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It’s not so much the additives as it is the octane rating that is important. The reason you need to run premium fuel in the Acura has to do with the compression ratio of that engine. A higher octane rating keeps your engine from pre ignition. In other words if the octane rating is too low the fuel will combust due to the pressure it is under instead of igniting from the spark plug.
What Gmule said. You need to run premium if your car requires it. Otherwise, you will get a significant loss of power and economy y due to the computer pulling spark.
If the computer is unable to pull enough spark to prevent preignition/detonation, you may end up with a damaged engine.You have two options here:
1. Continue to run the correct fuel
2. Sell the car and get one that will run on regularSpark advance, compression ratio, forced induction/NA, and fuel mixture all need to be in balance to run right. Even without forced induction and a high compression ratio, the wiggle room you have is very little.
Detuning was a method of old when lead was taken out of fuel(which decreased its octane rating) as well as using lower comp heads. This contributed to poor economy and power.
The computer will essentially detune the engine until the paremeters are reached. Using regular in that car, you will see the same effect.What does your owner’s manual say?
If your owner’s manual says that premium fuel is required, then you should do it, but your car won’t blow up if you occasionally opt for regular. If your owner’s manual says that premium fuel is recommended, then you can use regular gas all the time with no worries.
I understand My Acura needs premium fuel because the octane and ……………………………………………………..
But $0.80 ?????? I remember when premium was $0.30 more than regular
Even two mo ago it was $0.50-0.65 more depends on gas station
Today is +$0.80 bend overSorry dude, didn’t get that you were just complaining about the price. I think we all thought you were asking if you could just use regular!
That does seem high though, premium is about $.35 higher than regular around here.
It will vary by state and town. Illinois is in the top 10 most taxed for gas states along with California and New York. Around here, gas is below 2.00 a gallon and the spread between the 3 grades is about 40 cents. For someone who drives a truck everyday that gets roughly 12 miles per gallon, the current situation is a godsend.
Use Gas Buddy to find less expensive premium.I find premium ranging from $2.30 to $2.69 here in the Detroit area.. A 39 cent difference. It pays to look.
You can fill up] with 87 octane and try this. With the engine at operating temperature find a steep grade. Radio and blower fan motor off. Nail it several times while climbing the grade and note if you hear any pinging going on.
If not, you should be able to run 87 with no issues.If you do hear pinging the usual cause of that is an EGR system problem followed by a knock sensor or ignition timing issue. Of course if pinging exists you need to isolate the cause of it or revert back to premium.
My current and prior cars all “required” 91 octane according to the owners manuals. They never, ever, no way ever got anything other than 87 or even lower if I was in the mountains where 85 was available. Close to 300k miles on the former and over a quarter million miles on the current car with never a hint of an issue related to gasoline octane.
On another note, gasoline is in the 1.50s here and even diesel is at 1.57. The truckers will be jumping for joy over that. 🙂
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