Hi, I got a question. I always use premium gas for my integra (GS). With the high gas price, now I'm thinking switch back to regular gas. do you think of any disadvantage of it? less power? higher car maintenance?

thanks

 

Nope. Go ahead and revert back to 87-89 octane. You may just want to fill-up with a bottle of Chevron w/ Techron fuel additive every 3000-5000 miles to help keep your system running clean.

 

Wow, there was a thread on H-T a few months ago that went in-depth on this subject. IMO, use what your car was designed for. If my car says at least 87, I use 87, if my car said 91, I'd use 91. That's my $.02

This is interesting too: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=83698

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RidinStock &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">IMO, use what your car was designed for. If my car says at least 87, I use 87, if my car said 91, I'd use 91. That's my $.02

This is interesting too: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=83698</TD></TR></TABLE>

Agreed. 91 octane wont do much, if anything, for your car amd its performance. A GS will work and run fine with 87 octane.

 

My mom was running 91 on her CRV and when she downgraded to 87, she had a misfire. Nothing to serious, but my mechanic told me that happens sometime when you start switching gas...

 

Octane needs depend on where you live. I notice that many cars that require only 87 octane tend to ping a little when the engine is under load, such as when climbing a steeper hill. If your not hearing any pinging, use the cheap stuff. Your GS has no knock sensor.

 

My tech told me to run '93 octane cause of my swap....and I have no knock sensor....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slo Car &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My tech told me to run '93 octane cause of my swap....and I have no knock sensor....</TD></TR></TABLE>
They dont even sell 93 in the bay area

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by debogsr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
They dont even sell 93 in the bay area</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh...well...they do here in TX....sorry

 

good ole texas, land of the american oil refinaries.

 

you should be fine goin lower oct w/a gs as far as i know....i just know on my gsr though that it hasnt had anything lower than 93 oct in it and my friend at the dealer said he wouldnt recommend going lower on the gsr motor....one time i even got some bad gas and my car sounded like a diesel motor!

 

a LS/GS will be fine on 87. In fact, it will perform best with the lowest acceptable rating.

Higher octane gas burns SLOWER. It is for detonation prevention. With the faster burning gas, the B18B will do better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sabotage7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you should be fine goin lower oct w/a gs as far as i know....i just know on my gsr though that it hasnt had anything lower than 93 oct in it and my friend at the dealer said he wouldnt recommend going lower on the gsr motor....one time i even got some bad gas and my car sounded like a diesel motor!</TD></TR></TABLE>

well let's not get carried away.... you don't need to run 93 octane for your car to be safe.... yes it's better for it, but you make it sound like your car is going to blow up if you were...... insert gasp........ run 89 or 91

 

I used to have a 91 GS and everytime i put anything lower than 93octane, it would delay my take off time. It would sound like it was about to shut off but after it would do the delay it would take off. Thats why now i have a 95 ls and all I use is 93 octane.

 

The need for higher octane fuel is directly related to your compression ratio or amount of boost. Higher octane fuel is actually more resistant to combustion. This is desirable in high-compression engines, as a higher resistance to combustion ensures that pre-ignition detonation is less likely to occur.

In lower-compression engines, where detonation is not likely in the first place, lower octane gas is actually better, as it is more willing to participate in the combustion process.

Now, using lower octane gas (say 87 octane) in a high-compression engine (like a GSR or Type-R) is a bad idea. Since the higher compression ratios here make these engines more prone to pre-ignition detonation in the first place (also known as "engine knock"), the resistance to combustion found in higher octane gas is required. In the event that low octane gas (or just bad gas) cuases detonation, the knock sensor steps in and retards the timing, thus, lowering performance (not something desired in a performance car).

So, all said and done, use what your car is designed for (as mentioned above).