DSBP1

Hey Guys,

I have a 94 civic, DX, 1.5L, automatic transmission....and my car has 154,000 miles......

I have been filling my tank with Premium gas and the most expensive gas(v-power,ect.).....I want to know if I am just wasting my money and if I should just fill it up with the cheapest gas...?? Also does expensive gas gives you better gas per milleage.....??

generation_D

if i were u im gonna put the cheapest gas... coz friend drives a merkur (ford euro car) and its 200k+ miles and he's been running on the cheapest gas and its still good, he said ever since his uncle got the car he's been putting those good type of oil and he just kept that goin and there hasnt been a problem


and yes better gas gives u better mpg because its a higher octane which means it takes longer to burn thus using up less gas to run ur engine.... but i dont think its worth it coz of gas prices... they really hurt so just put the cheapest gas, u'll save a lot

doood

iTrader: (1)

you're wasting money. your engine will run fine on 87.

B serious

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by generation_D &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if i were u im gonna put the cheapest gas... coz friend drives a merkur (ford euro car) and its 200k+ miles and he's been running on the cheapest gas and its still good, he said ever since his uncle got the car he's been putting those good type of oil and he just kept that goin and there hasnt been a problem


and yes better gas gives u better mpg because its a higher octane which means it takes longer to burn thus using up less gas to run ur engine.... but i dont think its worth it coz of gas prices... they really hurt so just put the cheapest gas, u'll save a lot</TD></TR></TABLE>

Who do you know around here with a merkur? I ask because I live in the chicago burbs, and there's not too many around.

The better gas will not give you better mileage just because of higher octane, however. The amount of gas put into the cylinder is dictated by fuel tables in the ECU. If your car only requires 87 octane, your injector will still squirt virtually the same amount of fuel if you use 93 octane, as the engine does not have high requirements as far as detonation. 93 octane doesn't nessacarily have more energy in it than 87 octane.

Octane is the RESISTANCE TO BURN. What it means by "it burns slower" is that the flashpoint of the fuel is higher. Meaning it will take more heat or more compression or bigger spark (that makes more heat) to make the fuel burn. The advantage is that on a high compression or turbo or nitrous motor, the ignition timing can be advanced because the fuel takes longer to ignite. If you had a low octane fuel in a car that required high octane fuel, it would cause knock because the fuel would be too ready to burn.

The disadvantages to using high octane (premium) in a car like a 94 civic DX is that the car ONLY NEEDS 87 OCTANE. You will see no performance jump. You may see a performance decrease over time. The fuel may not be able to fully burn since 87 octane engines will usually run cooler (they require less heat to ignite the fuel). Heat in a combustion chamber is produced mostly by compression. Your motor has like 9:1 compression. Heat can also be produced by timing or a lean fuel mix. Since those demands dont really change, the engine will still be running too cool, with too little compression, and not enough timing demand or ignition output to completely burn 93 octane. So:

1.) Less weight = faster. Your car may only go faster because your wallet is lighter.

2.) Since not all the fuel is burning, you will have **** building up on your exhaust ports. The engine is not making it hot enough to burn off all the fuel. It has to go somewhere. It will rest on your exhaust passages, collect on your valves and combustion chamber and plugs. Some will get in your cat and make it less effective over time.

To simplify: Just put in regular.

DSBP1

Thank you guys(thank you very much for ALL the information, I learned something new).....I always put the most expensive gas cause I thought that my car was going to run better and I was going to get better gas per mileage.....but if nothing is going to happen to my car by putting the cheapest gas than by all means...

also I always put those expensive oils on my car......

B serious

iTrader: (1)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DSBP1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
also I always put those expensive oils on my car......</TD></TR></TABLE>

lol. I dont mean to rag on you man, but it's just a D15. It's not exactly meant to be a high demand or high performance engine. You can just put regular everything in there, and you will still get about the same gas mileage. Synthetic oil is for high heat ....or if you wanna go very long between oil change intervals. Amsoil has a 25k change interval, for example.

Regular oil, regular gas. No additives. It's a honda.

Oil changes between 4k and 7500 miles. 100k mile service with timing belt and water pump, distributor cap, wires, plugs. Trans fluid and air filters every 30k. That's it. If this is just a point A to point B car (I'm guessing...since people dont usually use an automatic DX as a race car), that's all you need to do.

Just follow the owner's manual when in doubt.

DSBP1

Thanks a lot man for the information.....and I just want what is best for my car and make sure that my car last me all the way through college.... or at least untill I can buy a better vehicle....I use my car to go to work on weekends and to hang out with my friends.....I guess that might be consider point A to point B

DSBP1

btw, so is every 30K miles that I change the Trans fluid, rotors, distributor cap, wires, plugs, ect.....I thought it was every year?

and I changed the timing belt and water pump last year.........

Syndacate

87 octane under ALL circumstances.

- You will not get more power out of putting a higher octane fuel in there
- It will not be better for your car if you put a higher octane fuel in there
- You will not get better gas mileage than normal by putting a higher octane fuel in there
- If you believe any of the above are false you should shoot yourself

Octane ratings are simply the amount of octane they add to the base fuel (heptane). The reason they add octane to heptane is to stabilize it. The reason they stabilize it is to keep it from preigniting (misfiring) on higher compression engines such as turbocharged engines or very powerful naturally aspirated engines (such as at the K20 engine or the ITR). On a stock 1.5L honda motor it is NOT needed, and anybody that tells you:
A) It is needed
B) It's better for your car

is a complete and utter moron.

You WILL BE wasting your money if you put premium in that car as it is now with no compression adders such as higher compression pistons or a turbocharger.

NOFX

Imagine how much money all these oil companies make off of people who just assume premium would be better for their cars.

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by NOFX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Imagine how much money all these oil companies make off of people who just assume premium would be better for their cars.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, ****. Like they don't make quite enough, they gotta *** rape an extra $.40/gallon out of joe blow b/c he thinks premium gives him better gas mileage .

Bulli Kid

my bro ran 93 in his 95 dx too when he first got it until i convinced him to use 87. He did not even see a difference and his exhaust tip is cleaner now since all the gas gets burned since it burns fast. He is also saving money now.

in my 07 civic i also use 87 because that is required, No problems even though its a higher compression motor. 10:5.1 Exhaust tip looks like brand new. And dont worr 87 has the same amount of cleaning additives as 89,93

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bulli Kid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my bro ran 93 in his 95 dx too when he first got it until i convinced him to use 87. He did not even see a difference and his exhaust tip is cleaner now since all the gas gets burned since it burns fast. He is also saving money now.

in my 07 civic i also use 87 because that is required, No problems even though its a higher compression motor. 10:5.1 Exhaust tip looks like brand new. And dont worr 87 has the same amount of cleaning additives as 89,93</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yeah, in the '92-'00 Honda manuals ('99/'00 Si excluded) I'm pretty sure they all call for 87.

PS: Looking at your plugs is a lot better way to tell if the engine's running rich or lean than looking at your exhaust tip.

ie. My exhaust looks like **** - because it's a chip **** "OEM 'style'" exhaust, but I know for a fact my engine's running like a top, as far as A/F goes the spark plugs are perfect.

Bulli Kid

how can you tell by the sparks?
is clean brownish - lean
dark black rich?

Syndacate

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bulli Kid &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">how can you tell by the sparks?
is clean brownish - lean
dark black rich?</TD></TR></TABLE>

paper bag brown = perfect
black = rich

When it leans out it usually gets white at the tip and starts to corrode the electrode.

LemonLime

What if its white/coroded at the tip, and black (carbon deposits?) around the base and the rest of it? is that because it was lean for a while then ran rich? I'm confused...I'll take some pics if you need it.

((sorry to hj btw but seemed like problem solved....))

LemonLime

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B serious &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Octane is the RESISTANCE TO BURN. What it means by "it burns slower" is that the flashpoint of the fuel is higher. Meaning it will take more heat or more compression or bigger spark (that makes more heat) to make the fuel burn. The advantage is that on a high compression or turbo or nitrous motor, the ignition timing can be advanced because the fuel takes longer to ignite. If you had a low octane fuel in a car that required high octane fuel, it would cause knock because the fuel would be too ready to burn.

The disadvantages to using high octane (premium) in a car like a 94 civic DX is that the car ONLY NEEDS 87 OCTANE. You will see no performance jump. You may see a performance decrease over time. The fuel may not be able to fully burn since 87 octane engines will usually run cooler (they require less heat to ignite the fuel). Heat in a combustion chamber is produced mostly by compression. Your motor has like 9:1 compression. Heat can also be produced by timing or a lean fuel mix. Since those demands dont really change, the engine will still be running too cool, with too little compression, and not enough timing demand or ignition output to completely burn 93 octane.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

B serious is correct again.

DSBP1

so if I start putting the octane 87, everything will go back to normal and all of that extra stuff that was building on my exhaust or my engine will go away?? also will putting a lucas help cleaning it?

Bulli Kid

i heard Tetron fuel cleaner is really good but never used it.
no the black wont come off you have to clean it off and see if it will reaccure quickly or slowly over time.

DSBP1

How do I clean it??

SiYouLater

Techron injector cleaner is great

poorhonda

cheapest gas is all ways the best it dont matter in a honda 87 pump is fine

SiYouLater

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by poorhonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cheapest gas is all ways the best it dont matter in a honda 87 pump is fine</TD></TR></TABLE>
Not all hondas can run 87.

jdmpower363

what about in a jdm b16a? i was told to run 93 on another board i get on.

poorhonda

a stock b16 87 is fine