hey everyone i just recently bought a 2006 honda civic now my question is i wanna run high octane fuel in it just cause i have made it a habit and have never ran regular in any of my vehicles a friend told me that running high octane could cause harm because the vehicle is programmed to run regular fuel but he said there is a way to re learn the vehicle to run high octane, is this true and how can it be done. thanks

 

Using higher octane fuel isn't necessary your car is designed to run 87, but if you want to pay for higher priced fuel go ahead and do it.

I can't see why it would hurt anything but your wallet.

 

This is the only thing it will be hurting! As you won't be seeing any performance gains at all...

 

Have I been gone too long? We're talking about the SI right? if we're not then 87 is fine.

 

If the car isn't designed for higher octane fuel, you can do harm to more than your wallet. High ocatane doesn't mean higher energy. The ocatane count DOES NOT have anything to do with energy content. Octane is basically just a resistance to burn. Nothing else. Not quality, not energy, not detergents, nothing. It's just a fuel that is HARDER to ignite.

So if the engine isn't designed to take advantage of higher octane fuel, there may be deposits of unburned fuel building up in your exhaust stream. There's a small chance of that stuff clogging up exhaust ports and catalytic converters.

Just use regular fuel if that's what's required. There's NO advantage to using higher octane fuel than nessecary.

 

You have been MIA dude. I'm pretty sure OP is taking about an R18, so 87 is fine.

 

been out of the loop with the whole car thing. Also, add another year to my car in storage. heading to Korea in November.

 

I was always told that regular would build up more carbon thats why i always used higher octane

 

you've been told wrong. If you're driving an SI then you want at least 91.

 

The day I left the dealership with my Si, it's only been drinking 91 or higher octane rating. It says on the owners manual the preferred octane rating. Now I also have a R18 civic too and I always fill it up with 87 octane. Just follow the owners manual that's all.

 

Kk thanks guys appreciate all your help

 

octane has to due with compression, the higher the octance the more compression it can take before igniting. Why you need high octane in the Si, higher compression.


Its why the rumor got started, old classics were starting to use premium gas and it would run better, but it was just because they used old school and oil, and the gas and the car is older with gunk and the actual compression in the cylinders had risen, thus using higher premium gas would eliminated the knocking. Lower octane gas in a high compression engine will cause early detonation aka knock.

A person might of told you to use a premium um aka higher octane gas, because at most gas stations the higher grade gas will have more detergents/additives compared to the regular grade.

But if you are worried about your car, its all about where you buy your gas, make sure to buy gas from the following : http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html

But people will try to fill up with higher octane gas for emission testing thinking it runs cleaner but what happens is the engine doesn't fully ignite all the fuel and they actual pollute more, lol. and just wasted money

 

i just looked at the owners manual and it says in the back 87 or higher

 

I do not own an r18, but alot of people on the 8th forum, say putting the mid grade 89 seems to make the car run smoother, due to the r18 have a mid-high compression.

 

Kk kool ill give that a try thanks

 

hey guys so i ran regular and it just dont feel right maybe cuz ive always used super for piece of mind anywayz i talked to a tech at honda and he said all the vehicles are programmed to run regular he said if i wanna run hi octane to disconnect the positive and negative from battery and touch them together for 30 secs and then reconnect them, then run vehicle for 10 mins with hi octane in it and it will re learn to run hi octane and set the timing right for the 91 has anyone heard of this method. thanks

 

There is absolutely no reason to run higher than 87 octane in your car, as several people have already stated.

 

I've never heard anything like this and my dad's been a hot-rodder since the 50's. What is touching the cables together supposed to do, exactly?

 

High octane more timing less power ?

 

Mabe relearning the octane table.2 tables high and low,low is limp mode.

 

In the 50s most cars werent run by computers.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear: the family has had experience with cars since the 50's, including modern-day cars. Still unsure of what touching the two terminals together would accomplish, though.

 

Wikipedia 'Octane Rating': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating
Read thru article.
Enrich yourself with real knowledge rather than hear-say.
Keep calm and drive on.