hectorteto

I've always use 93 I did feel an increase in durability while commuting the same distance during college.

vader1

The car is boosted. Two liter turbo from the factory. And I am not "buying into a myth" if I track my mileage religiously and observe the changes between gasolines. Like I said, I might get the same result with 91 that I get with 93, and 93 is probably overkill,(the gas station near my home does not sell 91) but when I drop from 93 to 89 I do see a significant difference, every time, and I was hoping not to. Both in the way it pulls on the top end, and almost 15% drop in mileage. Every time I feel like putting in the 89 I will sure enough get a tank at 26 mpg. I have no idea how the ecu is programmed but I would not be surprised if it advances the heck out of timing on the 93 octane, and when fed 89 overreacts to a ping here or there and pulls a bunch back out. But it does what it does.

My wife's NA Mazda 3 does not care what you put in it and gets about 39 mpg just about every tank.

rob-2

CosmosMpower

I can't even remember owning a car that didn't take 91+ so I just don't think about it.

rpg51

I see Chuck's post above. Pardon my dumb question, but, what exactly is the Honda spec re gas for the S? Where is it stated? And, is it a "recommendation," or is it "required?" It all seems a bit murky.

electricmarauder

From the 2001 Manual:
Looks like it's just a recommendation, probably because Honda can't "require" owners do anything.

white98ls

I used 87 octane on my cammed Integra LS (non-VTEC). It had the stock low 9.2:1 compression so no reason to switch up to 91+ as that would have just led to a less efficient burn, not more. Was making 100hp/L and never had an issue.

lookstoomuch

Never understood why most stations sell 87, 89, and 93. Most cars I've owned which ask for higher octane ask for 91+, 89 is essentially useless and 93 is overkill. Anyway, my $.02 on the matter....

Marioshi

The reason cars only require 91 is because some states (like California) don't get 93. I have noticed a trend of high performance cars being tuned for 93 recently which means those of us without access are probably getting slightly less power than advertised.

FearlessFife

Switched to 91 by accident in my 2005 Civic several years ago. Car immediately ran smoother and made less noise while getting slightly better MPG. Haven't used a lower octane since then, regardless of whether or not the motor requires it.