense that way.
He brought in I believe 5 or maybe 6 different kinds of octane gasoline for a lawnmower. Yea I kno a lawnmower does not equal a regular driving automobile. If you think about it it does have a lot of the same concepts plus the point my teacher was trying to make was as is: octane levels. We wouldn't use a lawnmower engine if it defeated the purpose of the class being called "Auto-Mech".
It wasn't like Shell or Amaco gas. It was something he gets somewhere as a teacher with a license and it was jus basically regular gasoline with ultra low octane and ultra high octane and a few in between.
We tested it out and the highest octane level which I think it was 90 for the lawnmower prooved to burn a lil faster and the exhaust fumes was in fact cleaner and as an observant, we felt that it was smoother, but this is not a fact.
And yes you can burn richer and cleaner at the same time with regular gasoline. Take for example the civic Insight. It burns both rich and clean. Who says you can't burn rich while getting 48mpg and run clean too. Rich doesnt mean the fuel micture is ridiculously high that it's burning off everyhting, it means you are gettin 1.00%=+ the gas or the air amount. You on the other hand is getting confused with burning too rich and burning rich. Rich also means it's burning the way it should be with the O2
Too Lean = Dangerously low---Lean = not enuff---Rich = Good amount---Too richer (richer) = Too much
Now what Im wondering is this:
Lawnmowers don't have ECUs, well they do but it's a huge difference between automobile's ecu. It doesn't compensate for irregular mixtures, Im not saying ecu's dont do that, thas a main part of their job. What I am saying is the fuel that is burning at the current conditions, the higher octane does burn clearn and rich. The ECU can do it's job all it wants and send in the fuel and air at it's best knowledge with sensors, but I believe in fact the higher octane combusts very well.
Do I have hard proof engine's last longer with higher octane, NO
Do I have hard proof they give out horses, HELL NO
DO I have proof it it burns possible better, Yes, and with taht I believe the 6.5% extra octane helps the life of a car.
Jus for a fact, Im not saying It does, Im jus saying it in my head makes sense that way.
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From: San Diego, California, USA, Northern Hemisphere, Earth, Sol System, Spiral arm of the Milkey Way Galaxy
Rep Power: 0 you forget, its also a good idea to use higher octaine in older cars. it actually helps out old ratty engines from backfiring and detonating. especially those that were designed to run on leaded gasoline.
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