Fuel Survey

[VBinNV]

There are a lot of opinions on using premium fuel with a turbocharged engine.

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[SuperCyan]

This is a good video explaining the whole regular vs premium debate/what's recommended

Me personally, I do see the benefits of premium and do use it and will use it in the Integra once I get mine

 

[bullitt]

If Regular is recommended then its just fine to use. If premium is Recommended then sometimes i'll step down to 89 if the price is very high.

That said even if 87 is "recommended" you can benefit form higher grades. Aside from them usually having better cleaners, you MAY have a small power and MPG bump from using it.

For example, I used to have a 2014 2.5L Altima S, and I used to drive a LOT Of highway miles every day for work. I logged my miles and decided at some point to not just track fuel costs for work but also track my Price-per-Mile. One day I decided to fill up with 89 and noticed that tank my MPG was higher than my average for the last few months. Over the next couple months I filled up with 89 and my PPM was low enough that it actually made running 89 CHEAPER to run than 87. I then tested 93 but while it then got a TINY bit better it wasn't enough to offset the price. So, I went back to 89oct until midgrade gas became closer in price to 91/93 and it no longer made financial sense to use it over 87, unless I found it at a station that had it marked lower.

Personally If the Integra is marked for Regular I'd likely run Midgrade in it. Even if talking a 20gal tank, thats maybe $5/tank? Thats like the price of 1 energy drink.

 

[RRP RSX-S]

These days a lot of cars are tuned to run 87 or 91/93. Ford eco boost for example advertises hp numbers at premium but you can put in 87 with a loss of hp. Acura says use 87 but you can use premium.

It’s different than back in the day when the RSX type s HAD to have premium.

 

[RUNN1N]

My wife and I were driving today and spotted gas for only $3.44/gallon and it got us talking about standard/mid/premium and carbon buildup, and I mentioned the Serra podcast and the Integra needing premium. She was shocked I'd commit to another car that'd run best on premium, especially without yet knowing the MPG figures.

...it was at this point that I realized it'd be a bad time to mention that I'm committed to this car without even knowing the actual price of it yet. A topic for another day, I suppose.

 

[lunarsilver]

This is a good video explaining the whole regular vs premium debate/what's recommended

Me personally, I do see the benefits of premium and do use it and will use it in the Integra once I get mine

The manny & moe show...... Let the guest talk............

 

[Nessism]

35 minutes? Way too long.

The engine has a knock sensor, which will pull back the timing and protect the engine from knock, regardless of which fuel is used. Using premium fuel will allow the engine to run a little more timing, thus improving power and mpg, but the advantage will be minimal. It's a personal choice. All good. What's silly are people thinking that using premium is "better" for the engine in some way. Some people think that less carbon will build up for example, which isn't true.

 

[bullitt]

35 minutes? Way too long.

The engine has a knock sensor, which will pull back the timing and protect the engine from knock, regardless of which fuel is used. Using premium fuel will allow the engine to run a little more timing, thus improving power and mpg, but the advantage will be minimal. It's a personal choice. All good. What's silly are people thinking that using premium is "better" for the engine in some way. Some people think that less carbon will build up for example, which isn't true.

It depends on the cleaners/additives. Usually, a brand puts higher amounts/quality of additives/cleaners in its top-grade fuels and depending on the car those fuels will have a cleaner burn. Which CAN help slow the buildup of carbon but not in a very meaningful way. It also helps to have a PVC filter of some kind to keep oil out of your intake manifold, and regularly replace your oil and filter to keep contaminates out that can cycle back through the system and add to buildup.

Any individual thing won't be a huge deal on buildup, but together they can be a noticeable difference.

 

[Integra23]

It depends on the cleaners/additives. Usually, a brand puts higher amounts/quality of additives/cleaners in its top-grade fuels and depending on the car those fuels will have a cleaner burn. Which CAN help slow the buildup of carbon but not in a very meaningful way. It also helps to have a PVC filter of some kind to keep oil out of your intake manifold, and regularly replace your oil and filter to keep contaminates out that can cycle back through the system and add to buildup.

Any individual thing won't be a huge deal on buildup, but together they can be a noticeable difference.

So we running oil catch cans on our integras?

 

[bullitt]

So we running oil catch cans on our integras?

I would, NA motors get enough blow by I'd definitely want one on a turbo. I have to empty mine every 2-3 oil changes.

 

[RRP RSX-S]

Me too. Critical on the mustang. Oil in the intake manifold reduces the octane chain in the fuel. So it’s a great way to get knock. On a turbo car I’d imagine over time the oil will reduce the efficiency of the turbo as well.

 

[JohnV]

I have used premium since 2003 on my Saab (turbo). Since then on my 2019 RDX and 2013 BMW. In all cases it was recommended (at least 90 oct) on these cars. I tested lower octane on the Saab and was not satisfied. I will probably try on the Integra too, but expect premium will be desirable. All of these cars achieved good gas mileage for the class of car, so I was ok with the premium, and the associated costs. I expect the Integra will be the same.

I'm not sure about the catch-can though...

 

[A3REDT]

Did a little 2k mile comparison on regular vs. premium fuel over my standard commutes/vehicle usage. Where I am in Tennessee that's 93 octane for premium vs. 87 octane for regular. The first trip was the break-in mileage on 93 octane, because it's break-in we can throw it out, the next 800ish miles were a road trip where I was doing a lot of higher-speed driving on 93 octane, so I'd ignore that as well.

So really the most recent and current trips are the ones to compare. Haven't been paying attention to it but checked this weekend and was surprised to find that my fuel economy on 93 octane and 87 octane were identical!

Driveability wise, I've really only noticed 2 differences between the two fuels:
1. The rev-hang at high rpms is a little worse on regular fuel
2. The VTEC engagement is more noticeable on regular. I assume that makes the car a bit slower, but the VTEC is fun so I really consider that a bonus

I'll be doing another 2k miles on each to verify these results, just wanted to post the initial findings!

 

[Wojo]

in Chicago area i have 87-89-93, 93 is way to much $$$, so most of the time it's 89, i haven't noticed much
difference in MPG between the 3 types, i do only use quailty gas,

 

[bullitt]

What does the manual recommend people use? I've not seen one yet.

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